Intermittent fasting - direction, purpose and possible benefits.

Last week we learned about the basics of metabolism, including the use and storage of Glucose into Glycogen in our liver, muscles and fat cells if not used as an energy source (AMPK). We discussed insulin’s role in this as well. If you haven’t read last week’s blog post - I recommend reading that before this.

We also discussed the supplement Berberine and it’s potential benefits/help with our body’s metabolic process. This week, we will continue with another method of “outsmarting” our body into burning fat. As I mentioned last week, our body was designed to survive. This means, holding onto all potential sources of energy (broken down carbohydrates) for future use. If we are not careful about balancing our caloric/carbohydrate intake amount with our needed energy expenditure, we will see an addition of unwanted fat cells on our bodies.

You have heard of fasting, whether it be for labs, a procedure, or for spiritual reasons. Fasting has been around for 1000s of years. At one point, it was believed that fasting should be done when ill, to not “feed” the illness (DeBoer, M., Majeed, C. & Vasim, I. 2022).

What is intermittent fasting? Intermittent fasting involves not eating during a planned time interval. There are many different options for fasting schedules, including:

• 5:2 method: eating a balanced diet 5 days thoughout the week and fasting two days (whichever days you wanted).

• Alternate day fasting: fasting for 24 hours every other day

• Time- restricted feeding: multiple options for this method including 14-18 hour fasting intervals. This means, people may only eat from 12pm-6pm (this would be an 18 hour fast). A lighter version would be eating from 12pm to 8pm (16 hour fast). You can continue with math to see what the 14 hour fast would mean.

Fasting sounds extreme, however if you really think about it, you would be sleeping 6-8 (hopefully 8 😉) of those hours. This brings us to an old saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. Yes, this can be true for someone who wakes early and has a day of strenuous work ahead of them (someone who needs a lot of energy fuel). Fun fact.. do you know who made that saying up? Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, does the last name sound familiar? YES! The man who introduced us to Kellogg cereal is the same man who dubbed breakfast as being the most important meal of the day. Now that’s a great marketing plan!

Maybe, back in 1894 the cereal included much healthier ingredients (was originally made from wheat). The cereal was actually created to be served to patients in a Sanitarium where is brother worked as the superintendent. Let’s look at the ingredients in Corn Flakes:

It may be hard to see everything, so I’ll mention it here.

Serving size - 1.5 cups

36G carbohydrates, 1G fiber , 4G added sugars, 3G protein. It does include a decent amount of vitamins. Ingredient wise: milled corn, sugar, malt flavor, 2% or less of salt. This is not shown above, however, If you look on the cereal box it also says (away from the ingredient list of course), “contains a bioengineered food ingredient”. Hmm.. I don’t think I want to put anything like that in my body. Realistically, this cereal is definitely a healthier choice in comparison to the other Kellogg cereals. If you have children though, please look at labels. We know we need carbohydrates for energy, but do we need added sugars? No. We also need more fiber and protein than what this offers. I will make a social media post this week with healthy alternatives to “yummy” products. I know .. this blog is supposed to be about intermittent fasting, okay let’s get back on track.

Now that we’ve discussed the different options for fasting, let’s discuss the purpose. As you probably already know, our bodies follow a Circadian Rhythm. This rhythm is what balances our making, use and storage of all nutrients- our metabolic system. Any stressor that interferes with this rhythm (working night shift, taking care of a newborn, insomnia etc.), can lead to a negative effect for our metabolic system resulting in increased insulin resistance and hormonal secretion (2022). This will of course lead to obesity. In mice studies, time- restricted fasting has been shown to have great effects on the organ systems of mice including, white adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue and the gut (2022). Our white adipose tissue is what most of our body fat is made up of. Brown adipose tissue is used for thermoregulation (burning carbohydrates to maintain warmth). Babies are born with brown adipose tissue. Research has also shown favorable effects of time-restricted fasting on insect’s brain, heart and muscle. Clinical studies in humans revealed similar findings including, decreased energy intake, body weight, body fat, blood pressure and glucose readings, triglycerides, glucose tolerance and inflammatory markers.

Okay, follow along closely because we are going to get into the pathophysiology of intermittent fasting. I think if you know the background purpose/effect, it’ll be easier to understand how intermittent fasting actually does work. If we go a little deeper into last week’s blog topic, we will see that the storage of extra energy (glucose) are stored as Triglycerides. When you are fasting for over 12 hours, triglycerides from our white- adipose tissue are converted into fatty acids and glycerol which are then metabolized for energy. During this process, our liver works to convert fatty acids to ketone bodies which becomes the energy source for our organs (especially our brain) (2022). When our body’s liver and muscle storage of glycogen for energy use is depleted, our body starts to use the white adipose tissue stored energy sources, WHICH DECREASES BODY FAT. This is the reason behind/how people are able to lose weight when following a ketogenic diet. However, this type of diet is not sustainable, because the moment you come out of Ketosis, or do not follow this diet any longer, your body is going to start storing white adipose tissue again. This will result in the return or even increase of body fat. This process in our body is called a “metabolic switch”. This metabolic switch results in activating our AMPK energy system. We discussed this system last week when we learned Berberine can activate this energy switch.

Scientifically, this sounds like it results in weight loss. Clinical studies have revealed various amounts of weight loss with intermittent fasting. The time-restricted fasting seems to me, to be the most sustainable version. Sustainable is BEST! Intermittent fasting has positive effects on individuals with the diagnosis’ of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, Diabetes Mellitus 2, obesity, coronary artery disease and even arthritis.

The above process is occurring with food alteration alone. Imagine what your results could be if you added exercise into your intermittent fasting. Physical activity uses energy, which will increase your fat burn potential. This is even more true if you are exercising while fasting. Of course, you should be cautious of how you feel when exercising while fasting. Any signs of dizziness should be red flag to eat.

During fasting states, you should maintain adequate water intake. This may also curb your hunger.

Intermittent fasting should be something you research yourself and/or discuss with your Health Care Provider. If you do have Diabetes, you can develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with intermittent fasting.

I hope you learned more about our body’s metabolic system and how intermittent fasting can benefit us, resulting in decrease of body fat.

Subscribe to stay up to date with weekly blog topics and follow along with our Instagram for bonus content, including exercises, recipes and tips. I would also love to hear from you regarding your personal experience or results with intermittent fasting.

Resources:

DeBoer, M., Majeed, V. and Vasim, I. (2022). Intermittent Fasting and Metabolic Health. Nutrients 14(3): 631. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fnu14030631.