Everyone is talking about intermittent fasting (IF) right now. You probably know someone who does it or are even thinking about jumping on board yourself. But like any nutrition plan, IF may be right for one person and not appropriate for another. Here are the key factors you want to consider when deciding whether you want to try it.
First, there are many forms of IF. The most popular is called time-restricted eating. That means that you eat every day, but only during certain hours. The most common approach is to eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours (overnight) every day.
You can choose your own eating hours, but most people choose 11 am to 7 pm or noon to 8 pm as that seems to fit best socially for dinner and many people are busy in the morning or don’t particularly like eating early in the day.
IF is something that needs to be customized to your lifestyle. Whether you try it or not, I recommend having at least 3 hours between finishing your last bite of food before going to bed, and 1 hour between waking and your first meal.
Generally, I recommend choosing earlier hours in the day to eat, which coincides with your circadian rhythm, energy needs, and metabolism.
IF can add an appropriate amount of stress to the body, helping make it stronger and more resilient. It has been studied extensively, and there are many benefits.
Fasting benefits
- Increases autophagy which clears out older cells and regenerates new ones more efficiently,
- Balances blood sugar and insulin, which helps to reduce inflammation and cellular damage,
- Resets the brain and nervous system since using ketones for fuel helps improve brain function and concentration,
- Great for the immune system,
- Helps to reduce weight and improves metabolic flexibility and longevity.
But do all these benefits mean that it’s the right system for YOU? It depends.
It is important to note that it is not appropriate for children or for those who are pregnant, underweight, or have an eating disorder.
For others, some modifications are needed to make it work. For instance, if you find that waiting until 11 a.m. to eat causes you to overeat later in the day or you are struggling with a disregulated stress response (identified through testing), then the added stress of IF on the body may be too much. In this case, relaxing the hours a little by having breakfast at 9 or 10 a.m. may be better.
For most people, it is always beneficial to have a minimum 12-hour overnight fast. So, if you aren’t there yet, focusing on that may be a gentle way to ease into this approach.
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