Intermittent fasting is a tool. It is not a diet. It does not tell you what to eat. It is a pattern of eating and not eating. It is not about cutting calories. It is changing when you eat and when you do not eat. Nevertheless, why would you want to do intermittent fasting anyway? Because it is one of the most vital factors in weight loss. Skipping breakfast can be one of the significant strategies you could have to optimize your health. Intermittent fasting is by not having any food up to 6-8 hour window.
It triggers two main hormones in your body, and they are the most powerful ones. One is Growth hormone; which is anti-aging and the most potent fat burning hormones.
There are six fat burning hormones; growth hormone is the most potent fat burning hormone. This growth hormone helps to protect your muscles, build body mass and helps to lose actual fat. The second hormone is insulin; a potent hormone that will actually help you to store fat if you want to gain weight, which you do not want to do because you want to lose weight. In the presence of insulin, you cannot lose weight. It is such a damaging hormone because it blocks growth hormone. So it’s a hormone that makes you fat. It is a hormone that gives you gut in people (big stomach), and that signifies a person has too much insulin.
Benefits of Intermittent fasting (IF)
It will interest you to know that intermittent fasting has nothing to do with weight loss. The most significant advantage has to do with a new concept called autophagy.
Autophagy is the condition or state whereby the cell’s recycling damaged cell parts. It clears all the trash of the cell, and it is also getting rids of pathogenic microbes, basically anything like mold, fungus, bacteria, virus sitting in the cell and anything damaged in the cell not working. Each has a little garbage disposal called the lysosome, composed of enzymes to break down this parts into a smaller article which are then sent down to the liver, to be used as either as energy or recycled into new tissues. In 2016, a Japanese scientist discovered Autophagy.
Just think about the magnitude, if you are not able to extract pathogenic particles, microbes, damaged things out of your cell, this is what is going to happen to your brain, cognitive effect (which is anti-aging for your skin, longevity, better immune system.
Therefore, the thing stimulates autophagy the most is intermittent fasting. It totally makes sense; if you are not doing intermittent fasting, you need to start that immediately.
Other benefit-based evidence includes;
- It helps to change the function of cells, that is a change in hormones.
- It can help you lose weight and belly fat.
- It also induces insulin resistant, lowering the risk of type-2 diabetes.
- Intermittent fasting can induce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body.
- It is also beneficial for heart health.
- It induces various cellular repairs processes.
- Intermittent fasting may help to prevent cancer.
- Intermittent fasting is good for your brain.
- It may help to prevent Alzheimer disease.
- Intermittent fasting may extend your lifespan, helping you live longer.
- It helps sync circadian rhythms and fights metabolic diseases.
- It is not for everyone, especially those with an eating disorder, dysmorphia, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding and those taking medication.
If you want to get started with intermittent fasting, you might want to start with 16 hours a day fast then increase from there.
