What Are The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting?

You’ve probably heard a friend, co-worker, family member, or even a celebrity mention intermittent fasting. It is a practice that is certainly having its moment in the sun right now. So what is it and why would you consider it anyway?

Intermittent fasting is basically limiting the windows of time in which you eat every day. It means restricting eating hours to something like a 10, 8, or maybe even a 6 hour window and remaining in a “fasting” mode for the other hours of the day.

So, for example, you may choose to only eat between 11am and 7pm—an 8 hour eating window—and fast the remaining 16 hours. It may be more or less hours of fasting or start and finish at different times, but the concept remains the same—you keep your food consumption to a smaller period of time, allowing your body to fast for longer.

So why would someone choose this practice? There are really 3 main benefits of intermittent fasting.

Weight loss

When we eat a meal, our bodies will digest and metabolize that food and use it for energy immediately. Naturally, our bodies are smart enough to use the most accessible form of energy for the highest chance of survival. So if we consume food all our waking hours, our bodies will continuously use the newly provided food for fuel. However, if we limit our food consumption, our body is forced to use stored calories in the form of fat cells to fuel the body, therefore burning more fat and leading to weight loss.

Clears up cellular waste

When our digestive systems are not in constant use from processing food, they can focus on clearing out toxic waste that builds up from regular bodily processes. This allows us to feel more energetic because our bodies aren't utilizing energy to constantly work on digestion. 

Brain health

Studies are starting to show that periods of fasting increase the brain’s natural growth factors which support the health and development of neurons. That’s a fancy way of saying it helps our brains function better.

So if you’re looking for a daily practice that can help your body burn fat, naturally detox, and function at peak capacity, intermittent fasting might be just the thing.