Palak Chaturvedi, Founder & CEO, NuFit, 0
Fasting has been around for a while now, generally known to cleanse the entire body system and is advocated in some form or the other by major religions around the world. Intermittent fasting on the other hand has been gaining popularity and acceptance irrespective of age and gender. Intermittent fasting is about eating in cycles that have a longer gap, a period of brief fasting such as the 16/8 and 5:2 methods. A 16/8 method would include fasting for 16 hours and have an eight-hour eating window.
How Does Intermitted Fasting Work
After having a meal, the food is converted into energy and is utilized by the body. Once that energy is depleted, the body goes into the fasting stage and starts utilizing the stored energy from the muscles. A 16 hour fast exhausts the stored muscle energy and begins to harness the liver glycogen in a process known as glycogenolysis. A depletion of glycogen causes the fatty acid to metabolize, and ketone bodies are formed. Intermittent fasting is effective as it helps burn this stored glucose and fats naturally.
Powerful benefits on Body and Brain-
Intermittent fasting can play beneficial roles in the body and brain. From initiating weight loss, breaking down harmful fats to reducing the risk of type two diabetes, heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, intermittent fasting has many long-term benefits.
With many studies claiming its powerful benefits for your body and brain, we list down a few that highlight its benefits in building a healthy lifestyle.
1.Lose Weight:
Losing weight is one of the prime benefits of intermittent fasting as it gives fewer meals to the body that accounts for lesser calorie intake. Just as with short-term fasting, intermittent fasting helps in increasing your metabolic rates and helps you burn more visceral fat located in the abdominal cavity. Visceral fat is known to be harmful and can cause various diseases.
2.Reduction In Blood Sugar Levels:
With a decrease in blood sugar levels, there is a visible reduction in insulin resistance that helps to lower the risk of type two diabetes. Intermittent fasting can help lower the risk of developing Type-2 diabetes, specifically for men.
3.Changes Your Internal Body Functions:
Effects on your hormones to cause body fat to be utilized and initiates cell repair processes. A drop in insulin levels in the blood facilities the burning of stored fat. Muscle
gain is initiated with important cellular repair and removal of waste material from the body.
4.Healthy Heart:
A healthy heart does wonders to one's lifestyle and intermittent fasting positively affects potentially harmful factors like blood sugar levels, blood pressure, blood triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
5.Repair At The Cellular Level:
Intermittent fasting initiates a cellular 'waste removal' process called autophagy. This metabolic path involves metabolizing broken and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells over time. These waste materials from the cell help the cell repair process.
6.Protect Against Neurode generative Diseases: Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease that is best prevented before its onset by doing intermittent fasting.Similarly,Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are also known to be influenced by fasting and protect the brain and nerves from such diseases.
7.Benefits On The Brain Functions:
Intermittent fasting improves metabolic activity that is essential to the health of the brain. With the growth of new nerve cells, intermittent fasting aids key brain functions and increases the levels of a brain hormone that reduces the risk of depression and brain damage.
8.Reduces Risk Of Cancer:
Cancer is the uncontrolled buildup of cells in the body. Intermitted fasting helps benefit metabolism in the body and reduces the risk of cancer and is also known to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
9.Slows Down Aging:
Aging brings with it oxidative stress and many chronic diseases. Intermittent fasting enhances the overall body resistance to oxidative stress and helps fight inflammation.
10.Increased Life Expectancy:
Calorie restriction, increased fat burning and metabolism rate in the body influences life expectancy. Apart from reducing overall body weight, providing cellular repair, intermittent fasting helps better one's sleep cycle along with nurturing cell growth.
Choose A Healthy Lifestyle With Intermittent Fasting Intermittent fasting helps and achieves much more even when done for a shortterm goal like weight loss. With the restriction on the daily calorie intake, it works simply because there are a lesser number of meals to prepare and the time-restricted diet helps to pack much of the necessary nutrients in a couple of meals. Intermittent fasting makes it possible to eat healthy during the eating window and helps plan, cook healthy and nutritious meals for those who live a fast-paced lifestyle. A slower aging process with increased life expectancy, sure makes for a healthier and fit lifestyle.
4.Healthy Heart:
A healthy heart does wonders to one's lifestyle and intermittent fasting positively affects potentially harmful factors like blood sugar levels, blood pressure, blood triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
5.Repair At The Cellular Level:
Intermittent fasting initiates a cellular 'waste removal' process called autophagy. This metabolic path involves metabolizing broken and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells over time. These waste materials from the cell help the cell repair process.
With the restriction on the daily calorie intake, it works simply because there are a lesser number of meals to prepare and the time-restricted diet helps to pack much of the necessary nutrients in a couple of meals
6.Protect Against Neurode generative Diseases: Alzheimer's is a neurodegenerative disease that is best prevented before its onset by doing intermittent fasting.Similarly,Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are also known to be influenced by fasting and protect the brain and nerves from such diseases.
7.Benefits On The Brain Functions:
Intermittent fasting improves metabolic activity that is essential to the health of the brain. With the growth of new nerve cells, intermittent fasting aids key brain functions and increases the levels of a brain hormone that reduces the risk of depression and brain damage.
8.Reduces Risk Of Cancer:
Cancer is the uncontrolled buildup of cells in the body. Intermitted fasting helps benefit metabolism in the body and reduces the risk of cancer and is also known to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.
9.Slows Down Aging:
Aging brings with it oxidative stress and many chronic diseases. Intermittent fasting enhances the overall body resistance to oxidative stress and helps fight inflammation.
10.Increased Life Expectancy:
Calorie restriction, increased fat burning and metabolism rate in the body influences life expectancy. Apart from reducing overall body weight, providing cellular repair, intermittent fasting helps better one's sleep cycle along with nurturing cell growth.
Choose A Healthy Lifestyle With Intermittent Fasting Intermittent fasting helps and achieves much more even when done for a shortterm goal like weight loss. With the restriction on the daily calorie intake, it works simply because there are a lesser number of meals to prepare and the time-restricted diet helps to pack much of the necessary nutrients in a couple of meals. Intermittent fasting makes it possible to eat healthy during the eating window and helps plan, cook healthy and nutritious meals for those who live a fast-paced lifestyle. A slower aging process with increased life expectancy, sure makes for a healthier and fit lifestyle.