Intermittent Fasting

If you had asked me to skip breakfast a few years ago I would have scoffed. In fact the first thing I thought of as I got out of bed was breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day, right? Well no, not really.

There is no need to skip breakfast as such, and I personally believe growing children should eat before school, and older adults may need to eat when taking medication. I am not anti-breakfast, however I am pro fasting, and if I am to skip a meal, breakfast is my choice.

Fasting is the oldest health modality and is incorporated in every spiritual practice known to man, but it’s tough to do. Especially if you love food and are prone to the odd ‘hangry’ attack, like me.

The science behind fasting is strong, and fasting does not have to mean deprivation of food for days. Intermittent fasting is quite popular these days and is far easier than extended fasting. Let’s have a look at the research behind fasting and the mechanism of action.

A recent study in a mouse model examined if fasting had an effect on inflammation and  anxiety. As we know inflammation is related to anxiety and this study found that fasting the animals for 24 hours reduced inflammation and anxiety like behavior, as well as improved memory. (1) And in humans a recent study reported that fasting and energy restriction significantly improved mood in elderly men. (2)

There is much attention on intermittent fasting and weight loss, but what about inflammation? One study reported that in humans intermittent fasting ( alternate day fasting for 15 days) increased strains of beneficial gut microbes that play a role in reducing immune inflammatory responses. (3) It was a short duration study with a small sample so would be interesting to see this repeated for longer duration and in a larger population.

The tradition of Ramadan sees proponents fasting between sunrise and sunset daily – a 12-15 hour fast. Several studies have suggested that this method of fasting has beneficial effects on mood, (4) however a systematic review reported that it had detrimental effects on those with bipolar and schizophrenia. Of importance are that studies have shown that intermittent fasting, and fasting in general significantly reduces inflammation. (5) (6) (7)

There are a number of reasons as to why fasting is beneficial, but of great importance is that humans have a recycling plant in our cells, and the recycling process is referred to as autophagy. What happens in this process is the cell creates membranes that gobble up diseased or dead cells and recycles them to create new cell parts, or they are used as energy. (8) When we fast we give our body a rest so that it can move into a catabolic state, where we can enter autophagy. If we are constantly eating we are in an anabolic state – where cells keep multiplying to enable growth. Autophagy has been suggested to be a therapeutic intervention for inflammatory disease states, (9) and there is some evidence for a role of autophagy in the treatment of depression, however the mechanisms of action is not understood. (10)

I personally like to keep my eating window as between 11am and 6-7pm, which gives me a 16-17 hour fast on most days.  This works for me but its flexible. The main goal is to restrict eating to a period of time and cease eating all day every day to give our body a chance to reduce inflammation. Intermittent fasting allows us to clean out the junk, and reduce inflammation. And reducing inflammation should be a primary goal for all of us.