INTERMITTENTFASTING:Your guide to make fasting work for you

The summary of this page is as follows:

• Intermittent Fasting Concept: Fasting is the practice of not taking in calories for a period of time and eating within a specific "eating window." There are various methods, such as 16:8 (16 hours of fasting, 8 hours of eating) and 5:2 (5 days of normal eating, 2 days of fasting).

• Metabolic flexibility: Fasting can increase metabolic flexibility, the body's ability to use carbohydrates (from carbohydrates) and fat as energy sources.

• Regulates hormone balance: Fasting can control important hormones such as insulin, cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin, and balance hormones that affect weight and appetite.

• Brain Health and Rejuvenation: Activation of BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor) can strengthen neural connections and create new ones. Fasting also promotes autophagy, which is the process of self-digestion in cells, and can keep you healthy and young.

Note: This summary is based on the content on the page and is not medical advice regarding fasting. We recommend that you seek medical advice before beginning a fast.

THE SCIENCE ‘When we don’t challenge ourselves with something uncomfortable, there is a subtle decline in well being; this is an illness of complacency’ Dr Gabrielle Lyon

Challenge is the spice of life. It’s crucial to personal growth and necessary for steely resilience. Short bursts of stress tell’s your body it’s a tough world, and it’s time to step up to the plate. Like how exercise burns and tears your muscles to make you stronger, enduring stress leads to an upgraded version of yourself.

Good types of stress are called ‘hormetic stressors’, and intermittent fasting’s one of them. In the correct dose for your unique physiology, fasting will boost your health in a multitude of ways, from disease resistance to anti-aging.

There’re countless ways to do it because any prolonged time without food is essentially a fast. Even your overnight sleep and the time you couldn’t eat the morning after too many espresso martini’s at the office party! Fasting’s so easy to integrate into your life, because you’re already doing it regularly.

Reframe how you see fasting. It’s not a trendy fad diet. Rather you’re becoming conscious of how many hours you’re going without food and understanding the physiological benefits of doing so.

WHAT’S INTERMITTENT FASTING?

Intermittent fasting is, in a nut shell, eating less often. You abstain from calories for a preplanned period of time and eat within a ‘feeding window’. You’re conscious of the quality of the foods you eat during your feeding window and you’re not bogged down by calorie counting. Popular types of intermittent fasts are:

Time Restricted Eating like 16:8 (16 hours without food, 8 hour feeding window)
5:2 (5 days of eating normally and 2 days fasting)
ADF (alternate day fasting)

A typical fasting program is based around the 16:8 because it’s the easiest to adhere to and can fit into almost every lifestyle. But it’s important to dip into shorter and longer fasts as well including 14:10 and One Meal A Day.

BENEFITS

METABOLIC FLEXIBILITY

We’re all born with healthy metabolisms where glucose (from carbs) is the primary source of energy, and fat burning begins once the glucose has been used up after a period of hours without food. A healthy body can switch between these two fuels like a hybrid car switches from petrol to electricity. It’s automatic and helps to keep you in shape.

But with years spent eating a Westernised Diet where cereals, chips, bread, cakes and chocolate are staple foods, you could say your body becomes too familiar with using glucose for energy.

So what you’re left with is stubborn weight gain, carb cravings and hanger in between meals. You might have difficulty judging when you’re satiated after a meal and are prone to overeating, leading to a mistrust of your own bodily signals.

Fasting’s one of the few tools out there that can improve your health across the board, and it’s rooted in returning to metabolic flexibility.

Once you fast, by default you reduce the amount of glucose available to your body for energy, and so it’s forced to switch to using fat again. But as you can imagine, depending how metabolically inflexible you were depends on how you’ll cope physically as your body makes the shift. It takes time to oil up again, like a rusty door hinge. And in the meantime you may experience symptoms like headaches, fatigue, intense carb cravings and flu.

HORMONE BALANCING

All of your hormones from testosterone to insulin to oestrogen are linked, like a delicate spiders web. If an unfortunate fly gets caught, the entire web is pulled out of balance and the spider on the other end knows dinner’s arrived!

So if one hormone is out of balance, don’t be surprised if others start causing you problems shortly after.

A prime example is cortisol, the stress hormone (because who doesn’t get their daily whopping of cortisol?). If you’re dealing with chronic stress day in, day out with no respite, your body will find it increasingly difficult to maintain balance when there’s cortisol coursing around like a bull in a china shop. And soon enough, won’t be able to. This is the metaphorical fly!

Fasting throws a lasso around the necks of key hormones and reigns them in. Hormones like:

Insulin - lowers blood sugar
Cortisol - signals stress
Leptin - the one that tells you you’re satiated after a meal
Ghrelin - the one that tells you you’re hungry

All of these directly impact your weight and cravings and when brought under control will improve metabolic flexibility and regulate hormones and associated symptoms.

YOUTH ENHANCER

Autophagy is the natural process where your cells clean out old toxins and debris from their bodies and recycle them into other more useful parts. It’s like a gardener pruning a tree, the old brown leaves and stalks are cut away to allow the fresh ones to thrive. And like the tree, autophagy keeps our cells healthy, clean and young.

Fasting’s proven to accelerate autophagy, especially after 24 hours without food, which is one of the keys to staying healthy and youthful inside and out. This is why introducing 24 hour fasts into your health regime is recommended and the She Fasts program includes one just like it!

CLEAR THINKING

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a gene which responds really well to hermetic stressors like fasting, exercise and hot/cold therapies.

BDNF is like brain fertiliser that nourishes neural connections and helps create new one’s. So that old saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is absolute bunkum. It also stimulates serotonin so don’t be surprised if you haven’t eaten in 20 hours but your mood is soaring in the clouds.

For our caveman predecessors, clear thinking during a fast was crucial, if not life saving. Keeping their wits about them whilst low on food was critical to their survival. Being fatigued, tired or hangry wasn’t an option back then, and shouldn’t be now.

METABOLISM BOOSTING FOODS

Some foods are just made for you to thrive. The following are packed to the brim with energy boosting nutrients for your cells, and therefore are the perfect accompaniments to a fasting regimen.

So stock up and eat them regularly.
AVOCADO, WILD SALMON(2-3 times per week), ALMONDS, BROCCOLI, LEAFY GREENS, GREEN TEA, BLUEBERRIES, POMEGRANATE SEEDS, OLIVE OIL

METABOLISM DECREASING FOODS

Some foods are downers for your body. Sneaky added sugars can add up over the course of the weeks and before you know it, you’re finding it difficult to shape up and you don’t know why.

This list acts as a sugar tell-all, exposing hidden sugars and empowering you to make good choices. Don’t feel pressured to avoid these foods completely. But keep them to a minimum and know to pull back or find an alternative next time.

When you're in your fasting window you should be abstaining from all macronutrients. Basically avoiding any foods with a caloric value including splashes of milk for your coffee or tea.

But my general rule of thumb is if the milk is necessary to keep you on track, then go ahead. It won't hold you back from fasting benefits like weight loss and reduced cravings. But it may pull you out of a fasted state keeping other benefits out of reach for you.

You can consume the following whilst fasting:

A WORD ABOUT SWEETENERS

Sweeteners are great for keeping you sane during a fast, and a dash here and there is no problem. I like organic Stevia when I need a hit of sweetness.

But this bring up the question of diet fizzy drinks and although they're technically okay on a fast, I wouldn't recommend them from a health perspective. There are way too many unrecognisable ingredients and it could irritate you gut over time. So with sweeteners, be wise.

EXAMPLE FOOD LIST

The benefits of fasting speak for themselves. But if you eat a standard Westernised Diet during your feasting windows you might be undoing all the good work.

Below you’ll find a food list that’ll enhance your gains, not take them away. Don’t get swept up in the perfectionism of a diet, but use it to inspire your choices and adhere to it as much as possible, without being hard on yourself if you deviate.

HANDY SUPPLEMENTS

Whilst your body bathes in the glory of a fast, you might be wondering if you can still take your supplements. To find out, check the bottle to see if they can be taken with or without food.

The following supplements are generally considered safe and can be taken during a fast. But if you have any doubts regarding health concerns or medication interactions, please check with your doctor before taking.

Electrolyte and Salt Recommendations:

If you're about to spend money on an electrolyte supplement here's what you need to know:

You may not need them! If you experience no negative symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, headaches or more, you don't need to invest in electrolyte supplements, instead just use good quality sea salt in water.

If you DO decide to buy electrolytes, it's better to choose zero calorie options so you can take them during your fasting windows as well as your feasting windows.

TYPES OF FASTS

14:10

After just 12 hours of fasting overnight, you will start to experience some of the earlier benefits like digestive repair, lowered blood glucose and increased fat burning. You may even notice clearer thinking, increased energy to workout and a feeling of lightness.

Choosing to fast for 14 hours daily over the long term sets the scene for lowered blood pressure and reduced cholesterol which will fight conditions like type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease.

Drink plenty of water because you’ll be taking in less water from food. Aim for a minimum of 2 litres per day depending on your activity levels and how much you sweat in the day. Herbal teas and black coffee are also perfectly acceptable.

16:8

The most popular form of time restricted eating. You can eat three meals a day but it might be a tight squeeze. You may even need to drop a meal. Research has estimated that eating within an 8 hour window reduces calorie consumption by around 300 kcal’s per day, without intentional calorie counting so 16:8 is great if you have difficulty managing your calorie intake. At this time fat burning is ramping up and you might be stepping into a deep fat burning state depending on your metabolism and activity levels which will boost brain function and contribute to weight loss.

24 HOUR JUICE/BONE BROTH FAST

Caloric liquid fasts are not technically a fast but more like calorie restriction which can yield the same effects of increased fat burning, better skin, reduced cravings, weight loss and all the rest. The only rule of a caloric liquid fast is in the name: calories come from liquids!

It’s a great tool for healing and repair of the gut because liquids are easy to breakdown. It’s not unusual for liquid fasts to be done for several days in a row and you can experiment with this length of time when you want to ease gut issues, want to lose stubborn weight, detoxify or require a boost of energy.

• You get to sip on something cool and refreshing or hot and comforting. For this reason you could say it's seasonal!
• You'll ingest those lovely nutrients from the liquids which will digest easily and work to heal gut lining
• You can drink herbal teas, black coffee and plenty of water alongside

JUICE FAST

I recommend vegetable juice rather than fruit simply because consuming the equivalent of 5 apples in one glass can wreak havoc on your blood sugar, counterintuitive to fasting. But adding a fruit for sweetness is okay.

Aim for 4-5 glasses of juice per day to aid detoxification, strengthen your immune system, alleviate bloating and bring a sparkle to your eye.

You can juice almost anything from carrots and ginger to celery and cucumber. You may even want to juice cabbage! Cabbage juice has profound effects on the gut lining and is recommend if you’re struggling with gut pain, bloating or IBS.

Use a juicer or blender if you’re planning to make your own, buy from a store (but ensure it’s totally fresh with no added sugar, ideally made in front of you) or there’re plenty of companies that provide juice’s specifically for fasts.

BONE BROTH FAST

Bone broth has incredible healing properties to help tighten your gut lining, reduce inflammation and boost cognition. Not to mention bettering your skin, hair and nails. It’s literally the goodness from bones, collagen and meat seeped into a warm, nourishing stock for you to ingest and absorb as your own.

• Glucosamine: strengthens bones and joints
• Gelatin: Brings shine to hair and nails
• Glutamine: Keeps the walls of your gut tight so no baddies can leak into your bloodstream
• Leucine and Glycine: Help to pack on muscle tissue essential for exercise and as we age

Make your own warming broth from home or buy a couple of cartons from your local farm shop or supermarket. Just select organic and check that it contains ingredients you’d expect.

VEGETABLE JUICES

These recipes are high in detoxification enhancing nutrients and antioxidants. Just place all ingredients from the lists into a juicer or blender and enjoy! Quantities differ whether you’re using a juicer or blender, juicer’s tend to need more ingredients to fill a glass. So buy the ingredients in large quantities so you don’t run out, and you can always use the leftovers for a salad over the week. Make one or two juices and sip throughout the day or supplement with fresh organic store bought juices.

BEETROOT
Beetroot, Ginger, Lemon, Parsley, Apple

CARROT AND GINGER
Carrot, Ginger, Orange (optional sweetness)

CUCUMBER
Cucumber, Lime

CABBAGE
White cabbage, Apple, Carrot, Ginger

CELERY
Celery, Lime

GREENS
Cucumber, Pineapple, Celery

BONE BROTH

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6 cups

1 whole chicken, organic
2 large onions, unpeeled and quartered
3 carrots, unpeeled and cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks cut into large chunks
2 parsnips unpeeled and cut into chunks
Handful fresh parsley
Handful fresh thyme
Handful fresh dill
1/2 head garlic
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp peppercorns

METHOD

1. Place all ingredients into a large stockpot with 12 cups of water.

2. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, skimming off any foam that
   comes to the top.

3. If the liquid reduces too much, add more water

4. Season again to taste and enjoy!

NOTES

You can use bone carcasses instead of fresh meat, but I find you need more of them to achieve the flavour e.g. multiple chicken carcasses

Vegetable stock is brilliant too! Just replace the meat with additional vegetables like leeks, fennel and corn cobs

ONE MEAL A DAY (OMAD)

The 24 hour fast is officially OMAD, one meal a day. Choose a meal you don’t want to miss, like dinnertime with your family, and then don’t touch another morsel until the following night. You’re likely to feel hunger pangs so drink plenty of water, coffee’s and tea’s to keep you sane. Intestinal stem cell production surges, refreshing the lining of the gut so IBS, candida and leaky gut issues are likely to have improvements. At this time, autophagy, a cleansing of cells, begins to up regulate and can continue for up to 4 days without food. This is especially good for increased energy levels and if potential cancer cells are developing as they’ll be spotted and killed.

It always helps to get your mind off not eating so here’re some ideas:

Exercise - take a walk, follow a Yoga class on Youtube or just stretch in the living room. Movement of any kind improves blood sugar regulation and decreases cravings. Have you ever craved unhealthy foods after an awesome workout? Not likely.

Go outside - if weather permits, get some fresh air, admire the effortless majesty of nature and take time to be present with your body. Quiet your mind for a few moments and be grateful for the positive changes that are delicately occurring within your body as it heals.

Brush your teeth - You’re way less likely to indulge your cravings when your mouth is clean, tingly and minty fresh!

36 HOUR FAST

With shorter fasts of 24 hours or less, you might still be burning sugar and not yet fully dipping into fat burning mode. But as you approach the 36 hour mark, you’ll be increasingly using fat and ketone bodies are being produced as energetic back up.

Ketones are a bi product of fat metabolism and are an alternative source of fuel for the body and brain when glucose has run out. In fact, they cross the blood brain barrier, and people report crystal clear cognition when in a state of ketosis. Therefore during a 36 hour fast you may experience further cognitive improvements and sustained energy.

Also, dopamine sensitivity increases and blood flow to the prefrontal cortex occur improves, boosting your mood and cognition. There’ll also be increases of BDNF in the brain improving neurone development and learning capabilities.

For some, this is a common time where symptoms of transitioning to fat burning and ketosis cause a list of unpleasant symptoms.

Often nicknamed the Keto Flu or Low Carb Flu, you might experience the following:

Headaches
Sugar cravings
Irritability
Brain fog
Difficulty sleeping
Digestive issues
Nausea
Sleepiness
Poor focus
Fatigue

This could be a sign of low electrolytes, so either take an electrolyte supplement or sprinkle some sea salt into your water. Don’t be afraid to salt your food and increase your water intake where possible. Remember, 2 litres minimum is the target.

And if symptoms become too much to tolerate, STOP.

Break the fast as detailed on the next page and try the challenge another time.

How to break a 36 hour fast

After a fast your digestive system will be refreshed and therefore sensitive to what you put into it as the next meal. Don’t ruin the benefits by indulging in greasy fast food or sugar laden treats. Whereas fasts of 24 hours or less can be broken with any small nutritious meal, a 36 hour fast should be broken with liquids only like soup, bone broth or a protein shake. This will make it easier on the digestive system to tolerate. Anything heavier like meat or greasy fast foods could cause cramps and discomfort because it’s a shock to your digestive system.

Your first food should prioritise good quality protein like lean chicken, fish or bone broth. Your hungry muscles will guzzle it up like a thirsty marathon runner!
Choose a light liquid meal first followed by another small meal approximately an hour later like fish with salad or meat with vegetables.
Use your intuition and be careful not to eat too much too soon.

PLAYING THE LONG GAME
This will help you forever

The best thing about intermittent fasting is it’s flexible around your lifestyle and there’re lots of variations to choose from. Like with exercise or ice baths, your tolerance to fasting will increase. But it goes without saying to check with your doctor if you’re dealing with serious health complications and want to experiment with fasting. But, please ask a doctor who has a holistic way of thinking.

WEEKLY

Continue with 14:10 and 16:8 as your staple fasts and relax the rules when you’re overly stressed, training hard for a sporting event like a marathon.

Including an OMAD or a calorie liquid fast once per week is totally acceptable and often undertaken by nutrition and health professional’s who love to discover secrets to vitality and longevity.

If you’re unable to fast for whatever reason, it’s no problem! When you’re ready and your lifestyle permits, pick up from where you left off with no self punishment or bruised ego’s!

MONTHLY

A 36 - 48 hour fast is great once per month. Any more than that isn’t really necessary. When choosing to do a longer fast like these, review your stress levels.

• Are you overworked?
• Have you lost your appetite recently and not eating enough calories?
• Are you not recovering well from exercise?
• Are you fatigued or exhausted?
• Are you having trouble sleeping?
• Are you already exercising loads, doing keto, counting calories, intermittent fasting etc?

If you answer yes to any of the above, I’d give longer fasts a miss this month. Long periods of time without food will add another layer of stress to your body and you could end up causing health issues like burned out adrenals and lowered immunity. Instead of fasting, take long baths, eat comforting stews and soups, book a massage, arrange a date night and take yourself to bed early. This is the fastest way to wellness in this case.

YEARLY

Fasts of 3-7 days are to only be done if you’re experienced, have guidance and have metabolic flexibility.

After 3+ days of fasting your body undertakes a deep clean and is like pressing ctrl+alt+del on every system in your body. The health benefits reach as far as a complete overhaul of your cells and systems and is sometimes used to tackle serious health issues like immune problems or cancer. But please consult your doctor before trying.

How will you look and feel a year from now if you put the work in?

What’s worse is looking back and feeling regret at not putting your all into your health.

Tell, me, what’s harder?

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT WILL BREAK MY FAST?

Whilst there’re countless ways to fast, if your intent is to improve metabolic benefits and reduce cravings, avoid all protein, carbs and fats (although technically, consuming just fat alone like butter or MCT oil won’t raise your blood sugar, but still breaks the fast and could lead to becoming lax on food abstinence).

Consume the following during a fast:

Water
Lemon water
Black coffee
Herbal tea
Electrolytes or sea salt (no calories, check the label)

CAN I EXERCISE WHILST FASTING?

Hell yes! Exercise intensifies the effects of your fast by further reducing glucose in the blood and accelerating fat burning. It’s also a great way to distract you from eating your own hand during longer fasts.

WILL FASTING MAKE ME LOSE MUSCLE MASS?

No, because your body’s too busy using fat for fuel!

This is still the case even if you’re exercising during a fast because your muscle is necessary to preserve for exercise adaptation. Exercise also signals your muscles to grow.

Unless you’re a competitive body builder who needs to pack on huge amounts of muscle and eat regularly, there’s no need to worry about losing muscle mass.

Total protein intake in a day is more important than how soon you eat after a workout. So during your eating window, ensure you’re getting enough protein which is at least 1.6g per kg of bodyweight. Or, aim for approx 30g of protein at each meal.

WHAT IF I GET TOO HUNGRY?

You could be dehydrated, so to tick that box, drink some water with a pinch of salt or electrolytes. Sipping on warm mugs of tea, and coffee in the morning blunts the appetite.

Your mind could be caught up in it’s usual eating habits and doesn’t know what to do with the time usually spent eating a meal or snacking. So get busy and distract yourself.

Understand that hunger isn’t a bad thing. We’re taught from a young age to eat when we’re hungry but it’s not necessarily the case, that’s an old school way of thinking that came from our parents who needed to keep us fed so we could grow.

Hunger appears in waves and will come and go. Know that the more you make fasting a habit, the less you’ll feel hunger in the future. Ride the wave, so to speak!

WHAT IF I FEEL SICK OR LIGHTHEADED?

This could be down to keto flu caused by low electrolytes and dehydration. Increase water intake with a sprinkle of salt or electrolytes to see if this solves the issue.

However, if you continue to feel dizzy and unable to function normally then I recommend breaking your fast with a nourishing meal and let go of the idea of fasting that day.

There’s no shame in breaking a fast when you didn’t intend to. In fact, take it as a good sign that you’re pushing the boundaries of your body and that next time your tolerance will be better. Try the fast again tomorrow and see if you can sustain it next time.

DOES FASTING SLOW MY METABOLISM?

No, there’s no slowed metabolism or ‘starvation mode’. In fact, your cells are becoming more efficient at utilising energy including stored fat and even ketones.

Starvation mode and a reduced metabolism occur when you enter a stage of malnutrition which can happen even if you’re not fasting. The key here is to eat enough calories during your eating window, so for the average male it’s 2000kcals and the average female is approximately 1600 kcal. But this is a very wide net, and your personal calorie intake might vary from this depending on your size, age and exercise level. To track your calories try using a free food tracking app, like Cronometer or MyFitnessPal.