Does a busy schedule keep you from eating during the day?
If so, you may already be fasting.
This may seem like a bad thing, but it has health benefits.
Fasting during the day helps with blood sugar, inflammation, blood pressure, brain function, metabolism, delaying aging, and possibly cancer prevention.
Short-term fasting is up to 14 hours. You only fast for part of the day.
Intermittent fasting is eating only between 12-8 pm.
Daily fasting means 24 hours with no eating.
Short-term, intermittent fasting can reduce blood sugar levels, and help fight resistance to insulin.
Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, body fat and liver start resisting or ignoring the signal that the hormone insulin is trying to send out—which is to grab glucose out of the bloodstream and put it into our cells.
Glucose, or blood sugar, is the body’s main source of fuel.
Short-term fasting can increase your metabolism.
Fasting for an entire day can decrease body weight by 9%.
A very low calorie diet may help with levels of inflammation and could be beneficial for people with multiple sclerosis.
Every other day fasting can decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol levels by an estimated 25-30%.
It can also mimic the effects of chemotherapy to slow down growth of tumors and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy medications.
Daily fasting can increase your HGH hormone levels. HGH is a protein hormone that plays a role in growth, metabolism, weight loss and muscle strength.
In a study on mice, which have similarities to anatomy, physiology and genetics of a human, fasting over 11 months showed increased generation of nerve cells which helped enhance cognitive function.
Make sure to check with your physician before you try fasting, to see if it’s beneficial for you.