I’ve heard this all my life: “If you want to be at
your most optimal wellness, breakfast is the most important meal of
the day.” I do not like eating
breakfast. I never have. I totally like breakfast foods...savory breakfast
foods, but I don’t like eating in the morning. I can’t stomach it. I get a bit
queasy and nauseated when I eat in the morning. I would make myself because
healthy people eat a hearty, healthy breakfast. Blah. Blah. Blah. See the thing
is I don’t feel like “breaking the
fast” until I’ve been up for a few hours. Funny how the body knows what the body needs.
It’s got built in intelligence and we just have to pay attention to the cues it
sends us.
I decided that in my renewed focus on healing and
strengthening my body, I was going to pay attention to its message of no morning meal, please. Upon waking, I
generally drink a lemon turmeric tea followed by 16 ounce glass of water with
another glass shortly thereafter. I will drink water and herbed teas throughout
the morning and sometimes into the early afternoon before I’m ready to actually
eat food. I do my household chores, workout for an hour most mornings, and do
this and that. I feel fine. Not deprived nor do I experience glycemic drops. I
know when I’m ready for food. My body lets me know. I find in the warmer
weather, I go longer before my first meal. Now, the most interesting thing
about deciding to follow my body’s wisdom on this breakfast thing is finding
out that over the last two to three years health advocates have been preaching
about “intermittent fasting”. Say whaaaat?! Ha! Ha! Yes, folks! INTERMITTENT
FASTING. Seems that my body knows what is best.
Intermittent fasting (IF) by simple
definition is fasting for regular intervals. It is not a single method, but a
variety of methods that you can use to fit your body’s needs. (Beyond) I tend to naturally use the “Leangains” in
which a person fasts after dinner for approximately 12 or more hours before
their first meal the following day. So, dinner done 7pm and first meal no
earlier than 7am the next day, preferably longer. (Dailyburn)
“To be effective, in the case of daily intermittent
fasting, the length of your fast must be at least 16 hours. This means eating
only between the hours of 11am until 7pm, as an example. Essentially, this
equates to simply skipping breakfast, and making lunch your first meal of the day instead.
You can restrict it even further — down to six, four, or
even two hours if you want, but you can still reap many of these rewards by
limiting your eating to an eight-hour window each day.
This is because it takes about six to eight hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores; after that you start to shift to burning fat. However, if you are replenishing your glycogen by eating every eight hours (or sooner), you make it far more difficult for your body to use your fat stores as fuel.” (Mercola)
This is because it takes about six to eight hours for your body to metabolize your glycogen stores; after that you start to shift to burning fat. However, if you are replenishing your glycogen by eating every eight hours (or sooner), you make it far more difficult for your body to use your fat stores as fuel.” (Mercola)
Further discovered health benefits
of IF are (and I am quoting this list here without quotation marks from Mercola)
(NIH)
- Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, which is key for optimal health as insulin resistance (which is what you get when your insulin sensitivity plummets) is a primary contributing factor to nearly all chronic disease, from diabetes to heart disease and even cancer
- Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone"
- Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production, which plays an important part in health, fitness and slowing the aging process
- Lowering triglyceride levels
- Reducing inflammation and lessening free radical damage
Sounds like there is something quite
beneficial to this fasting thing!
There is a bit of difference of
opinion among nutritionists and physicians concerning who can fast. You will
need to make that decision based on your discussion with your own physician/nutritionist.
Many doctors and nutritionists will say that people with adrenal fatigue and
cortisol issues should not fast. Dr. Meaghan Kirschling points out
that if you are constantly eating during the day, you are feeding your stress
hormones. If you fast, then you “starve” your adrenals causing your body to
release fewer stress hormones and focus on healing your body. Less cortisol,
less visceral fat. (Kirschling) Again, as always, check with your health care
practitioner before jumping into anything.
So far, I have found IF …the Leangains method… to be
the perfect fit for me. It is interesting how the right and most needed information
comes along at just when I am ready to receive and utilize it. Seek and you
shall find…
Cited Works
Kirschling http://beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com/researchbased-information-on-intermittent-fasting/
and http://beyondthebasicshealthacademy.com/podcast-048-intermittent-fasting-what-all-about/
Mercola http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/06/28/intermittent-fasting-health-benefits.aspx
and http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/01/18/intermittent-fasting-approach.aspx
NIH (National Institute of Health) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4352038/
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