The Most Amazing Things Happen When You're Intermittent Fasting or Quit Stuffing Your Face And Live

You might read the title and be wondering what the hell is this intermittent fasting? Is it some hot new fitness trend? In actuality it's been around for millions of years, since primitive man first stepped out of Africa and possibly before.

In this age of gluttony or bodies are having trouble compensating for the over abundance of food that's available. Everything is supersized, 60% more for the same price, free refills, so forth and so on. Because of this over abundance obesity is at an all time high. The adult obesity rate in the United States has climbed from 10% in 1990 to 38% in 2017.

It's an undisputed truth that we all came from Africa and up until the very recent past we were hunter gatherers. Which meant we were constantly moving around following game and eating whatever we could such as nuts and fruits when in season, roots and whatever we could catch and kill. This also means our bodies adapted to going long periods of time without food. In fact it adapted so well our bodies actually perform better when we miss a few meals as I have found out.

Dr. Loren Cordain, the world's foremost authority on the natural human diet of our ancestors, describes the evolution of the way we eat in terms of a 100 yard football field. 1.8 million years ago primitive man moved out of Africa and into the Republic of Georgia which represents 5.3 yards. Fast forward to 700,000 years ago we made it to China, that takes us to the 63 yard line. Jump to 500,000 years ago we went to Box Grove in England where they also found many large butchered animals, so we were eating meat almost exclusively. Jumping ahead to 430,000 years ago the neanderthals entered the scene and that puts us on the 77 yard line and still hunter gatherers. 195,000 years ago Homosapians appeared and we go to the 90 yard line. 70,000 years ago, 96 yards and Homosapians started to spread out around the world. 10,000 years ago was the agricultural revolution and that takes us to the 99.5 yard line. This was a very important point in human nutritional evolution according to Dr. Cordain. Prior to this time all we ate were plant and animal foods when we could find them, no cereal and no dairy. Going from the agricultural revolution to the industrial revolution we are now on the 99.9 yard line. This is when a tiny amount of processed foods started to make their way into our diet. The beginnings of processed food began about 120 years ago. So if you think about it this way for 99.9 yards our genetic makeup has been conditioned by plant and animal foods and eating when we were able, to stuffing our faces all hours of the day and night with all manor of crap.

As I've stated before I enjoy experimenting with bio-hacks that help us feel better, perform better, give us better brain function and regenerate our cells. I started intermittent fasting or intermittent eating around the same time I started taking Scottish showers, (click here to read my blog on Scottish showers if you're curious), below I'm going to tell you why.

Now I'm not going to lie, when I first started fasting even though I'd been low carb for quite some time it was hard AF. But each day it became a little easier and I could go a little longer without food. I got to the point where on a few occasions when I was very busy I didn't eat for close to 24 hours, and this wasn't a problem for me. I was able to go the gym and have a pretty intense workout with energy to spare. I attribute this to being fat adapted and in Ketosis. Fat adapted means you have a low glucose level so you are using your fat for energy and Ketosis is a normal metabolic state that produces ketone bodies out of fat to give you energy and feed the brain, basically it's just a fancy word for fat adapted.

Most people are in some level of ketosis every day when you fast through the night while you're asleep. That is unless you eat a bunch of shit right before bed spiking your insulin levels.

Before I get into the benefits of fasting here are several different types you may want to try once you learn how good it is for you and how your body is designed for it.

1. The 16/8 - 16 hours without food and an 8 hour feeding window.

2. The 18/6

3. The skip a day - Fast for 24 hours (or eat 25% of your normal caloric intake, no sugar or starches) then eat normally the next day.

4. The Warrior diet - eating very little during the day or nothing at all the one large meal at night.

5. Eat-Stop-Eat - A true 24 hour fast consuming nothing but water or non caloric tea or coffee.

6. The 5 and 2 - You eat normally for 5 days and fast completely for 2 only or limit your caloric consumption to 500-600 calories each of the 2 days.

Normally I do either the 16/8 or 18/6 but on several occasions I've done the Warrior. On the outside where it's visible I noticed more inflammation reduction (became leaner) and I could feel an increase in testosterone. I started having quite a bit more GRRRRRR in the gym (guys you know what I mean you just feel jacked.) It also, after a few days started to curb my appetite, returning it to normal. I actually feel full when I eat and want to stop eating instead of gorging.

Those are the things I noticed, here is what's going on, on the inside.

1. Blood levels of insulin drop aiding in fat burning.

2. It helps induce cellular repair in conjunction with removing waste from the cell.

3. There are changes to genes and molecules that thwart the aging process and protect against diseases.

4. Lower insulin levels working together with higher growth hormone levels and nor epinephrine equals the break down of body fat to use as energy.

5. It can reduce insulin resistance lowering your risk of type 2 diabetes.

6. May help reduce your cancer risk. It has also been shown to reduce the symptoms of chemotherapy.

7. It can improve cognitive function by increasing levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor or (BDNF). Studies in animals have also shown that fasting helps protect the brain from damage due to stroke.

8.May help prevent Alzheimer's - more research is needed and once you have Alzheimer's there is no cure but studies are showing improved function in 9 out of 10 patients with the disease. An animal study also has shown that fasting delayed the onset and in cases reduced the symptoms of the disease.

9. Increases your lifespan - Some of the oldest people that have ever lived normally performed some type of fast during their lives.

10. It improves your immune system by reducing free radical damage and starves off cancer cell formation.

So what do you think, does it sound like something you might try? I know it seems scary and yes it really does suck at first but shortly it becomes very liberating. Imaging not planning your day around your next meal. I've been there I get it. Just know you can ease into it by maybe just skipping breakfast, if you get hungry eat. Pretty soon you will be able to go longer and longer and before you know it you will be out of food prison and reaping the benefits.

Alright friends, John boy just yelled goodnight (I really dated myself there), and that’s about all I have time for so that’s a wrap for this week. I hope you found this somewhat informational, as in drop that candy bar now Mr. it's almost bed time. Please don’t be shy about asking questions or making comments. Let me know what topics you would like discussed or how I could make this blog and my Facebook Page Dropping The F Bomb more suited to your needs. If you missed last weeks blog on Fitness Equipment That's Dumb AF you can find it here. Stay healthy #fitfam and see you next week. Joke of the week:

Q: Why did Adele cross the road?

A: To sing "Hello from the other side."

Scott

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