By Dr. Joseph Mercola | mercola.com
Intermittent fasting has been gaining traction as an effective method of losing weight and for controlling chronic illnesses such as diabetes. And now, according to Endocrinology Advisor, research shows that an intermittent fasting diet may be beneficial for reducing body mass index (BMI) and improving glycemic control.
Intermittent fasting involves compressing your eating window time and cutting calories in whole or in part, either a couple of days a week, every other day or daily. When you eat throughout the day and never or rarely skip a meal, your body adapts to burning sugar as its primary fuel, which downregulates enzymes that utilize and burn stored fat.
Intermittent fasting is a powerful approach to facilitating weight loss and helping reduce your risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
To get started, try skipping breakfast and then eat lunch and dinner within an eight-hour timeframe, and make sure you stop eating three hours before you go to sleep.
Here are 20 ways intermittent fasting can improve your health:
- Promote insulin and leptin sensitivity
- Improve blood sugar management
- Lower triglyceride levels
- Increase human growth hormone production (HGH)
- Suppress inflammation and reduce oxidative damage
- Upregulate autophagy and mitophagy, natural cleansing processes necessary for optimal cellular renewal and function
- Boost fat burning and improve metabolic efficiency and body composition, including significant reductions in visceral fat and body weight in obese individuals
- Prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes, as well as slow its progression
- Improve immune function
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduce your risk of heart disease
- Reproduce some of the cardiovascular benefits associated with physical exercise
- Boost mitochondrial energy efficiency and biosynthesis
- Shift stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal
- Reduce your risk of cancer
- Increase longevity
- Regenerate the pancreas and improve pancreatic function
- Improve cognitive function, thanks to rising ketone levels
- Protect against neurological diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease
- Eliminate sugar cravings as your body adapts to burning fat instead of sugar
