We are passionate about our health and one of the ways we achieve our health goals is by fasting. There are amazing benefits when you hold off eating for a certain time frame and these include stem cell restoration, increasing HGH, creating new brain cells and decreasing stored fat cells.
What is Fasting?
Fasting involves refraining from eating for an extended amount of time. During a fasting period, a person should not consume any calories but may continuously drink water, black coffee, or tea and hydrolytes to remain hydrated. One should always consult their doctor before starting a fasting program.
We are genetically designed to fast. People have been fasting since the beginning of time. Most of us have enough vitamins stored to last for 30 days and fat to last for up to 45 days. The body is able to keep blood sugar from dropping too low through a series of processes as the fast progresses.
Our chosen choice is intermittent fasting which involves restricting your food intake to certain periods of time. This is the 16:8 Pattern and it involves only consuming food in an eight-hour window and fasting for 16 hours a day, every day of the week. Some people choose to fast for 24-72 hours at a time and a prolonged fast like this can cause fabulous metabolic and cellular changes within the body. There can be side effects that need to be managed and we recommend talking to a physician before starting these fasts.
Benefits of fasting:
· Mental clarity
· Energy Boost
· Release fat
· Builds brain cells
· Human Growth Hormone increase
· Autophagy – Recycling cells and mitochondria
· Produce Stem cells
· Treatment for cancer
· Autoimmune diseases / Anti-inflammatory
· Leaky gut
Most human diseases are caused by inflammation in the body but we can reduce this naturally in the body. When we fast there is a reduction in monocytes - cells in the blood that cause inflammation. There seems to be an excess of these in our bodies today from overeating. When we stop our calorie intake, the body doesn’t need to use energy to break down food. Up to 50% of our energy is required to digest food. In a fast, this energy is freed up from the digestive process and can now be used to break down damaged cells, burn fat and regenerate new cells. The body knows best where healing is needed most.
“You are a younger, better, more resilient person than ever before."
Top 4 Benefits of Fasting for Survival.
1. Stem cell Restoration
Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose, fat and ketones, but it also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells. Cells that are damaged get broken down and recycled into other cells. During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new cells. Because during a prolonged fast you have gotten rid of inefficient or damaged cells, when you start eating again, the stem cells proliferate into higher numbers with greater efficiency.
2. Increasing Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
The researchers say fasting also stimulates levels of HGH, or human growth hormone, that can protect lean muscle mass. HGH is a hormone made by the pituitary gland (the master gland), and plays a huge role in the normal development of children and also adults. HGH deficiency in adults leads to higher levels of body fat, lower lean body mass and decreased bone mass. If we can get a HGH boost naturally, leading to loss of fat and gain of lean mass (muscle, bone and skin). That’s anti-aging! There are no side effects when it’s happening naturally within the body. A common misconception is that you lose lean mass when you fast, but there are mechanisms within the body that don’t allow this to happen.
3. Increased Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor
We actually make new brain cells. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a protein that has been referred to as a fertilizer for your brain. It is found in your brain and helps to maintain the life of your brain cells, as well as grow new ones. When the body senses we are nutrient deficient, autophagy occurs. Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. The literal meaning of autophagy is “self-eating” and is an evolutionary self-preservation mechanism through which the body can remove the dysfunctional cells and recycle parts of them toward cellular repair. Studies show that fasting and exercise increase the BDNF, rejuvenating and creating new brain cells.
4. Improving Insulin Sensitivity
Fasting makes us more sensitive to insulin. When insulin is low our fat gets converted to fatty acid which goes to the liver. The liver then converts the fatty acids into ketones. Ketones are utilized by every cell in the body. You are burning your stored fat for fuel and mobilizing it to the rest of the body. Norepinephrine, adrenaline, cortisol and metabolic rate go up. At about 18 hours we feel brighter and clearer. After a 7 day fast, up to 70 percent of the energy utilization of the brain is through ketones.
Fasting Safely
There is a very distinct difference between fasting and starving. You can break a fast at any time. Listen to your body. If symptoms are getting too strong, simply stop the fast and restart eating. Just go slow after a fast. Don't break a fast with a feast. After a fast, start with healthy food that are easy on the stomach like steamed vegetables.
You can try again anytime. With each fasting cycle it will get easier for the body to switch to the fat burning mode.
There are many types of fasting. Do your research to find a system that works for you.
If you are not yet ready to go for a full day of fasting or a multi-day fast, you could simply try what happens when you skip a meal and drink some water instead. Then in a next step you could restrict your eating window to 12 hours, and eventually to 10, 8 and 6 hours. This is called intermittent fasting or time restricted eating. Most people incorporate intermittent fasting into their daily routine by skipping breakfast.
Then in a next step you could try to fast for a day, for instance from dinner to dinner. If you are comfortable with it, you can increase to a 36 hour fast from dinner to breakfast 1.5 days later.
When we fast, we aim to eat whole foods and eliminate processed foods and refined sugars. Give your body good fuel so when it's fasting it gets right to the healing and regenerating instead of detoxing what you just ate. In our next post we'll share our top 10 tips for fasting, a list of beneficial foods and how to combat side effects. And of course a daily smoothie packed with broccoli sprouts to kick start the liver. Read our blog on Clean Liver .
WATCH: Fasting For Survival Lecture by Dr Pradip Jamnadas:
In this hour and twenty minute video, Dr. Pradip Jammadas, an award-winning cardiologist, explains in a succinct and humorous way why fasting is so powerful. It is not a surprise to those of us who have seen it why this video has almost 4M views and 80,000 likes on YouTube.
Other Links for further reading on this topic: https://roguehealthandfitness.com/fasting-exercise-increase-brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor/
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