Why Fasting Will Transform Your Entire Life
Fasting is one of the most powerful, transformative habits that you can introduce into your lifestyle. Fasting is an ancient practice that has been used for thousands of years. Until recently, fasting has been mainly practiced by those in religious circles, however, breakthroughs in research, particularly in the health and fitness industry, have shown that fasting can prevent degenerative diseases, increase longevity and improve overall well-being.
Advertising, myths and the availability of food in the western world indicate that fasting is anything but the ‘norm’. After all, it is not in the interests of the multi-trillion dollar food industry for humans to practice fasting.
One of the biggest myths that the general public believe, is that it is beneficial to eat frequently throughout the day, to keep your metabolism ‘revved’ up. This advice is actually counter-productive to how our body functions. Our body has to regulate various hormones such as ‘ghrelin’, also known as the ‘hunger hormone’. If levels of this hunger hormone are high, then we experience more cravings, which can be intense, particularly for calorific or sweet foods. Food intake is what regulates ghrelin, meaning that a breakfast high in calories can actually stimulate this hormone and keep your appetite high for the rest of the day. If you wish to maintain or lose body fat, you need to regulate and control ghrelin levels.
According to studies, ghrelin is at its lowest at roughly 9 in the morning. Hunger and appetite are mainly controlled and influenced by three hormones, ghrelin, leptin, and insulin. Remember these.
The hormonal response of our bodies are widely misunderstood by the general population, however, it is a great indicator of how healthy an individual is. One of the most dangerous, and increasing metabolic disorders, particularly in western countries, is diabetes. This disorder is directly related to a malfunction of the body’s hormonal response, namely insulin. An individual who fails to produce insulin in the right quantity, and at the right time will find their blood sugar levels abnormally high. As sugar is a toxin, our body seeks to remove it from the blood as soon as possible. Diabetes can lead to major health complications, with the possibility of heart disease, blindness, and kidney failure.
Fasting has a beneficial impact on insulin sensitivity. In fact, it is the best natural insulin regulator known to mankind. The main role of insulin is to stimulate energy storage and organism growth. When levels of insulin are high, fat gets stored into the body rapidly, thus making it near impossible for any fat loss to occur during this stage. To clarify, high insulin levels make it extremely difficult for our body to break down fat cells.
My personal experience with fasting has provided me with extraordinary benefits with regards to the physical, spiritual and mental aspects of my life. My longest fast has been 7 days. I tend to carry out these fasts once or twice a year. They help me appreciate food, improve my relationship with it and provide me with extreme mental clarity and focus. Extended fasts (over 36 hours), give the digestive system a much-needed break and provide your body with the means to detox itself from the substantial amount of toxin build-up over months or even years.
Not only does fasting provide an unparalleled detox that benefits your overall bio-system, but the amount of willpower and discipline that you cultivate during the process also enables you to make better, healthier lifestyle choices on a day-to-day basis. Periods of fasting also provide the perfect environment to meditate, self-reflect and deepen your spiritual relationship.
I currently practice a technique of fasting known as ‘Intermittent Fasting’. It is an eating schedule which cycles between periods of eating and fasting. My preferred schedule is to simply skip breakfast and lunch, and have my first meal at roughly 3 pm. Due to the fact that I have been sleeping (and fasting) for 8 hours, I am able to extend the fasting period easily and reap the benefits of being in the fasted state.
I like to be productive first thing in the morning and not having to think about cooking or eating for breakfast or lunch really simplifies my lives. An added bonus of being in a fasted state is that you can really feel the boost and benefits from a freshly roasted cup of black coffee when it enters your system. To reiterate, being in a fasted state keeps ghrelin levels and blood sugar low.
Common advice for losing weight is to cut carbohydrates, however, most individuals do not know the real reason why a low carbohydrate intake rapidly increases weight loss. First and foremost, a low intake of carbohydrates will help reduce insulin. Secondly, it will pave the way for calorie sources that comprise of proteins and fats. Proteins and healthy fats are known to be more satiating and filling when consumed, thus, assisting individuals in controlling their appetite and cravings throughout the day. A combination of both intermittent fasting and low carbohydrate intake is guaranteed to melt fat.
Consider a time when humans did not have access to 24/7 supermarkets, fast food or refrigerated, cooling systems. Hunter-gatherer tribes would typically spend the majority of the day foraging for low-hanging fruits or hunting wild animals. These tasks, particularly hunting, were not trivial and would have required our ancestors to be in an alert and focused state. After a successful hunt, the catch would be brought back to camp to be feasted on, after a long arduous day. The hunter-gather could then relax and sleep with a full belly. This notion seems to go hand in hand with the fact that westernized populations are reporting a significant lack of energy throughout the day, even with an abundance of food available!
The simple fact of the matter is that if people fast, huge food corporations lose out on money. It is common for families to eat out 3–4x per week, yet, fast food chains have only been around since the 1940s. Compare this timeline to the length of how long humans have been on earth and you will easily understand why there is a health and obesity crisis in westernized countries.
Last year, I visited the West Coast of the United States and it was clear to me why the obesity epidemic over there is out of control. When you combine unlimited soda drinks refills for $1 with an uninformed population; you are asking for trouble. If there is one key message or piece of advice that you take away from this article, it is that if you wish to control your weight, then control your hormones.
Another surprising benefit of fasting is the positive mental and cognitive effects it seems to induce. Recent scientific studies show that fasting assists cells during the recycling of waste material and also increases the level of brain proteins which are responsible for learning, memory and decision making. Our body can either use fatty acids or carbohydrates to function. Historically, fatty acids have been the primary source of fuel for humans, although currently, this is not the case.
When we are in a fasted state, our body makes the transition to utilize fatty acids instead of carbohydrates as glucose levels in the body drop. Fat is a ‘cleaner’ source of fuel compared to carbohydrates in the sense that it is more commonly found in natural food sources of food. In addition to this, we do not experience fluctuations in energy levels throughout the day when utilizing fatty acids. The huge deficiency in beneficial omega’s found in fish, and medium-chain fatty acids found in coconuts, etc., could perhaps correlate with the decline of the average IQ of the general population, as reported in the United States.
From an early age, I had struggled with emotional eating and would turn towards food as a source of comfort and relief of feelings. During my darkest times, I binged on food as a way to relieve negative feelings such as stress, worry, anxiety, and depression. Binge and emotional eating is an extremely toxic and vicious cycle that can wreak havoc on one’s emotional and physical well-being. Using sugar-laden and calorically dense food as a reward system can easily lead to this kind of cycle developing.
Fasting has dramatically helped mend my relationship with food. In a fasted state, you learn to distinguish food cravings from real hunger and appreciate it more when you break your fast. I now have a positive and intimate connection with food. I am more concerned about the quality, source and carbon footprint of the food I consume.
I cannot emphasize how important it is to ensure that the hormone balance within the body is regulated and kept under control. This is a significant factor in keeping body fat low but also retaining and building vital muscle tissue. I consider fasting to be a ‘bio-hack’ which simplifies many aspects of life, regulates key hormones and provides a perfect environment to lose or maintain weight.
It is widely accepted in the bodybuilding community that insulin is required to pack on huge amounts of size. The hormone is powerful indeed. The enormous, freaky looking bodybuilders you see in the media and on the internet are most likely injecting insulin or have done in the past. Thus, controlling and regulating insulin levels through intermittent fasting will help maintain or lose weight.
