Hunger Games: Intermittent Fasting

Welcome back, today we are taking a glance at intermittent fasting is one of the newest diets possibly the hottest one on the internet. It is gaining ground on the Paleo Diet which has exploded along with Crossfit as their go to diet. I find the subject an interesting study and figured many of my readers would feel the same way. In this article we find out what exactly intermittent fasting is, the types of fasting, the benefits and the risks. Lets look at what intermittent fasting is.

 Intermittent is alternating periods of eating with periods of not eating, this goes in the face of conventional wisdom that states we should eat 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day.  You have three different options when it comes to intermittent fasting the trial fast, the periodic fast, and the daily fast. I found this breakdown in the Dr.John Berardi E-book Intermittent Fasting, please see the link below its full of great information.

   Trial Fast is simple you go without food for 24 hour, he suggests people should do it to master the ability to manage hunger, so you experience hunger without freaking out. Its for people who want to try it without committing to it full time, also it can be a way in to the advanced forms of fasting. This is how he did the trial fast pick the 24 hour period when you want to do it, the night before you have your last meal with 2 cups of water. The next morning you have 4 cups of water and 1 serving of greens, 1 cup of green tea, and 5 grams of BCAA’s.  About five hours later the same thing, at the same time you had your last meal the night before you eat a small snack before bed with 2 cups of water.  The next day you break the fast with lean meats and veggies, he also suggests the small snack be almond butter and celery.

  
Periodic Fast is well ... a periodic fast. You continue with an optimal meal plan then periodically fast for one full day just like the trial fast. This can be don once a week, once a month or even once a year. You would do this to practice hunger management and experience  more of the benefits of intermittent fasting. This is for anyone who did well on the trial fast, to do it you follow the rules from the trial fast.  The author of the e book does this when he travels especially in airports when good food is hard to come by, but since travel can be stressful pick a less stressful day. 

Daily Fast is an 8 hour feeding period followed by a 16 hour fast. This is done to pursue extreme leanness. This is for people who are already fit are eating healthy and want to be extremely lean. Berardi notes that men respond best to this fast and women tend to respond to a shorter fast 10 hour eating window with a 16 hour fast.  This is not for women who are pregnant, women with a bodyfat percentage over 22%, and men with a bodyfat percentage over 15%. The  principles for daily fasting are high vegetable and protein intake during the 8 hour feeding window. As far as training do intense resistance exercise three times per week right before you eat your first meal. On training days, add carbs (quinoa, rice,whole grain bread, fruit etc) to your base diet of protein and veggies.  Also on training days eat as much of your food as soon after training as possible. The biggest meal should be the post workout meal. The choice time frame for this is fast is from 9pm to 1pm the next day, exercising around noon consuming 10 grams of BCAA’s during the workout. After training, eat 2-3 large meals before 9pm with the biggest being the post workout  meal.  Single day sample 8 am wake up drink 2 cups of water, 9am drink 1 liter of water 1 serving of greens and a cup of green tea, 11 am 1 cup green tea, 12 pm workout with 10 g BCAA, 1:30 pm First meal largest of the day, 4:30 pm second meal moderate sized, 8:30 third meal moderate sized meal. Prior to trying this method of fasting try the first two offered here, also this is not a magic bullet so you really need to be in good shape to get the most benefits. Thank you to Dr. John Berardi and his excellent breakdown in his e-book and his generosity with the information obtained resulting from his self experimentation.

We have a limited amount of studies on intermittent fasting in humans, a decent amount of them in animals. The initial experiment done in 1946 by the University of Chicago found that denying food every third day boosted rats lifespans approximately  20 percent in males and 15percent in females. A review of this study by the University of California at Berkeley concluded the alternate day fasting may decrease cardiovascular disease risk, decrease cancer risk, improve cognitive function and protect against some effects of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The review was of a 61 year old study done on rats, so lets be cautiously about the benefits. A study done in 2005 on the “effect of intermittent fasting and feeding of insulin action in healthy men “that appeared in the journal of applied physiology found that intermittent fasting increases insulin sensitivity in the whole body and in adipose tissues. This supports the view that cycles of feast or famine are important as an initiator of thrifty genes leading to improvements in metabolic function. The researchers suggest that fasting induced an increase in circulating adiponectin that is at least partly responsible for this finding. The change in adiponectin, together with the changes in plasma leptin with fasting, underlines the important role of the adipose tissue in recognizing the variation in energy stores. Adionectin is a protein hormone that modulates a number of metabolic processes, including glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation. It is exclusively secreted from the adipose tissue into the bloodstream. Levels of the hormone are inversely correlated with bodyfat percentage in adults. Levels of adiponectin are lower in diabetics compared to non-diabetics and increase due to weight reduction. Adiponectin exerts some its weight reduction effects in the brain, in a similar action to leptin. The two hormones perform complementary actions and can have a synergistic effect.  I know I got a little science crazy there but it looks to me like it would be a success when used for weight reduction. In the 6 months of his study Dr. Berardi went from 190-170 pounds and six percent bodyfat going from 10% to 4%. .The first month is was a 1 full day fast , second month no fasting, third month 2 full day fasts. In month four he did daily 16/8 fasts, month five was a 1 full day fast with daily 16/8 fasts and in month 6 he did daily 16/8 fasts with 2 20/4 fasts. He did maintain his weight in the 170-175 range for four months. He did some blood testing at the beginning and at the end of the fasting please refer to the e-book for that information.

I am not going to promise you that IF is the be all end all of weight reduction but it does give us another avenue. It really is not for everyone especially those of you who may be pregnant, those with a history of eating disorders, and anyone under the age of 18.  Almost all diets work it’s a matter of complying with the program, most times people are told eat 5-6 small meals a day. They end up hearing its ok to graze all day, the idea is to avoid insulin spikes and to keep you on an even keel. Its not to be feeding all day you are still on a calorie restriction. I think that is where people run into issues. Intermittent fasting is a good meal plan it has been shown to work, but its not for everyone. If your not pregnant , have an eating disorder or are under 18 try the one day fast see how it works for you. Sunday we have GMO’s to look at , it should be interesting as it is a hot button topic. As always thanks for reading and please share.

  

Reources 
"Effect of intermittent fasting and refeeding on insulin action in healthy men"  Halberg, Henriksen, Soderhamn,Stallknecht,Ploug,Schjerling and Dela JAPA 12/05 Vol 99 no 6  2128-2136

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting