Should we FAST?
Fasting, been around for years and years but due to the scale of social media , has fast become a major diet trend.
Question is: Should we all be fasting?
The answer is a divided one.
Fasting has been used for many years now to help rejuvenate the body by a process called autophagy in which you basically are renewing any old/damaged cell, which has many health benefits ie. betting insulin sensitivity, but the the major being helping with longevity..
In order for this to happen though, you need to be fasting a minimum of 18 hours, with the longer you fast after this period the more benefits you will get.
Therefore when people say they are fasting ie: 16 hrs fast/8hrs feeding window, they really aren't tapping into the main benefit of fasting.
This is where as a coach I believe fasting is good if doing it for the health benefits longer than 18 hrs, which I certainly would recommend at least once a month.
But most of the time people fast because they think its some magic weight loss tool. Yes restricting your eating window to 8 hrs or less usually means you will eat less food, but on the other hand people can use that and binge like no tomorrow during that window ending up eating more calories than required as well.
Also from a performance and muscle building aspect, research has shown that having a steady supply of amino acids every 4 hrs is the best way to maintain lean muscle.
This is why I recommend a solid 4 meals a day every 4 hrs, portion sizes based on overall energy expenditure and goals.
I do believe in keeping your food to a 12 hr eating window as well, more just to give your digestive system a break from eating and prevent that late night binge.
Research has shown this to be a very effective strategy for digestion.
At the end of the day it all comes down to trial and error with what works for you personally. I just speak from experience through myself and clients, and from a overall performance aspect fasting every day hasn't been the best method.
Remember Food is fuel. You just need to eat the right foods in the right amounts to see the full benefits.
Coach Luke
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