One of the most common mistakes we see in clinical setting is the overuse of fasting. While fasting has its benefits and these are well publicized, a constant calorific deficit is not good. Reducing calories in the short term can see you dropping a few pounds, but this can not be maintained and you typically plateau after a few weeks.
Reducing calories in the short term can see you dropping a few pounds, but this can not be maintained and you typically plateau after a few weeks. Excessive fasting and calorific restriction increase the cortisol hormone (stress) and causes fluctuations in blood sugar (both high and low).
Our bodies are super smart, how else does it function when you are asleep!? If your body gets used to 1500 calories per day it readjusts to this number it has to, to survive and it has learned this through times of shortage. For example, if you were to go on a 200-mile round trip you would not expect your car to complete it on €10 of fuel. Your body is so smart it will get you there but there are other health impacts.
We often see this manifest in afternoon fatigue or afternoon snacking. The typical example is “I skip breakfast and have a salad for lunch, but intermittent fast (IF) and time restricted eating (TRE) are good, the studies back this up!” There is good evidence to support IF and TRE but not with a consistent calorific deficit over prolonged periods.
While all calories are not equal and getting calories from an avocado is way better than deep fried fish, calories are a useful mechanism to measure your fuel intake (do not throw the baby out with the bath water). As a rule of thumb, you need to be getting your calorific intake daily, 2500 for a man and 2000 for a woman.
You should speak with a healthcare professional before you are about to undertake IF and in the event of undertaking IF it should be a maximum of 3 days per week and you should ensure high quality protein and high-quality fat with your first meal of the day. A lot of top minds are now assessing the benefits of fasting versus muscle wastage, they are starting to question if it is worth it. Especially as we age.
So what can I do?
Time restricted eating is a safe and highly effective strategy, stop eating at 8pm at night and take a 12-hour window before eating again. This allows the body time to recover at night and if you wear a sleep tracker you will immediately see a benefit in sleep quality.
It is a very basic principle, if your digestive system does not have to process food it provides other bodily functions with the time and energy to clean up the rubbish, this is reflected in reduced heart rate and improvement in heart rate variability. AND YES, restriction includes alcohol. Apply the 80/20 rule to this like everything else, its important not to be obsessive. Drink plenty of filtered water when you wake and add some lemon and hot water to support digestion, avoid caffeine first thing as it can strip minerals from the body when taken on an empty stomach
Remember you can book a session with us at
https://celticsophia.com/makeabooking
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