The Incredible Intermittent Fasting benefits
In case you are new to intermittent fasting, you might be speculating about the hype. Exactly what can it do for you? The answer to that my friend—a lot. There are so many ways in which Intermittent fasting benefits your body and brain. A few of the benefits are understandable like weight loss, while others can be astonishing. Here we have for you the benefits of intermittent that are science backed. But first, let’s have a look at a quick primer on the working of intermittent fasting.
What does intermittent fasting mean?
This is basically a kind of fasting in which you are allowed to eat for a specific phase of time, and the rest of the time you are supposed to fast. There is numerous kind of intermittent fasting. Some people also fast for one and two days at a time as well, and others for 16-20 hours a day. One of the famous Bulletproof Diet sticks to the latter kind, 18:6, with one important difference. In the Bulletproof fasting system, you don’t have breakfast and instead drink a Bulletproof Coffee. This is a simple method that also keeps you in a fasted stage simultaneously providing nourishment to the body with good fats.
Major Intermittent fasting benefits:
There are a number of ways in which you upgrade when you make a switch to an intermittent fasting diet plan. Here we have for you some of the influential benefits of intermittent fasting:
• Weight loss with intermittent fasting
In case you are looking for some fat loss, this is certainly the way to go. When you fast, your body drains of the glucose reserves. The main source of glucose comes from food. Your body will switch to a fat burning mode for fueling in a chemical process known as Ketosis.
According to a study done on mice in the year, 2014 showed that adult mice that were kept on a restricted eating from nine to twelve hour time had gained less weight and had low-fat mass. This was in comparison to mice that ate at all hours of time. Another interesting fact was that the mice that on restricted food time that had fasted for an entire week that were allowed for access to food over the weekends looked similar to mice that fasted seven days a week. This means that a brief break from fasting did not affect the progress.
One more study conducted showed that adults in the obese range that had followed an alternate day fasting method. That means when you are eating 25 percent of the daily required calories in one day, and just like normal the next day. Had roughly lost about thirteen pounds over a period of 2 months.
Now to kick it up a notch you have to try Bulletproof intermittent fasting. Adding fat to your coffee pushes you into ketosis and makes sure that you stay there even if you do have carbs in your diet.
• Intermittent fasting and Brain health:
With age the blood flow towards brain reduces. The neurons start to shrink and the overall volume of brain declines. This is where intermittent fasting works like magic. It can literally put on breaks on the aging process and helps to keep in a mentally sharp state throughout the day.
• Lowers the risk of diseases:
Apart from the major brain-boosting benefits of intermittent fasting, it can also help immensely for the neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in the long run. So we know for sure that it will protect against diabetes and reduces obesity. And both of these are a major cause for increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
• Supports Autophagy and protects neurons:
In a study done in the year, 2003 intermittent fasting was shown to help protect the neurons of the brain against excitotoxic stress. For making it simpler for you excitotoxic stress is a synonym for neuronal death. It also accelerates neuron autophagy. Which is basically our bodies natural process of removing the damaged cells and generation of new healthy ones. This is amazingly way of body to have a natural defense mechanism against diseases.
• Enhances memory:
Intermittent fasting has a major impact on improving memory and learning. In a study done in the year, 2009 on fifty adults found that when they kept on a three month of caloric restriction diet memory boost was observed.
• Helps with depression:
It is also known to help with mental health issues like depression. A literature review in the year 2013 had found that there was an improvement seen in people with depression when it comes to symptoms like mental alertness, sense of peace in the duration of fasting.
• It promotes longevity:
Numerous studies have shown that intermittent fasting can protect against disease like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, this will help you to live longer a longer healthier life.
• Lowers bad cholesterol:
In a study done in the year 2010 done on overweight women had shown that intermittent fasting did bring about improvement in a number of risk factors that lead to chronic disease. This included lowering blood pressure, bad cholesterol reduction, and insulin resistance.
• Can slow down cancer:
When intermittent fasting was done with chemotherapy, it had effects on slowing down the development of breast and skin cancer. This happened as it had increased the levels of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. These are basically cells that are sent by our bodies immune system to attack on tumor growth.
• Keeps cells pliant:
Another way by which your lifespan increases are by slowing the process of aging. And that can be done by a little manipulation in the mitochondrial networks. There are mainly known for the generation of power in the cells and produce the maximum energy required for cell survival. A study done at Harvard in the year 2017 showed that fasting had kept mitochondrial networks merged together. This helps in keeping mitochondria strong. And are able to efficiently do the energy processing work which is important for pulsating aging and longevity.
Who should not go for intermittent fasting?
Although some of the researches done earlier had shown that fasting might have some great benefits when it comes to controlling blood sugar. People with insulin-dependent diabetes must avoid drastic fasting regimens. While enjoying a healthy regular meal can help in the prevention of spikes and dips in blood sugar levels. And can be life-threatening in people suffering from diabetics in case it’s not controlled.
Also if you are an athlete and are dependent majorly on the perfect time to get fueled before and after activities that need athletic performance and recovery intermittent fasting might not be the right choice for you.
I can honestly say that when it comes to intermittent fasting benefits. We are still just scratching the surface of understanding it and its overall effects on health and in the management of weight. If you are looking forward to intermittent fasting it’s highly recommended that you speak to your dietitian and doctor. They can assist you through the best regimen suitable for you. And assuring that you get all of the indispensable nutrients that your body needs.
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