It’s time to let the cat out of the bag and reveal the diet I have done for years. I have never talked about with my clients or students before because this protocol, known as Intermittent Fasting, is the antithesis of conventional diet wisdom. The most commonly recommended healthy diets suggest eating 5 to 6 small, frequent meals a day where Intermittent Fasting diets call for one or 2 large meals and a long stretch of time without eating.
We used to think that fasting slowed down the metabolism while eating frequently kept the metabolism revved up since it was always digesting something and kept blood sugars level by never going too long without food. Turns out intermittent fasts of 16 to 36 hours may do the same things and have extra benefits like increasing longevity and staving off age related diseases and improving insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular function and brain function. Many studies have been done on animals with great success. Research on humans is limited but the results so far are impressive.
Were humans made to fast? Think about it. It’s only been a mere blip in our historical timeline that we’ve had constant food availability. Most of our history until very recently had us enduring periods of feast and famine. As a matter of fact, every third world nation still endures this. I can’t help but think that maybe our bodies were made to go without food for longer periods of time. It’s not like our ancestors could just say, “Hmmm, it’s almost lunch time. Somebody get that wildebeest to run by and fire up the bar-b.” I remember my grandmother saying she used to fast once a week for “health reasons.” She may have been onto something. But you can decide for yourself.
Click here to read the blog on Huffington Post.
