Fasting, Calorie Restriction, Intermittent and more

Fasting has vast traditional history across cultures and has been well studied in modern research protocols. The health benefits for limiting food intake include gut rest, as well as:

  • Improved biomarkers of aging (e.g., oxidative damage, fasting insulin levels, core body temperature)

  • Improved cardiometabolic markers (e.g., C-reactive protein, blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and total cholesterol levels)

  • Improved cognitive function

  • Improved glucose metabolism

  • Reduced risk of chronic conditions (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes)

  • Weight loss

Fasting: usually applied 1 day weekly, up to 4-5 days in a row monthly, best results with 250-300 kcal vitamin and mineral rich foods consumed throughout day, excellent summary and accessible research published here

Calorie-restricted: intake of 20-40% of your estimated needs, long term, best following a generally anti-inflammatory pattern as you’ll see in the table below

Intermittent: time restricted eating pattern applies to most or all days of the week, anywhere from a sensible 12:12 (hours fasting:eating), to 16:8 and 20:4 and various options, see table below

Beyond counting calories and hours, always remember that human metabolism does VERY well on a less, to not-processed whole foods, plant-based, mindful meal pattern. Along with plenty of physical activity, radiance ensues. Not to say that changing how one eats or eating the way we know we should to feel better is easy. Reach out if you’d like support with eating in any fashion, this RD would love to guide you with food to health optimization.

jill m.