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How Do I Intermittent Fast?

if intermittent fasting weight loss

Intermittent fasting (IF) involves cycling between windows of eating and not eating. These can range from 12 hours of eating + 12 hours of fasting to 1 hour of eating + 23 hours of fasting.
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But if you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m starkly against fasting, especially for females. Yup, you’ve been baited.
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Fasting is basically self-imposed starvation. Per my last post, when our blood sugar drops, our adrenal glands release stress hormones to raise it back up. When we’re constantly doing this:
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❌We can’t digest. We lose up to half our stomach acid and digestive enzyme production when stressed. We get diarrhea and/or constipated.
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❌We can’t convert thyroid hormone. 80% of the conversion of T4 to T3 takes place in the liver, which needs glucose to do so. No glucose = sluggish liver = slow thyroid function.
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❌We become insulin resistant. Stress hormones release free fatty acids from fat cells into the bloodstream, which are usually PUFA. This blocks insulin from doing its job - getting sugar into cells - can cause hyperinsulinemia (high insulin) and inhibits thyroid hormone.
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❌Inflammation increases. When under stress, our muscle tissue is broken down, releasing inflammatory proteins, like tryptophan, methionine and cysteine, into our bloodstream. These also inhibit thyroid hormone.
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❌We can’t detoxify. The liver is completely occupied making blood glucose out of your muscle and fat cells. This causes toxins and old hormones to recirculate, like estrogen, and can lead to estrogen dominance.
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❌Hormones imbalance. The body won’t support reproduction when stressed. This can lead to low testosterone or progesterone levels, and even infertility.
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❌Our metabolism shifts from “burn” to “store,” slowing down. The body doesn’t know when its next meal is coming and doesn’t feel safe.
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“Decreased blood sugar is a basic signal for the release of adrenal hormones...falling blood sugar and the rising free amino acids and the free fatty acids all turn our metabolic rate down. Fasting turns off the liver’s ability to detoxify things. You’re exposing yourself to increased toxins rather than decreased.” - Dr. Ray Peat
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Sure, our ancestors fasted, but only because they had to. You can bet 100% they wouldn’t purposefully go long periods of time without eating. We also experience more stress in one day than they did in their lifetime. More stress = more constant fuel needed. By not supporting our energy needs, we push ourselves into a never ending “fight or flight” state.
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Many folks that do IF are also under the impression they’re increasing autophagy (cell turnover). What they don’t realize is that this can’t occur if there’s excess iron and PUFA in their cells, which we ALL have.
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ALL of my clients - both men and women - that have done intermittent fasting (even without realizing) have crashed and have had to do some serious metabolic healing.
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When you look at things from the context of human physiology and not just studies, you can start to understand why most diets end up doing way more harm than good.
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Some food for thought.

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This is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare professional before pursuing any changes to your personal healthcare regime.

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References

Littlewood, K. (2019). Fasting and calorific restriction- Increased longevity or just a slower death?. Retrieved from: https://balancedbodymind.com/blog/2019/9/30/fasting-and-calorific-restriction-life-extending-or-just-a-slower-death.

 Peat, R. (2009). Glycemia, starch, and sugar in context. Retrieved from: http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/glycemia.shtml.

 Peat, R. (2012). Sugar Issues. Retrieved from: https://raypeat.com/articles/articles/sugar-issues.shtml.

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Remember: this post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here. While the owner of this website tries to keep the information up to date, there may be things that are out-of-date and out of their control.