The science of fasting is currently among the most popular of food topics, tho’ fasting has been around for thousands of years.

Here are a few fasting options to consider:

1.Try intermittent fasting. Eat during an 8 hour window and drink only water, tea, or coffee during the 16 hours remaining. If you feel concerned about blood sugar, take some MCT oil during the fasting hours. And if you are over 40 and/or have adrenal exhaustion, eat a bit of protein with your morning coffee or tea (a lamb sausage, a couple of eggs, a turkey leg, or something else you like). Then perhaps a late breakfast-early lunch at 11a.m. and your dinner no later than 7p.m. Or do it from 12p.m. to 8p.m. Eat an afternoon snack if you need to. You can find a lot of great material written about this. For starters I recommend these two books: Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet’s book: Perfect Health Diet (specifically Chapter 40 ) and David Asprey’s: The Bulletproof Diet.

2.Once a month fast from Saturday night til Monday morning…or a variation thereof, like Tuesday night til Thursday morning. Have a cup of coffee or tea in the morning and drink plenty of spring water throughout the day. This is a 36- hour break from food. Fasting can help the body to detoxify, drop pounds, destroy pathogens and reduce inflammation, among other benefits. If it’s too hard at first, you can also take some MCT oil during the fasting to stabilize your blood sugar.

3.Adapt a 5 day-2 day diet. Twice a week, on non-consecutive days, eat only 500 calories (women) or 600 calories (men). The other five days eat as you normally would. This approach is neatly outlined in the NYT bestseller: The Fast Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer. You might like to do this on Mondays and Thursdays, for example. It is okay to do it two days in a row, like a Monday and Tuesday, but you might feel too restricted. If you are at your ideal weight, just doing this once a week may have other health benefits.

4.Be sensible. If it doesn’t feel ok, don’t do it. Be sure all your food choices are quality ones. Don’t attempt fasting if you are ill, pregnant, recovering from surgery, or eating a junk food diet. Fasting is a stressor on the body, albeit a positive one for most people. But not all. If you have a medical condition or take medications, always check with your doctor first. Hydrate well. Get plenty of rest. Light exercise is okay for short fasts, but do not force it. Save more aggressive exercise for your non-fasting days.

“Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be your food.” Hippocrates
“No illness which can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means.” Maimonides
“Fasting is a fiery weapon. It has its own science. No one, as far as I’m aware, has a perfect knowledge of it.” Gandhi

In Good Health,

Van

I can help you with lifestyle and health choices, including a quality personally -targeted supplement program. Please contact me through this website or through the link at http://www.vhHealth.com