What is Intermittent Fasting and Is It Right For Me?
It seems to be that everyone is looking for that magic bullet, that magical golden nugget of either wisdom or of the “perfect” diet or “perfect” lifestyle that will allow them to see the results they want. Well, fam, that is a lie. There is no “perfect” diet or “perfect” way of going about it. My purpose with my weekly newsletters is to help you sift through the information that is out there, promote to you to do your own self exploration and to find what works best for you. I don’t know fam what’s best for you…. Only you will know what’s best for you and for your body and for you to be able to see those sick f***ing gainz in and out of the gym. For your curiosity and entertainment today I will go over what Intermittent Fasting or IF is, what it’s “claims” are and how it affects women’s bodies especially.
Intermittent fasting first and foremost is a pattern of eating, NOT A DIET. Intermittent fasting (IF) is said to be when we eat all of our caloric intake for the day within a certain time frame or what is referred to as an “eating window.” The fed state or when we are in that eating window is when your body is digesting and absorbing the food you just consumed. IF claims that it is difficult for the body to burn fat during this stage due to the increase in insulin levels at this time. The Fasted or Post-Absorptive state, is supposed to last for anywhere from 8 to 12 hours after your last meal. IF claims that it is much easier for the body to burn fat during this stage because insulin levels are low. IF also claims some of the following:
IF Decreases:
Triglycerides and LDL
Blood Pressure
Markers of Inflammation
Oxidative stress
Risk of cancer
IF Increases:
Cellular turnover and repair
Fat burning
Growth hormone release
Metabolic rate
IF Improves:
Appetite control
Blood sugar levels
Cardiovascular function
Effectiveness of Chemotherapy
Neurogenesis and neuronal plasticity
These claims seem amazing right, and you’re probably wondering why everyone isn’t adapting to this lifestyle already, right. Well there are some problems with these claims. First problem is that most if not all of the research for IF has been done on animals. The use of human trials and their evidence is limited and some of their experimental groups were poorly designed and regulated. Second problem facing IF is that it is being compared to a “normal” way of eating. Which if they don’t advocate for a change in your dietary choices or adding exercise into the mix of what a healthy lifestyle should be, it kind of makes their claims inconclusive. Because right now, it is equally plausible to say that 1, eating fewer calories than you burn and 2, eating a diet lower in processed foods, chemicals and pollutants… may offer you the same benefits as IF.
IF also seems to be biased when it comes to gender. I read an article written by Dr. John Berardi, the co-founder of Precision Nutrition and he found the following to be true for him when he tried the IF protocol in his own life. He said that the IF approach didn’t help him lose fat any faster or better than a more conventional diet approach (small meals, more frequent) might have, even though he did lose weight and body fat. He also found that IF may be helpful for those who are already “in-shape” (who ideally have a healthy relationship with food) who want to get really lean without following conventional bodybuilding diets. Dr. John Berardi did mention that IF might also be beneficial to those who need to learn the differences between bodily hunger and mental hunger. He definitely made it seem like IF, “is not the end-all, be-all of nutrition or fitness.” Dr. John Berardi’s results for himself can not be compared to anyone else or women, especially. IF seems to work well for some women and not so much for others. This is when self-experimentation and lifestyle matching are really important with figuring out the best ways to reach your goals. Female bodies with IF have been sometimes known to cause binge eating, metabolic disruption, loss of menstrual cycles, and early-onset menopause. The female body and our hormones, Leptin, Insulin, and Ghrelin are very sensitive towards the types of foods we eat and the timing of our foods. When these hormones as well as a protein-like molecule that is used between neurons to communicate with one another called, kisspeptin, are disrupted we can lose our periods. Some of you might be like, “hell yes that’s awesome.” Wrong ladies. If you’re missing your periods, you can bet that your hormones are out of whack. When our hormones are out of whack, and our estrogen levels have been altered, our metabolic functions that they control can be changed too. Some of these metabolic functions that are controlled by these hormones are: cognition, mood, digestion, recovery, protein turnover, and bone formation. Estrogen can also affect hunger, so in our efforts to fast to lose weight, we might be making things worse. When our estrogen levels drop we become even more hungry.
In the end Fam, you must do what is best for you. Again, only through trial and error will you learn that. If you’re interested further in the topic above, check out Precision Nutrition and type in “Intermittent fasting.” A boat load of information will come up. Also come talk to me, I will do my best to help guide you through this self-explorative process in finding what works best for you. Baby steps.