The Intermittent Fasting Pill
If you cannot view this post, please check it out in this doc!
What if I told you there was a pill that you could take that would:
-help you lose weight
-prevent inflammation
-reduce the risks of Alzheimer's, Cancer, and Type 2 Diabetes
-increase brain cell growth and cognitive functioning while also helping to decrease depression and anxiety?
I would pay good money for that pill! What if that pill was free?
Sign me up!
15 years ago I came across the practice of intermittent fasting (IF). It does all of the above, but is not actually a pill. It consists of fasting for a certain amount of time on a daily or weekly basis. Most people try to start at around 12 hours a day; for example not eating from 8pm to 8am, and then bump that to 13, 14, 15, and finally 16 hours a day (eating from noon until 8pm and fasting the rest of the time). And, of course, the idea of fasting for different periods - even days - has been around for thousands of years and is a part of many religions.
Our bodies are either in a fed or fasted state. When we are in a fasted state, the energy that we normally use to metabolize food can instead be used to eat all the bad stuff that accumulates in our bodies. The stuff that causes inflammation, makes us tired, gain weight, and, in general, slows us down. When I fast, I think of a little pac-man eating up the bad stuff in my system (autophagy).
Intermittent fasting is not a high pressure diet. You do not have to count calories or constantly monitor yourself. You can eat all kinds of food. You can also drink water, tea, or coffee while fasting. You just do your best and then when you feel comfortable extend the time that you fast a little longer. If you fail it is no big deal. You just get back on track again.
Also, it takes a little while to get used to this. It is perfectly okay to be cranky or hungry/angry “hangry” for the first several weeks. Again, just be gracious with yourself and give yourself time. If you can only make it 8 hours, then celebrate that 8 hours. Before you know it, you’ll be at 9 and then 10 etc. Remember to be a good coach to yourself :). Here is a very good video that provides more practical details and steps.
I’m now convinced that intermittent fasting is one of the best and most powerful physical and mental health interventions that we can utilize. It takes breaking some bad habits of eating all the time, or overeating, but once you get past that it becomes easier and easier over time. And, as mentioned above, it is free and even saves you money on your weekly grocery bill because you end up eating about 30% less.
What I’d like to launch with this post is an invitation to try intermittent fasting with me. We can post daily what went well with it (a high), what didn’t go well (a low), and something we are thankful for (can be about fasting/food etc. or something else entirely). There will also be a huddle for intermittent fasting as well, so if you are interested, then please sign up here. IF is not appropriate for kids or teens, people struggling with an eating disorder, people that have Type 1 Diabetes or are pregnant.
Let me know if you have questions or thoughts below and I’ll do my best to answer them or try to point you in the right direction. And if you’d like to join me in posting here, then you are very welcome! I’m excited to get this off the ground to see what we can learn!
Is this plan vegan/vegetarian friendly?
@Enchantedtree22 yes you can eat anything you like.
@GlenM
Excellent post and read, i agree that intermittent fasting is a healthy practice for anyone who is trying to stay healthy, lose weight, and/or get back on track health-wise.
a few years ago, i was pre-diabetic, and shortly after that i had fatty liver...
intermittent fasting was something that a doctor and a nutritionist suggested to me, and it worked!
and also, agreed, don't starve yourself or go overboard with depriving yourself, but eat and drink healthy, most definitely!
@GlenM
Hi, Glen,
Are we all starting at a certain time, or do we just go for it?
I've had a bit of time to think about my response to this, other than my earlier mentions of people where intermittent fasting may be harmful.
I am alright with the huddle itself, as this is something some people choose to do, and who want support with that. I hope that there is a plan though for people who start and need to stop as this isn't good for everyone, and things can change for people part way in. There is also the screening aspect too, to avoid encouraging an unhealthy behaviour.
The OP though, and the notification that came with it, I do not think was entirely appropriate. If someone has already decided to do IF, we can support that. What's actually being done here though is encouraging people who may not have even considered it before to try it, and is actually pushing the boundaries a bit of our medical advice community guideline. Ie. Be careful to make sure you are not recommending a treatment plan and to encourage others to seek clarification from a professional. I think the post could be interpreted as encouraging a treatment plan of IF.
I am really glad that some of those who are recovering from, or support those with eating disorders spoke up. You did a great job of addressing some huge concerns and said things better than I could about disordered eating. Really, thanks for speaking up your knowledge and experience addresses this issue better than I could have.
When it comes to physical health issues - I see some microaggressions here. "intermittent fasting is one of the best and most powerful physical and mental health interventions that we can utilize" This doesn't come up until the 2nd half of the opening post, but it was also used in the site-wide notification. Some people with some pretty serious medical conditions cannot do IF, so statements such as this can be especially aggravating as for those who would really benefit from a health invention can't actually use what is being described as the best and most powerful one.
Considering this is coming from Glen, I can also see this influencing listeners and things they do say to members. I personally have had experience with many listeners pushing what they think are cures onto me. Our bodies do not 'eat all the bad stuff ... that causes inflammation, makes us tired'. As someone with an inflammatory disorder and chronic fatigue, this is not a solution to my conditions. We already have 1 listener here in a public space stating IF is a healthy practice for anyone who is trying to stay healthy, lose weight, and/or get back on track health-wise. There is plenty of evidence though where we know this is not true, and that it is rather harmful to some people with health conditions or using certain medications. I am concerned that these types of posts will lead to more potentially harmful advice.
Thank you for posting this @AffyAvo, I agree with every point you have made here and it's so well put. This IF thing has been playing on my mind ever since the alert and post was featured. I do hope that lessons can be taken from this but sometimes the damage is already done.
@Starlight73 I'm sorry the post impacted you negatively. I'm so glad you spoke up about it along with the issue of it staying on the dash.
Really hoping we get some good changes out of this! I know there have been a number of things that have stuck on the dash - both individually as well for the site - where being able to adjust that would have been beneficial.
I'm so glad you and some others here commented about how this can affect the ED support community ❤️
@AffyAvo Heya affy, thanks a lot for sharing your views here!! I agree to most of the things you say
Not sure if I'm alright/okay with the huddle, not just because of the idea of IF being okay or not, or because of this post, but because the medical information/advice that may be spread in the huddle. This might also include misinformation or information that doesn't apply to all.
I agree with the fact that it is, indeed, a big contradiction with the medical advice guideline.
Another point I might add is this post can definitely be used to encourage others to start IF. And of course there is the point of nonexistent correlation between health and weight (yeah some overweight people "might" be unhealthy but same with some underweight people).
@LavenderHere We're definitely in an agreement a lot on this!
When I saw the huddle earlier I did think it was an odd choice, especially considering the limited topics to date (a range but still, many others I would have viewed as a priority(. I had actually wondered about a specific reason as we have seen other things on the site due to specific reasons in the past. How it is run/who it is encouraging is a factor to me though. Are we encouraging people to do IF and join the huddle (not what I think it should be for, especially here) or are we supporting people who were already choosing to try it and was support (and it could in fact be a professionally recommended treatment for some). For lifestyle choices there are a number of things I can think of that would likely appeal to more people who are already here.
@AffyAvo Odd choice for sure!! I agree with you on it all!
@GlenM I've been intermittent fasting since December and have lost 40 lbs. It's very easy to stick to because I can eat whatever I want during a certain time period and all the extra health benefits are great. I would definitely recommend it for anyone wanting to improve their health.
Thank you for making this post! I think it takes some courage to talk about Intermittent Fasting on a mental health platform as not everyone can directly see the relation. With any health-focused approach, there will always be a variety of opinions. I believe, you try a couple of things and stick with what is backed through research for long-term maintenance of your health goals and in line with your lifestyle.
As with any practice, we must reflect on our health first and decide at the moment if IF is the answer for us at this time in our life. I have been on and off on it and I have found it to help me feel better. However, you should always thoroughly research how you can best adjust to any lifestyle change for example longer fasting periods require specific supplementation and need to be worked up to.
Lastly, I think with more and more people struggling with their health, myself included, it has become very important to talk about our lifestyles and incorporate elements that can help us avoid a lot of suffering. I know personally I wish I started fasting long before I gave it a try.
