The last few videos (WATCH HERE) have really piqued the interests of many. We’ve had a number of inquiries regarding supplements and Intermittent fasting. It seems people have heard something or other about all this chronic inflammation stuff and are interested in doing something to pursue health and wellness.
Good idea!
If you don’t pursue health and wellness for yourself, who else will, right?
So the last video on fasting and autophagy was pretty heavy, and I threw a lot of numbers at you, and some of them might have seemed unreal- I mean, would the average bear really be interested in fasting 24 or 36 or 48 or even 72 hours from time to time?
Probably not.
However, as the “parables” go, every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time! Snatch this pebble from my hand, Grasshopper.
Gradient scales are the only way to ensure success- do a little, then a little more, and then a little more until you are on your way!
Odds are that you are not as healthy and well as you would like to be- perhaps by a little bit, perhaps not by a long shot. We can help!
So if you want to make some changes, ask yourself,
“So, what can I do?”
Not even what can I do about “it” or anything else, just…,
“What can I do?”
Perhaps a several day fast is not a good first step, but what about intermittent fasting and a Time Restricted Eating Window?
But maybe changing the way you eat is still not the best first step for you,
“So, what can you do?”
Whatever that is, start doing it. Nothing overwhelming, but something that you can actually do- even if you just walk in place during commercial breaks, anything, just decide and put the discipline in and do it.
Since we have been talking about Autophagy, Intermittent Fasting and Time Restricted Eating Windows, let’s start with that and try to provide an easier to understand blog on Fasting.
The first thing to do is make an assessment of what your typical daily eating window is.
Do this by making a note of when you took your first bite in the morning, and when you took your very last bite in the evening or at night.
This would be your eating window.
Let’s say you take your first bite at 7am, and keep in mind for you coffee achievers, coffee breaks your fast, so if you have a cup at 5 am, then your window starts at 5 am, not 7am when you take your first bite.
Then make a note of when you took your very last bite at night. Let’s say this is 8 pm.
So what this means, is your typical eating window is between
7 am and 8 pm, or 5 am and 8 pm for you first thing in the morning coffee drinkers.
This would mean that you eat between 13 and 15 hours each day.
More importantly, you did NOT eat for 9 to 11 hours that day.
That is your Intermittent Fasting Time, or Time Restricted Window.
The average American eats about 16 hours a day, with an intermittent fasting time of 8 hours.
This is a problem, especially when you consider that 70% of the US population is overweight or obese.
Less eating and a much longer fasting time would be best.
Personally, my window is between 10:30 am and 6:30 pm, which means I eat 8 hours a day, and intermittently fast 16 hours each day.
If you’ll recall from the previous video blog, this means during the 16 hours of fasting, which corresponds with my sleep, many good things are happening for my body:
- At 8 hours, my body starts to deplete glucose/blood sugar stores- namely, glycogen, and begins to utilize stored fat for energy,
- At 10 hours, weight loss begins, improved blood sugar control and enhanced brain function,
- At 12 hours, my body transitions into ketosis and begins to burn stored fat for energy as there are no carbs or sugar,
- At 13 hours, my body increases Growth Hormone production and increases testosterone levels by 1300%,
- At 14 hours, my body begins to really burn fat for energy, which leads to weight loss while I am sleeping and not eating.
- At 16 hours, my body has officially thrown the fat switch and I am now using stored body fat, converted into ketones for energy, and will continue to do so as long as I avoid carbs and sugar throughout the day.
As discussed in the previous video blog, Autophagy begins at around 12-16 hours and my body is cleaning up dead cells and other garbage and promoting tissue repair and regeneration.
It should be noted that Autophagy really is most effective around 24 hours fasting and longer.
That’s amazing, and all of this occurs while I’m sleeping and not eating.
If you would like to know more about how Intermittent Fasting, that is the Time Restricted Eating Window works, pick up a copy of Dr. Satchin Panda’s book, The Circadian Code, and you will see that every organ in your body, including your gut bugs are on a maintenance schedule as it were, a Circadian Rhythm.
So if while you are sleeping your body is still digesting food, many organs will miss their scheduled time to be rested, repaired and renewed.
For example, it takes the pancreas about 7 hours to handle a carbohydrate feed, so a few crackers, or a cookie before bed would mean a 10 pm bedtime would have the pancreas working until 5 am in the morning or later.
When was it supposed to rest, repair and renew?
It doesn’t.
In fact, it is recommended that a person take his last bite between 2 and 4 hours before bed.
Okay, so let’s say you now know your average eating time and fasting time each day.
If you eat over 12 hours a day, work to get your eating window to 12 hours, and then 11, and then 10.
It is thought that because of hormones, females should stop at a 10 hour eating window, while males who want to lose weight should try for an 8 or 9 hour eating window each day.
Well, I hope that lends some clarity to Intermittent Fasting, and as usual, if you have any questions or would like help, please feel free to reach out to us at Paragon Chiropractic.
If you really want to hit it out of the park, then make sure that what you are eating during your eating window is de-inflammatory foods, namely, no grains, no grain flours, no sugar, no polyunsaturated vegetable oils, or trans fats.
This combo is about as close to a guarantee as you will ever find in this universe!
Take Care,
Dr. Dave
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