NEW Evidence on Intermittent Fasting

For some of you who don't know, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Numerous studies now show that it can have MEGA powerful benefits for your body and brain.

Here are 10 evidence-based health benefits:

1. Intermittent Fasting Can Change The Function of Cells, Hormones, and Genes

When you don't eat for a half day let's say, several things happen in your body.

For example, your body initiates important cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible. Score! BUT, your body figures out quickly it's not going to get food and will slow down your metabolism IF you fast for more than a certain period of time. Read more below...

Here are some of the changes that occur in your body during fasting:

• Insulin levels: Blood levels of insulin drop significantly, which facilitates fat burning.

• Human growth hormone: The blood levels of growth hormone may increase as much as 5-times facilitating fat burning and muscle gain, and have numerous other benefits.

• Cellular repair: The body induces important cellular repair processes, which happens when you fast to remove waste material from cells

• Gene expression: Several genes and molecules related to longevity that protect against disease are restored.

BOTTOM LINE:When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases, aka hcg. Your cells also initiate important cellular repairs.

2. Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight and Even Better, Belly Fat Specifically

Many of those who try intermittent fasting are doing it to lose weight. Generally speaking, intermittent fasting will make you eat fewer meals and enhances hormone function to facilitate weight loss.

Lower insulin levels, higher growth hormone levels and increased amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all increase the breakdown of body fat that's then used for energy.

For this reason, short-term fasting actually increases your metabolic rate by 3.6-14%, helping you burn even more calories. In other words, intermittent fasting works on both sides of the calorie equation. It boosts your metabolic rate (increases calories out) and reduces the amount of food you eat (reduces calories in). Win, win.

**According to a 2014 review of the scientific literature, intermittent fasting can cause weight loss of 3-8% over 3-24 weeks. In this study, people also lost 4-7% of their waist circumference, which indicates that they lost lots of belly fat, the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity that causes disease. Another study also showed that intermittent fasting caused less muscle loss than continuous calorie restriction. All things considered, intermittent fasting can be an incredibly powerful tool for your health & weight loss.

BOTTOM LINE:Intermittent fasting helps you eat fewer calories, while boosting metabolism slightly. It is a very effective tool to lose weight and more specifically, belly fat.

3. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Insulin Resistance, Lowering Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes has become incredibly common in recent decades.

Anything that reduces insulin resistance should help lower blood sugar levels and protect against type 2 diabetes.

In human studies on intermittent fasting, fasting blood sugar has been reduced by 3-6%, while fasting insulin has been reduced by 20-31%. This is very impressive indeed!

One study in diabetic rats also showed that intermittent fasting protected against kidney damage, one of the most severe complications of diabetes.

What this implies, is that intermittent fasting may be highly protective for people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

However, there seems to be some differences between genders. One study in women showed that blood sugar control actually worsened after a 22-day long intermittent fasting protocol.

BOTTOM LINE:Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels, at least in men.

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4. Intermittent Fasting Can Reduce Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in The Body

Oxidative stress is one of the steps towards aging and many chronic diseases .

It involves unstable molecules called free radicals, which react with other important molecules (like protein and DNA) and damage them.

Several studies show that intermittent fasting may enhance the body's resistance to oxidative stress.

BOTTOM LINE:Studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in the body. This should have benefits against aging and development of numerous diseases.

5. Intermittent Fasting May be Beneficial For Heart Health

Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve numerous different risk factors, including blood pressure, total and LDL cholesterol, inflammatory markers, blood triglycerides and blood sugar levels. Please note, a lot of this is based on animal studies. The effects on heart health need to be studied a lot further in humans before recommendations can be made.

6. Intermittent Fasting Induces Various Cellular Repair Processes

When we fast, the cells in the body initiate a cellular "waste removal" process called autophagy

Increased autophagy may provide protection against several diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

BOTTOM LINE:Fasting triggers a metabolic pathway called autophagy, which removes waste material from cells.

7. Intermittent Fasting May Help Prevent Cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease, characterized by uncontrolled growth of cells.

Although human studies are needed, promising evidence from animal studies indicates that intermittent fasting may help prevent cancer.

There is also some evidence on human cancer patients, showing that fasting reduced various side effects of chemotherapy.

BOTTOM LINE:Intermittent fasting has been shown to help prevent cancer in animal studies. One paper in humans showed that it can reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy.

8. Intermittent Fasting is Good For Your Brain

What is good for the body is often good for the brain as well.

Intermittent fasting improves various metabolic features known to be important for your brain like reduced oxidative stress, reduced inflammation and a reduction in blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

Several studies in rats have shown that intermittent fasting may increase the growth of new nerve cells, which should have benefits for brain function.

BOTTOM LINE:Intermittent fasting may have important benefits for brain health. It may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.

9. Intermittent Fasting May Help Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

In a series of case reports, a lifestyle intervention that included daily short-term fasts was able to significantly improve Alzheimer's symptoms in 9 out of 10 patients.

Animal studies also suggest that fasting may protect against other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

However, more research in humans is needed.

BOTTOM LINE:Studies in animals suggest that intermittent fasting may be protective against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease.

10. Intermittent Fasting May Extend Your Lifespan, Helping You Live Longer

In some of these studies, the effects were quite dramatic. In one of them, rats that fasted every other day lived 83% longer than rats who weren't fasted

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Although this is far from being proven in humans, intermittent fasting has become very popular among the anti-aging crowd.

Given the known benefits for metabolism and all sorts of health markers, it makes sense that intermittent fasting could help you live a longer and healthier life.

You can find more info about intermittent fasting on this page