Millions who have adopted Intermittent Fasting (IF) as a way of life vouch for its benefit. Evidence from Decades of research on animals and humans point to the evidence of the wide-ranging health benefits of intermittent fasting.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
The 16/8 method is the simplest and easiest to follow. It involves skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours, such as 1–9 p.m. Then you fast for 16 hours in between. In India, Dr Jagganth Dixit espouses two meals a day and has a huge following, many of whom have experienced life-changing success. (Click to read Success Stories).
The NIH (National Institute of Health) has highlighted research findings that support the health benefits of intermittent fasting.
How It Affects Your Cells and Hormones?
While fasting our body undergoes changes at the cellular and molecular levels. Our body adjusts hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible and the cells initiate important repair processes and change the expression of genes.
Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016 for his research on how cells recycle and renew their content, a process called autophagy. Fasting activates autophagy, which helps slow down the ageing process and has a positive impact on cell renewal.
The ancient sages across faith understood autophagy and practised fasting. Fasting is part of the religious ritual is followed by the Hindus during certain festivals, the followers of Islam fast during Ramadan, Christians fast during the season of Lent. The followers of Jainism also follow a strict code of fasting. We see the importance of fasting in the renewal or rejuvenation of our bodies and the psychological benefits like increasing our willpower and threshold level to endurance are entwined with the spiritual renewal that all faith subscribes to.
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| Intermittent Fasting for Health & Social Good |
Listed below are a few of the many changes that occur in our body when we fast:
- Human Growth Hormone (HGH): The levels of growth hormone skyrocket, increasing as much as 5-fold. This has benefits for fat loss and muscle gain, to name a few (4, 5, 6, 7).
- Insulin: Insulin sensitivity improves and levels of insulin drop dramatically. Lower insulin levels make stored body fat more accessible (8).
- Cellular repair: When fasted, your cells initiate cellular repair processes. This includes autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells (9, 10)
- Gene expression: There are changes in the function of genes related to longevity and protection against disease (11, 12).
What are the health benefits of intermittent fasting?
Weight loss: As mentioned above, intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat, without having to consciously restrict calories (1, 13).
Insulin resistance: Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, lowering blood sugar by 3–6% and fasting insulin levels by 20–31%, which should protect against type 2 diabetes (1).
Inflammation: Some studies show reductions in markers of inflammation, a key driver of many chronic diseases (17, 18, 19).
Heart health: Intermittent fasting may reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin resistance — all risk factors for heart disease (1, 20, 21).
Cancer: Animal studies suggest that intermittent fasting may prevent cancer (22, 23, 24, 25).
Brain health: Intermittent fasting increases the brain hormone BDNF and may aid the growth of new nerve cells. It may also protect against Alzheimer’s disease (26, 27, 28, 29).
Anti-ageing: Intermittent fasting can extend lifespan in rats. Studies showed that fasted rats lived 36–83% longer (30, 31).
Keep in mind that research is still in its early stages, although promising scientists are yet to conclude on the long-term effect it has on our bodies.
What are the cautions, safety & side effects to be considered in intermittent fasting?
If you have a medical condition, you should consult with your doctor before trying intermittent fasting.
- This is more important if you:
- Have diabetes.
- Have problems with blood sugar regulation.
- Have low blood pressure.
- Take medications.
- Are underweight.
- Have a history of eating disorders.
- Are a woman who is trying to conceive.
- Are a woman with a history of amenorrhea.
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding.
All that being said, intermittent fasting has an outstanding safety profile. It also is required to ensure our meals are nutritious and balanced or else we end up malnourished. There is nothing dangerous about not eating for a while if you’re healthy and well-nourished overall.
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