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Intermittent Fasting Isn’t As Restrictive As It Sounds
Our Alkaline Guru Explains!
From Dr. Daryl Gioffre
There’s a lot of buzz out there about the topic I’m going to address today called Intermittent Fasting. If done correctly, it can have a very powerful impact on women’s health, weight, skin, energy, and longevity.
It’s one of the most powerful detoxification methods around and beyond that, it’s a secret weapon for losing weight.
If you’re a woman, general fasting could lead to hormonal imbalance and could lead to fertility issues. With that said, if done the right way, it can be a powerful way for women to enjoy the positive aspects of intermittent fasting without putting their health at risk.
Intermittent fasting is you restrict your eating to a specific window of time each day, for as few or many days as you like (but NOT restricting how much you eat).
There are numerous studies on the advantages of doing intermittent fasting. For example, research presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 2011 annual scientific sessions found that this type of fasting triggered a 1,300% increase in human growth hormone in women. In addition, women in the study slept better, they had higher energy, better mental clarity, and they felt healthier overall.
Other benefits of intermittent fasting include:
- Promotes healthier gut microbiota (the ‘good bacteria’ in your digestive system)
- Normalizes insulin sensitivity, which is essential for optimal health and lowering the risk of diabetes and even cancer
- Lowers triglyceride levels
- Reduces inflammation and lessens free radical damage, which comes from too much acid in your lifestyle
- Promotes memory functioning and learning
- Detoxifies and alkalizes your body
- Promotes muscle growth and improves your metabolism, which in turn, helps fat loss.
Now let’s clear up one misconception right now: intermittent fasting is not a deprivation diet like many people are led to believe.
In reality, it’s a way of incorporating the healthy alkaline lifestyle you are already on the road to achieving in a specific way or schedule to have a more beneficial impact on your body.
It’s an excellent way to reboot your metabolism so that your body can start burning fat as its primary fuel source, and not sugar or carbs, which so many of us are currently burning instead.
Intermittent fasting helps you lose weight by increasing enzymes that burn fat, and your body becomes far better at using stored fat as your primary fuel source, rather than relying on carbs and sugar as a quick fix for energy.
It’s pretty simple. You can do this by simply timing your meals and allowing for regular periods of fasting.
I recommend you select your own unique 8-hour window to eat, because 8 is the magic number, and you fast the remaining 16 hours. You can do it one day a week, a few days of the week, or you can even do it daily if you’re trying to lose weight.
YOU are in control of this. It is not as intimidating as it sounds.
You can decide if your window is 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM, or whatever time works for you.
Basically, you want it to accommodate your personal schedule and routine.
During the 8 hours that you can eat, it’s important you make smart and healthy food choices every time. You will be eating alkaline foods, ideally 80% of the time, and acid-forming foods no more than 20% of the time.
Minimize or even avoid altogether carbs and grains that are loaded with gluten like wheat, pasta, bread, and potatoes. Definitely cut out the sugar, one of the most acidic substances on the planet and the food that literally feeds bacteria, yeast, and even cancer cells.
Heavily cut back on processed foods, dairy, artificial sweeteners, and limit your consumption of meat.
Instead, opt for healthy, complete proteins that are mostly plant-based like:
- Quinoa
- Chickpeas and hummus
- Raw nuts and seeds
- Pacific wild-caught fish
- Dark green leafy veggies
Most importantly, switch to healthy fats like:
- Healthy Oils: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut oil, Avocado Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Black Cumin Seed Oil (aim for 7-10 tbsp. daily)
- Raw nuts like almonds, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, pecans
- Raw nut butters (except peanut butter, which you should always avoid)
- Raw seeds like Chia seeds and Flax seeds
- Unsweetened coconut flakes
- Avocados
- Grass fed butter
- Wild caught Omega 3 fish: salmon, herring, anchovies, sardines, trout
The healthy fats are easily metabolized for energy, and are essential to getting your body into a fat-burning state.
Why You Should Take it Slow at First
It may take a few weeks to adjust to this lifestyle, and to avoid any potential hormonal issues that come along with regular fasting, it has to be done gradually. So start easy, once a week, or once every other week and really listen to your body’s needs. The key takeaway is never intermittent fast on consecutive days (for example, you can do it on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). It may take a few weeks or so before you shift to fat-burning mode, but once you do, the benefits are endless. For one, your cravings for unhealthy acidic foods and carbs will gradually disappear. This is because you’re now burning your stored fat and do not need to rely on new fast-burning carbs for fuel. This is the most secret weapon to lose weight and safely detox your body, on your own schedule.
http://www.thenewpotato.com/2017/08/23/what-is-intermittent-fasting/
