Although the wisdom of extended fasting has been embraced by long-lived cultures for centuries, today a different type of fasting has emerged as a popular healthy lifestyle principle.

Intermittent fasting, also dubbed "cycled fasting" or "time-restricted eating", has gained adoption among the health conscious community, mainly because it's easy to practice, can be incorporated into a busy lifestyle, and it has been proven by modern science to have some stand-out health and wellness benefits.

Here, we reveal exactly what is meant by intermittent fasting, explain its main benefits, and how you can easily incorporate intermittent fasting into your current lifestyle to help you achieve your health goals.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent Fasting is simply the practice of limiting the time window in which you consume your daily calories so that your body spends more time in the fasting zone, which can activate some amazing health benefits.

Most people have been brought up to believe that humans need to eat three square meals per day with snacks in between.  However, nothing could be further from the truth!

The concept of breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning-tea, afternoon-tea and supper, is an evolutionary concept that has only formed over recent generations.

As society has evolved and large food manufacturing companies have emerged with big marketing budgets, the broader population has fallen into the trap of constant consumption.  

Unfortunately, the phenomenon of constantly eating has also contributed significantly to a sickness and obesity epidemic throughout society that could easily be avoided with the right education.

For millennia, human beings have survived and thrived by eating less frequently not more. 

This is mainly because when the body has "time" between meals, it is given opportunity to use its innate intelligence to absorb nutrients, reset and to activate self-healing. 

On the other hand, when the body is constantly being bombarded with food, it is in a mild state of chaos, overwhelmed with having to process the incoming plethora of macro nutrients and always in a state of digestion.

This is the root cause of inflammation in the body because it compromises the bodies ability to reset and dispatch toxins, and is the primary cause of escalating diseases such as diabetes, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome and even certain cancers.

At its core, intermittent fasting is all about going for longer periods of time without food within your daily time clock. 

When you do this, you give your body a chance to do its restorative living temple work.

It's important to realise that unlike "extended" fasting, intermittent fasting does not mean going without food.

It simply means compressing or shortening the time window within your day when you choose to eat, such that it extends the time window when you are fasting (or not eating).

The good news is that you don't need to do intermittent fasting every day to get the amazing benefits we'll share with you here.  Also, you can gradually work your way up to longer periods of fasting as you and your body get used to the idea.

By choosing to incorporate intermittent fasting into your self care routine, you'll likely notice more energy, easier weight management, healthier digestion, stronger immunity, less pain in your body and better mental performance. 

Intermittent Fasting - Health Benefits

Health experts who are serious advocates of intermittent fasting, have discovered that the primary reason why it works is because it activates a metabolic process in the body known as Autophagy.

Autophagy is a process of cellular recycling that occurs in the body when it has very low levels of glucose or insulin in the blood stream.  In other words, autophagy activates when the body is in a 'fasted state' or has gone for several hours without food.

Autophagy only occurs in the absence of glucose, because this is when the body has the freedom to begin cleaning up damaged cells and to search for alternative fuel sources, most notably excess stored fat.

Intermittent fasting can be a very effective wellness management tool to incorporate into a healthy lifestyle.  Here are the most common benefits and how you can begin experimenting with intermittent fasting for your own health and wellness.

1. Weight Management

One of the best reasons to fast intermittently is for sustainable weight loss or weight management.

When your body is digesting and absorbing food, it is in what is commonly referred to as the “fed state”.

A "fed state" occurs from when you take your first bite, to anywhere from 8-12 hours following, which is the period during which the body is absorbing nutrients and digesting the food.

During this process, it is very difficult for your body to tap into stored fat stores because it will always draw on glucose as the primary fuel source since it is available.

Intermittent fasting works for weight management because it allows your body to spend more time in a fasted state, thereby encouraging it to utilise stored fat as a source of energy and fuel.

For managing weight, most intermittent fasting experts agree that the optimum number of hours to fast within a 24 hour period is 16 hours, leaving a 8 hour food consumption window for 1-2 meals.  However, weight loss benefits can still be achieved with shorter fasting windows depending on the individual and a range of other factors.

2. Blood Sugar Balance

Intermittent fasting is known to be an effective tool for maintaining blood sugar balance.

It works because it helps to prevent peaks, troughs and rapid variations in energy, which many people experience in between meals and after eating.

A reduction in blood sugars is a by-product of lowered levels of insulin in the blood stream, which naturally occurs when the body is in a fasted state.  This can be especially beneficial for people who suffer from obesity, chronic fatigue and diabetes.

3. Gut Health Balance

The most obvious reason why intermittent fasting supports gut health balance, is because it gives your digestive system a break and the chance to reset in between meals.

One of the main causes of poor gut health is an overworked digestive system. And intermittent fasting is a great way to relieve it from the energy-intensive tasks of constantly absorbing and breaking down food matter. 

It's kind of like giving the engine room of your body the opportunity to hit the “reset” button, even if it's only for a few extra hours each day.

This relief is what enables your body to devote more energy and resources towards cleansing, detoxifying and healing, which is so important to your overall health and wellbeing.

Studies show that intermittent fasting is also beneficial to your gut bacterial balance because the microbiome has the chance to reset, which means better digestive health and a stronger immune system.  

4. Mental Clarity & Focus

Besides physical body health benefits, intermittent fasting is renowned for its positive effects on the brain.

When the body is in a fasted state, the liver produces ketones which are powerful energy molecules that the brain thrives on for clarity and focus.

Additionally, studies are showing that intermittent fasting can be an important tool for boosting cognitive function and protecting against memory decline as people age, or slowing the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s.

A Popular Way To Do Intermittent Fasting

These are number of different ways to experiment with intermittent fasting, including 5:2 (5 days with food, 2 days without), 12:12, one-meal-a-day (OMAD) and the 16/8 method.

The path you choose will depend on your current state or health, your level of experience with fasting and your overall health goals.  Here we will explore the very popular 16/8 method.

The 16/8 Intermittent Fasting Method

One of the most popular methods advocated by intermittent fasting experts is the 16/8 method.  This simply means 16 hours of fasting and an 8 hour eating window within the 24 hour period that you choose to fast. 

A example format might be:

• Fasting window from 6pm - 10am (16 hours)
• Consumption window 10am - 6pm (8 hours)

This type of intermittent fasting strategy can be simplified down to, "eating dinner earlier" and "breakfast later".

For some people, it takes time to get used to the idea of skipping breakfast.   Or there are practical challenges with eating dinner earlier.  The main thing to consider is 'the principle' and how you can adopt it to work for you and your lifestyle.

Also, for anyone new to intermittent fasting, 16 hours can be a stretch in the beginning.  So, a great starting approach is to extend breakfast by 1 hour from the norm and to gradually work your way towards 16 hours over time as you get used to it.

Maybe you're used to having breakfast at 7am.  In this case, you could consider delaying breakfast for 1 hour to 8am to begin with.  Then as you feel comfortable with the idea, extend 2 hours to 9am and so on.

What To Eat First

The word breakfast point is a compound word, meaning to "break-your-fast".

So inherently it is acknowledged that your first meal of the day involves breaking a period of fasting. 

Consider that when you fast, not only are there key metabolic functions taking place, but your digestive system is well rested. 

This means that rather than heavy foods to break your fast, it's a good idea to slowly introduce nutrients that are gentle on your digestive system such as smoothies, healthy fats such as avocados, fresh fruits, soups and fermented vegetables.

Your second or last meal before re-entering your fast is a good time to eat the more concentrated foods you would normally eat.

The Main Takeaway

Intermittent Fasting is a practice you can incorporate into your current lifestyle to experience more energy and a range of health benefits.

The level you choose is dependent on you and your goals, which means it's best to experiment with intermittent fasting to find the levels and cycles that work for you.

Think of Intermittent Fasting as a "tool" you can intertwine into your current lifestyle and switch on and off, rather than a rigid protocol you need to practice every day.

The key take away is that when your body is able to spend more time in a fasted state on a fairly consistent basis, you pave the way for magical processes to happen in the body.

For this reason alone, intermittent fasting is a wise practice that you should consider making part of your regular self care routine if you're not already.

Tolman Self Care.