Good morning and happy Day 10! We are nearly half way.
Today I want to talk a bit about fasting.
Not that long ago, fasting was a dirty word.
In Western culture, going without food is associated with unhealthy habits and starvation.
3 meals a day plus snacks, we are told. Sometimes, we are told even more small meals throughout the course of the day.
Remember the post about insulin? Imagine the havoc eating this much is playing on your insulin levels.
And it’s all rubbish.
It’s time to consider what eating schedule actually works for us. Because it’s not one size fits all.
Fasting is much more widely accepted and is being studied, and the benefits are quite astounding. I’ll post some links at the end if you want to read more.
Keto on its own is great, but when you team it with other changes like fasting and exercise, you really propel your health to another level.
Some of us naturally fall into fasting, others think it’s absolutely crazy.
When we go back to our basic, animalist bodies we are not made to be digesting 24 hours a day.
Some animals are, like cows. And they have 3 stomachs to achieve this and have to chew all the time.
Humans are made to have smaller, more calorie dense meals, less frequently.
And we can survive an astonishingly long time without food.
When we rest, our cells regenerate and repair. Our digestive system needs this as well.
If you haven’t read much about fasting but have seen it mentioned, here’s the quick 101 to get you up to speed.
Let’s do a quick look at some of the benefits of fasting:
- Reduces overall calories consumed (you can only eat so much in one or two sittings!)
- You start to feel the difference between ‘full’ and ‘bloated’. We’ve come to chase a feeling as bloated because we’ve been taught that this is the goal of eating
- Saves money and time
- Frees up head space – less groceries to remember, meals to think about, decisions to make
- Greatly improved insulin sensitivity
- Cell regeneration and repair
And the best part?
It’s free.
In fact, you MAKE MONEY.
Now there’s a change I can get behind.
I go into more detail on the different types of fasting here, but there’s so much more talk about fasting than ever before.
I have a sneaking suspicion that certain food industries will come out with studies against it because we can’t all stop eating as much can we?
They would go broke…
And that is their 1 and only priority.
Not your health, happiness or longevity. Just the dollars.
So next time you don’t feel hungry, don’t eat.
If you are a little bit hungry, eat a little bit of food. Or, have some water and reconsider if you were hungry.
Listening to your body is incredibly liberating.
Stop eating because it is a certain time of the day and start tuning in to what she really needs.
It’s really as simple as that.
Learning a little bit about electrolytes can help balance some rough edges (it’s really very simple, have salt and magnesium regularly and especially if you get cramps or a headache).
Drink plenty of water and let your body rest. It is not made to be digesting 24 hours of the day,
Love,
Rachel xx
P.S if you’d like to read or learn more, here are a few resources that have helped me.
Intermittent fasting: Surprising update – Harvard Review
Discover Magazine – Science of Fasting
ABC Australia on Intermittent fasting
Hanna Rice
Wednesday 13th of December 2023
I appreciate your creativity and the effort you put into every post. Keep up the great work!
20bet
Sunday 10th of September 2023
Your article gave me a lot of inspiration, I hope you can explain your point of view in more detail, because I have some doubts, thank you.