Fasting, specifically Intermittent Fasting (IF) has become all the rage in recent years.
Classic Intermittent Fasting is going without food/calories for an extended period time over a 24-hour period then eating inside the specified window. The fasting window ranges from fasting for 12 hours to 22 hours. Most, if not all, intermittent fasting programs allow for eating at some point in the 24-hour period which is what makes intermittent fasting doable.
I’ve written about this before – see my previous blog HERE. So, I won’t spend too much time discussing IF specifically, here. But there are DEFINITELY benefits from doing Intermittent Fasting!
However, if you want some seriously positive results…What has always been helpful for many health conditions is true water fasting. I mean literally nothing but water. The standard fasting times are between 3-5 days (72 – 120 hours).
But when someone embarks on a water fast you need to be prepared and you need to make sure you aren’t doing much of anything else if you want to get the most out of it.
Water-fasting has been employed for more than centuries as a powerful healing modality.
Even a day of fasting is great for the body but something special happens after 48 hours of a true (water only) fast. That’s when autophagy REALLY kicks into high gear.
You remember what AUTOPHAGY is, correct?
NO? OK, here goes – it’s a good refresher.
Autophagy is an innate process that the body uses to clear away yucky stuff – toxins, dead/dying cells, damaged cells, foreign invaders, etc. It’s natural house cleaning and really essential to our optimal health.
Image from verywellhealth.com
But think for a minute about our habits – we eat ALL the time. Our bodies have no time to focus on anything but digesting – no time to heal if you’re always working on food breakdown. For example, look at everyday recommendations for people to eat 6 small meals/day – your body will never heal in a state like that. You SHOULD be able to go without food for a period of time. Not just “should” be able to but everyone should learn how to fast properly to repair their bodies.
And some doctors think people should do a 3-day water fast EVERY month – honestly that’s probably where you get the most benefit is in regularly fasting like this.
RECAP OF FASTING BENEFITS:
- Stimulates autophagy – natural clearing of old, dead/diseased cells and replace with healthy cells – this improves lifespan/longevity.
- Shown to stimulate metabolism and promote weight loss and fat burning.
- Can decrease inflammation and oxidative stress as shown in inflammatory blood markers.
- Can improve insulin resistance.
- May improve immunity – it’s being used as a treatment for Covid Long Haulers.
- May Improve cognition/brain health.
- Latest data points to help in detoxing the Covid Spike protein – whether covid shot, shedding or “natural infection.”
- So many more…
POTENTIAL PROBLEMS:
- One might binge afterwards and on the wrong foods.
- Might not be best to do for all health disorders – that’s why you need to work with your own doctor.
- Not recommended when pregnant or nursing.
The excitement about fasting is that it is shown to help almost anything – from cancer to chronic disease to spike protein detox – yeah, that’s the latest information out there that’s exciting! But it makes sense, right? If your body needs a break from calories so it can focus on house cleaning, then ANYTHING damaging the cells or anything “unnatural” or foreign will be targeted and broken down and removed.
I NEVER recommend a fast while you’re working or doing a lot of physical labor as it’s a time to lie low and rejuvenate. Sometimes that cannot be avoided so choose a shorter fast and maybe start on a Friday if you are off work on weekends.
Then break your fast gently. Start with healthy liquid calories, like bone broth and work up from there.
As always, check with YOUR primary care provider to see if fasting could be beneficial to you and your health status.
Hope you are doing well:)
Dr. K
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