Have you heard of intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a particular eating style where you eat only during a specified period of time. It’s more a lifestyle than a way of losing weight although you certainly can lose weight with this eating style.

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Intermittent fasting is pretty easy to do and something you can give a try no matter what your dietary restrictions or your budget are.

The basic idea of intermittent fasting is that you simply don’t eat for long stretches of time.

There are a few different ways you can approach this, but what it boils down to is that you want to refrain from eating for at least 12 hour long stretches of time. Ideally you want it to be more like 16 hours.

That may seem like a long time to go without food, but keep in mind that you will also be sleeping for about 8 of those hours. Now suddenly 12 to 16 hours without food doesn’t seem quite so impossible anymore.

Let’s say you eat a nice healthy, filling dinner, with lots of healthy fats in it around 6 p.m. Since you’re nice and full, it’s easy to skip your usual late night snacking. You go to bed around 10 p.m. and wake up around 6 am.

Instead of eating breakfast, you grab a nice cup of coffee or tea and go about your morning routine. That gets you through until 9:00 am.

You may be starting to get a little hungry by now, but nothing you can’t manage. And the good news is that you are already 14 hours into your intermittent fast.

Two more hours and you can go grab an early lunch or have a late breakfast. Get a glass of water or another cup of coffee and it will be easy to make it for the full 16 hours.

Stick to this routine for a few days and your body will get used it. Once that happens, you won’t even get hungry until 11:00 am rolls around. Who knows… after a while you may be ready to go even longer between meals.

And since you’re eating healthy meals with lots of filling protein and fat, don’t be surprised to find yourself having only two meals a day instead of the regular three meals and two snacks.

Why is it important to not eat for at least 12 hours at time?

It is mportant to “fast” for at least 12 hours because that’s how long it takes for your insulin levels to go down to a point where all sorts of good stuff happens.

Your body can switch from burning sugar to burning body fat without having too much insulin in the blood.

Also your body starts to do all sorts of internal repairs on a cellular level which is why intermittent fasting is thought to be a way to heal your body and prolong your life.

Intermittent fasting has been known to boost metabolism while helping you consume fewer calories.

Be sure to keep up with your lyophilized nutritional supplements while adjusting to an intermittent fasting lifestyle.

Here are the main health benefits of intermittent fasting:

1. Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, possibly lowering blood sugar and fasting insulin levels significantly, which should help to protect against type 2 diabetes.
2. It can possibly reduce markers of inflammation which is a known key driver of many chronic diseases.
3. Intermittent fasting may even reduce LDL cholesterol (bad) and/or blood triglycerides — risk factors for heart disease.
4. It has been shown to increase the brain hormone BDNF and possibly aid the growth of new nerve cells.
5. In one study, intermittent fasting was shown to extend lifespan in rats 36 – 83% longer. So it possibly could be anti-aging too.
6. Intermittent fasting can help with weight loss and reducing belly fat, without having to think a lot about restricting calories.

Remember that research is still in its beginning stages. So stay tuned for more research to be published.

If you are eager to start, try the 14/10 time ratio or a lesser amount if you want.  It’s important to find a method that works for you so that it can become a lifestyle.

Intermittent fasting is only one of many lifestyle strategies that can improve your health.

Eating  a healthy diet, exercising, and sleeping well are still important factors to focus on.

Intermittent fasting is great for some people, not necessarily for everyone. Try it out and see how you feel.

Recently, the Lord has convicted me by Proverbs 23:2 – “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man of great appetite.” “Put a knife to your throat” is an idiom which means “curb your appetite” or “control yourself.” In context, this instruction was from a time when people dealt with all-powerful tyrants. To enter the presence of a person like this and indulge one’s appetites would be risky. But a truth contained here is to not be controlled by our appetites.

As I ask the Holy Spirit to grow me in self-control of my appetite, I am utilizing intermittent fasting to help me also.

In closing, if you feel good while incorporating intermittent fasting and find it to be a sustainable way of life for you, it can definitely be a very powerful tool to improve your health.