FASTING

From talking about food waste in our last article to now talking about intentionally fasting, we are running the gamut of the food extremes. Note this is intentional fasting we are discussing; not the fasting that occurs for financial, situational, or religious/devotional reasons. 

Here we define fasting as the deliberate cessation of eating food and liquids which contain energy (i.e., not water, tea, black coffee). Fasting is a conscious choice. In this article we will delve into when fasting could be helpful, when fasting is not recommended, and some different strategies of fasting. And as ever, this information will be evidence-based: meaning I draw on peer-reviewed scientific studies, with some links to learn more.

we can’t photosynthesise

Since we are humans and not plants or other creatures, we get all of our energy and many of our nutrients from what we consume- in solid or liquid form. (If anyone learns how to photosynthesise, please let me know because I would like green skin) In a previous article we discussed all the nourishment we receive from food. Our “macros” provide us with energy (carbohydrates, fat, protein) we need to keep all of our processes going: from thinking, to moving, to our heartbeat. Our metabolism is the term describing the chemistry of these active processes. Our metabolism or metabolic rate – how fast and effective our body does these processes – is determined by energy inputs (macros), hormonal and other signals, our genetics and epigenetics, muscle mass, and activity level. Our body needs a constant supply of energy just to keep things running, but we don’t need to eat food all the time because we are able to store carbohydrates, proteins, and fat for when we need them.

The standard Western meal model is three meals a day, plus snacks. Then people started talking about 6 small meals a day being “better”. Plenty of people skip breakfast and opt for caffeine instead. Many people have dinner as their largest meal of the day – both by volume of food and amount of energy (I am going to avoid talking about “calories” due to its enmeshment with fatphobia and fat-shaming). There’s the old adage that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”. Breakfast is literally “break” and “fast”, breaking your fast from the night before. Do we need to be eating all this food?

adaptability

If we look to the hunter/gatherer lifestyle, in a temperate climate there is a lot of food at times of abundance during the warmer months of spring, summer, autumn, and typically much less or none during winter. I don’t imagine our paleolithic ancestors were eating three square meals a day. They ate when they could, and their metabolism was adapted to that.

Moving to an agrarian lifestyle with farming, there again, in a temperate climate, is more food from midspring to autumn, and then people store grains and foods and keep livestock to get through winter. The amount of food available at the end of winter and early spring may be very little indeed. Here is where meal times likely began. And our ancestors adapted to this lifestyle.

So how do we compare now? Well I don’t know about you, but my life looks absolutely nothing like either of those scenarios. I am not walking all day, doing physical labour. I do a lot of standing, looking, thinking, and sitting. Our brain uses about 20% of our energy, and energy is needed to keep our hearts ticking, our cells removing wastes- all of the things. So we have to eat. But do we need to eat 3+ times a day, every day, when we have so much adaptability in our body and effective energy storage systems? If fasting was evolutionarily a necessity, not a choice, is there a reason we would choose to fast now? Let’s keep on.

what do we do with all that food?

In between snacks and meals, our bodies work on digesting the food, absorbing it, and using all the parts we need, then eliminating the waste. There is a finite capacity of this system. When our body signals are working properly, we are told when our body is ready for its next load of energy and nutrients – we feel hungry. This depends on our metabolism. In many of us, these signals don’t work properly, so regular meal times can be helpful to make sure we have enough energy and nutrients to fuel us. (More on why our signals don’t work properly here)

If we eat too much, then our systems can become overloaded. The elimination of wastes is an important rate-limiting step here. Wastes obviously need to be removed from the body, through faeces and urine primarily, and also sweat and the breath. If waste excretion becomes too slow or impaired, then those wastes can cause detrimental effects especially from oxidative damage and inflammation. Long term inflammation is the cause of many diseases, and is also a risk for both cancer and a shortened lifespan.

the case for fasting

There is a lot of published scientific data about fasting, especially periodic and intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is typically fasting for shorter periods of time, more often; like alternate day fasting, or twice weekly fasting. Periodic fasting is fasting for longer periods of time, but less often, e.g., a few days every 2+ weeks. Regular fasts for more than 12 hours have been shown to decrease inflammation, improve the resiliency of metabolism, and improve the length and quality of life. See these article here and here for a start. There are a lot of published studies, and I am surprised since there is no benefit to capitalism and the medical industrial complex for fasting. From a more journalistic side, here’s an excellent and quite in-depth article from Experience Life magazine about fasting.

Intermittent or periodic fasting could be a health-promoting strategy for many people. A simple web search reveals a lot of “biohacking information” (unscientific opinions) about the “best ways to fast and hack your health”. These folks know how to work the SEO. Read at your own peril.

In general, a 12-16 hour fast on a regular basis could be both safe and helpful for many people (see below for people who fasting is not good for). The food you eat outside this period of course needs to be nutrient-dense, and contain enough energy to keep your body happy. This is not about reducing the amount of energy you are consuming (“caloric restriction” which is something different but could be added in), just the period of time you are eating, known as “compressing the feeding window”. That sounds so charming, doesn’t it? But it works!

The easiest approach to intermittent fasting is to either eat a very early dinner and break your fast in the morning at brekkie (especially for morning people), or skip breakfast and eat your first meal at lunch (especially for night owls). This works with the circadian rhythm and leverages the natural fasting that occurs when we sleep, so we are not also trying to battle a whole lot of emotional and societal pressures around food through the day, and this way also lets us eat appropriately after exercise. But you could do it however works for you.

wait on, fasting might not be for you

It is extremely important to talk about who fasting is NOT for, unless otherwise guided by a doctor or health professional you are working one-on-one with (not Dr. Google or a biohacker). Fasting is not for people who are: ill, have problems with low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia), high or low blood pressure (hypertension or hypotension), pregnant, breastfeeding, still growing (teens and children), have a history of or an active eating disorder of any kind (including orthorexia), are under high stress or do not sleep well.

For those folks, fasting is a stress that could cause more harm than good.

I will add: fasting and dietary interventions are very powerful changes you could make for a variety of diseases and conditions. There is a cornucopia of research on the benefits of fasting for many conditions especially related to impairments of metabolism like diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease. Targeted fasting approaches for diseases and conditions need to be guided by a health professional who is trained and experienced (not your chiropractor!).

what do i do?

I want this website to provide information for you, and not be a personal blog about me, but it might be helpful for me to share my approach time to time. Please comment below if you do or don’t like this!

I choose to fast! I do intermittent fasting most days. I usually eat my largest meal at lunch, like many Europeans do, but typically do not eat after 5 or 6pm. I eat breakfast usually around 6.30am, so a 12-13 hour daily fast is normal for me. I eat 2 meals a day, and have snacks too. I like eating this way because I found when I was eating dinner regularly, I felt full and a bit uncomfortable/bloated in the mornings and was never hungry for breakfast. And now I feel good, and hungry. If I feel hungry in the evenings, I will eat. If I am going out for dinner, of course I will eat. I usually still have breakfast the next morning without a problem.

In addition, once every month or so, I do periodic fasting. I will fast for 24-40 hours during the period of time that the moon is in the astrological sign of Sagittarius. I learned this specific timing from Ke’oni Hanalei who says that this time is a good time for energetic purification and reset. (This website is bringing in scientific + esoteric, after all) I will obviously still drink water, teas, coffee (which is strictly not fasting since I add coconut oil). I also take one to two activated charcoal capsules a day with the idea of binding anything in my gut that shouldn’t be there (“toxins” and “poisons” I guess, but that sounds so hokey). Activated charcoal is a powerful adsorber (makes stuff stick to it) and is used medically for the treatment of some poisons and overdoses for humans and animals, usually as a liquid. I honestly don’t know how effective the one or two capsules is, but I like it. It is also said to help with gas, but I couldn’t find strong scientific evidence for that. Note that you shouldn’t take activated charcoal if you are taking oral medicines since it might reduce the effectiveness because the compounds could stick to the charcoal and not get absorbed by your body.

This is the activated charcoal I currently have.

I basically just fast as long as my body tells me, or when the moon moves to Capricorn. I am lucky that my body signals are pretty normal after many years of work on recalibration, and I trust my body. Then I go back to my intermittent fasting. I skip the month if I have my period, or if I feel low energy. I do not fast for “weight loss”. Indeed I didn’t notice weight loss when I started fasting, nor was that my aim. I wanted to feel better and more nourished and this is what works for me. Many people do see weight loss from fasting, but the focus needs to be on what is gained – the nourishment. Focusing on loss actually is counterproductive in any case! I will probably write about this in another article but go check out Lexie and Lindsay Kite in the meantime.

conclusion

Fasting can be a health-promoting choice for many (but not all) people, especially for decreasing inflammation and metabolic resiliency (bounce-back-a-bility). Whilst some of the benefits likely hearken back to our ancestral times, our very different lifestyles and stressors now may mean that trying to “hack” your meal times is just another cause of stress, outweighing the benefits. What nourishes many folks may or may not nourish you, but could be worth a try!