There are many forms of fasting. From water fasting, intermittent fasting, and even something called “fast mimicking diet,” there are lots of options to choose from if you are searching for a new way of eating that works for your body. One of the ‘buzz words’ that you have probably heard flying around in the last year or two is intermittent fasting. What is it? Why are people swearing by it? What other fasting options are out there? Let’s dive in and see if we can answer some of your questions about fasting!
Intermittent Fasting
This popular fasting technique is cycling through periods of eating and periods of fasting. The beginner level is a 12 hour fast where you eat for 12 hours out of the day and fast for the other 12. Basically, that’s like not eating a snack after dinner. Most people choose to do the next level, where they consume their meals within an 8-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours (commonly named the 16/8 method). Many people choose to skip breakfast and eat from 1-9 pm.
Intermittent fasting is very easy for people to manage, seeing as though they could skip breakfast naturally without even noticing. The benefits of fasting include something called “cellular autophagy” where the body has a break from metabolizing and is able to repair other regions, getting rid of old cells it no longer needs. This is why we see such benefits, like for example in our gut, in such a short period of time- because we have not necessarily cut calories, but instead have just expanded the window of time in which the body can heal itself. You are also more likely to cut down on the number of calories that you are consuming, which could result in weight loss. It is very important to listen to your body and find what works best for you! Try it for 3-4 days and give your body time to adjust to the new pattern. You might feel yourself having more energy, sleeping better at night, or losing a few pounds.
The Circadian Code
Our recent guest on the Be Organic podcast, Tyler Jean, talked all about The Circadian Code and what this diet & sleep schedule is. The Circadian Code is based on the theory that we should be timing our diet and sleep with nature. We eat in the twelve hours it is light outside, and we fast for the 12 hours it is dark. It’s also important to try to sync this with sleep, going to bed when it gets dark. This allows your internal body clock to sync externally with the elements of nature and thus will begin to rebalance hormones. It should feel pretty natural and the idea is to consume a large breakfast and lunch, with a smaller dinner. This is an ancient practice that is being brought back to the table once again, showing that nature always knows best.
Water Fasting
Water fasting is an intense way to reset your body, but it comes with some serious health risks if you are not careful. Most water fasts last for 24-72 hours and should not go any longer without medical supervision. The main reasons why people start a water fast is to promote autophagy (a process that breaks down and recycles potentially dangerous parts of your cells) or to lose weight fast (even though this weight loss could come from water weight, carbs, or even muscle mass).
Juice Fasting
Drinking fruit & vegetables that have been cold-pressed in-house should almost not even be considered a fast since your body is still receiving macro and micronutrients and minimal fiber so that your digestive system is still stimulated. Doing a water fast, where the water has been stripped of all vitamins & minerals, your gastrointestinal tract is really put on hold. Doing a juice cleanse is a more safe option for resetting your body. Not only are you getting the rest your body needs from digesting physical food, but you are also flooding your body with valuable nutrients and minerals that you would not be able to get normally by eating pounds of produce. Of course when you are cleansing it is critical to make sure it is a USDA-certified organic juice cleanse. When doing our juice cleanse, you can drink more than 15 pounds of produce each day. That is A LOT of fruits and veggies. And if this produce is conventional and non-organic, you are essentially flooding your body with pesticides, possibly even to a toxic level, making for a very ineffective and perhaps even detrimental cleanse. So give your body the best juice cleanse available by making a certified organic juice cleanse from Clean Juice. Want to learn more about juice cleansing? Visit our cleanse page or call your local store, we can answer any questions you make have.
Fast Mimicking Diet®
Tyler Jean also mentioned in his episode of the Be Organic Podcast that the Fast Mimicking Diet® was working well for him. This diet was created by Dr. Valter Longo, an Italian biologist, and researcher. This diet is a five-day pre-packaged meal kit that is full of meals and snacks that are whole-food derived and plant-based designed to ‘go undetected by cellular food sensing paths’ to keep the body in fasting mode. If you don’t want to pay for a pre-packaged meal kit you can do it yourself! There are plenty of bloggers who have done the hard work for you and give their recommendation for keeping your body in “fasting mode” while still eating.