What Is The Best Type of Fast?
With the new year just days away, I’ve already begun thinking about a New Year’s fast. The beginning of the year is a great time to do a health “reset” and drop a bit of belly fat that accumulated over the holidays.
But what fast is the best? If you’ve been around, you know that I try to fast every quarter, usually with a ProLon fasting-mimicking diet that I talk about here.
Before answering what type of fast is best, let’s define the three main types: intermittent fasting, prolonged fasting, and time-restricted eating.
Intermittent fasting is fasting for a certain number of hours each day up to 24 hours. In other words, you only eat within a certain window of time. A common window is eating within an eight-hour window, and fasting the remaining 16 hours. This is commonly referred to as 16/8.
Time-restricted eating is a type of intermittent fasting where you keep in mind your circadian rhythm. This means that you only eat within the time when your metabolism is optimal. So, if you doing a 16/8 fast, that eight hours that you eat would be something like 9 AM to 5 PM or 10 AM to 6 PM.
Having your window of eating in the morning is best for several reasons. First, when you eat late, you are not as insulin-sensitive. This means that your blood glucose levels are going to be higher at night than in the morning when you eat the same exact meal.
Additionally, your fatty acid metabolism is not as good at night. This means that you may be storing up fatty acids and adipose tissue rather than using them as energy. This, of course, means gaining more fat mass, which is problematic.
Prolonged fasting is the third type of fasting, and involves drinking water only for 48 hours or longer. When this occurs, you start to clear away damaged cells and begin replacing them with younger, healthier cells. Additionally, you will begin clearing away damaged or old mitochondria and begin replacing them with new mitochondria.
An additional benefit is that your body shifts from glucose metabolism, where you use carbohydrates as fuel, to fatty-acid metabolism, where you use fats and ketones as fuel. Having your body run on ketones as fuel has numerous benefits, including delaying age-related diseases and improving your body’s ability to repair itself.
When your body uses ketones as fuel, you are in what is called ketosis. I’ve discussed here how our BerbElite product can get you into ketosis within three hours. BerbElite is currently on sale for 25% off.
Also, most people should consider doing this type of fast under medical supervision.
So, which fast is the best? It depends on your goals. If you’re wanting to stimulate stem cells and clear away damaged cells, then a prolonged fast is best. If you’re wanting to have fasting integrated into your lifestyle, then time-restricted eating is best.
I’ve done the prolonged fast regularly. However, this year, I’m going to also add time-restricted eating into the daily regimen by trying a 10-4 window. The challenge with this is the social component of eating and having family dinners with my boys. The plan is to try it out in January and tweak the window if needed.
Lastly, I’ll be doing a five-day ProLon fast staring Sunday January 8th. If you want to join me, order now, so you get your box in time. Last year, they ran out and had a delay in shipping. I used coupon code Honey20 to get 20% off.
0 Comment