Before the agricultural revolution, our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have constant access to food. When the ancient people failed to get food (kill the beast, find edible fruits, vegetables), they had to starve. And, according to many scientists, such eating behavior only contributes to health. So says Canadian doctor Jason Fung (Jason Fung), who deals with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Fang believes that controlled intermittent fasting is a great way not only to normalize weight, but also to promote health.
What are the intermittent fasting regimens?
There are many intermittent fasting regimens. The duration of voluntary refusal of food can range from 12 hours to 3 or more months. As a rule, the shorter the fasting period, the more often this practice is recommended: 12-hour fasting can be done daily, 24-36 hours without food can be done several times a week, and longer fasting is practiced even less often.
If you approach intermittent fasting wisely, after consulting with your doctor, you can bring significant benefits to your body, namely:
- Activate autophagy and increase growth hormone production.
- Get your blood sugar under control.
- Improve immune system function.
- Reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Reduce the risk of fatty liver disease.
The duration of voluntary food refusal can range from 12 hours to 3 months or more.
Intermittent fasting stimulates autophagy and growth hormone production
Autophagy – a physiological process during which the body gets rid of damaged cells, which are used either to generate energy or to create new healthy cells. This process allows the body to repair itself. Dr. Fang believes that during intermittent fasting, the autophagy process is activated by lowering insulin levels and increasing glucagon levels – a hormone that promotes not only fat burning, but also self-healing of the body.
However, a temporary refusal of food is useful not only because of the destruction of damaged cells, but also because of the stimulation of growth hormone (its production increases by 5 times during fasting), which starts the process of formation of new structural elements of the body. Thus, its active updating is ensured.
It is possible that this is why fasting is protective against Alzheimer's and cancer.
Intermittent fasting lowers blood sugar and helps control diabetes
Managed fasting benefits patients with type 2 diabetes as intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce blood glucose levels by 3-6% and insulin resistance by 20-31%.
In healthy people, intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of developing this disease. Dr. Benjamin Horne, Director of the Department of Cardiovascular and Genetic Epidemiology at the Heart Institute of Intermountain Medical Center stated:
"Our research has shown that regular intermittent fasting reduces the risk of developing diabetes and coronary heart disease. Therefore, we believe that this particular practice is one of the most effective ways to prevent diabetes and related metabolic problems.
Specialists from the University of Southern California say that intermittent fasting helps protect the immune system and promotes its regeneration by putting stem cells into a self-renewal mode.
A study published June 5, 2014 in
Cell Stem Cell indicates that fasting 2 to 4 days helps to utilize damaged immune cells and the production of new ones. Researchers have also found that prolonged fasting before chemotherapy is also beneficial because it partially protects patients from the toxic effects of chemotherapy.
Dr. Walter Longo, director of the University of Southern California Longevity Institute: “When we fast, the body tries to conserve energy, and one of the ways to save energy is to recycle damaged cells in the immune system. We have noticed that during fasting, the number of leukocytes in the body decreases, and then returns to normal during eating. In essence, there is aupdating of the immune system".
Researchers have found that fasting reduces the enzyme PKA, which contributes to life extension, as well as the growth factor IGF-1, which is associated with aging and the risk of cancer.Intermittent fasting reduces the risk of heart disease
A study published in
Medical News Today found that one day of fasting per month reduced the risk of heart disease. Dr. Benjamin D. Horn Weste and his colleagues followed volunteers (515 patients with a mean age of 64 years who underwent coronary angiography between 2004 and 2006) and found that people who practiced intermittent fasting had a significantly reduced risk of developing coronary artery disease. Other studies have also shown that avoiding food on a regular basis contributes to:
- reduce total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides;
- reduction of inflammatory markers and metabolite tumor markers.
Intermittent fasting renews the immune system, protects the heart and liver from disease.Intermittent fasting helps fight fatty liver disease
Researchers at the Institute for Diabetes and Cancer Research (IDC) in Munich have established what happens in the body during intermittent fasting at the molecular level. In collaboration with the German Diabetes Research Center (DZD) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), experts have shown that fasting promotes the production of a protein that helps regulate liver metabolism.
In a study published in
Medical News Today, experts have determined that a lack of the GADD45β is associated with an increased likelihood of developing fatty liver disease, since GADD45.beta. controls the absorption of fatty acids by the liver, therefore its deficiency contributes to the accumulation of fat in the liver and an increase in blood sugar levels.
Intermittent fasting stimulates the production of GADD45?, which allows the metabolism to adapt to conditions of food shortage.Read also:
One-day fasting: rules and amazing effect of useful practice
You don't have to be without food for long periods to experience the effects of intermittent fasting. Just try not to eat 12 hours a day – it is very simple if you subtract 8 hours of sleep from this period and do not eat the first 2 hours after waking up and 2 hours before going to bed. However, estet-portal.com strongly recommends not to forget that when you refuse food, you need to drink enough water, and you can resort to this practice, especially if you have health problems, only with the permission of your doctor.
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