Before I dive into my 5 favorite tips for IF, I want to touch on a few of the beneficial hormonal adaptations that occur as a result of fasting...

• Regular fasting, in addition to lowering insulin levels, has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity significantly. This is the missing link in the weight-loss puzzle. Most diets reduce highly insulin-secreting foods, but do not address the insulin resistance issue. 
• Growth hormone secretion decreases steadily with age. One of the most potent stimuli to growth hormone secretion is fasting.   Long term studies of intermittent fasting prove that the fasting strategy is more than 4 times better at preserving lean mass percentage compared to caloric restriction.
• Noradrenaline levels are increased so that we have plenty of energy to go get more food. For example, 48 hours of fasting produces a 3.6% increase in metabolic rate, not the dreaded metabolic ‘shut-down’. In response to a 4-day fast, resting energy expenditure increased up to 14%. Rather than slowing the metabolism, instead the body revs it up. Presumably, this is done so that we have energy to go out and find more food.

So my 5 favorite tips to make your fast effective and easy...

1. Eat Clean - Lack of hunger when eating low carb has been linked to ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body runs mainly on fat — at least some of which is body fat — and breakdown products of fat called ketones. Studies clearly show that these diets reduce hunger, though the mechanisms via which ketones reduce hunger are only partly understood. Said more simply, low-carb diets higher in protein, fat, and fiber-filled veggies increase “fullness” hormones, like CCK and PYY, and decrease “hunger” hormones, like ghrelin. Eating whole foods is a good rule of thumb. Low carb (veggies and moderate fruit) - High Protein (grass fed, grass finished nose to tail) - Moderate Fat (cook in tallow, grass-fed butter)
2. Stay Busy - Trick the mind. Find things to do like work, read or perhaps go for a walk. The busier the day the easier it is to fast and stay out of the kitchen.
3. Start Slow - Push back breakfast an hour every few days. Go at your own pace.
4. Stay Hydrated - Eating less often provides less water. If you make the switch to a low-carb diet, you are probably eliminating processed foods from your diet, which contain high amounts of sodium. Second, low-carb diets are diuretic in nature, meaning the kidneys excrete electrolytes at a higher rate. This is normal and not something to be worried about, but it is important to replace these electrolytes. By properly supplementing your electrolytes, adding salt to water, and/or drinking mineral water commonly contains substances like magnesium, calcium, sodium, and zinc, and, according to recent research, they're actually a pretty effective way to boost your mineral intake. At its core, mineral water provides minerals the human body can't create itself.
5. Ride out hunger waves - Ghrelin is the so-called hunger hormone. So, if you want to lose weight on a long-term basis, you need to tune down ghrelin. Hunger can be a learned response. We are used to eating three meals per day, so we begin to get hungry just because it is ‘time to eat’. But if you don’t eat at those times, ghrelin DOES NOT CONTINUALLY INCREASE. After the initial wave of hunger, it recedes, even if you don’t eat. Hunger comes as a wave. After it passes, it loses much of its power. Ghrelin spontaneously decreases after approximately two hours without food consumption. If you simply ignore hunger and don’t eat, it will disappear. The average ghrelin levels over 24 hours of fasting decreases! In other words, eating nothing makes you less hungry.

There you have it, my favorite tips to make fasting a breeze!

-Always be sure to consult with a physician before you start fasting.-

Have a great day!

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