Intermittent Fasting – Science

Transcript

Let’s talk about science on intermittent fasting. Does it work? Does it not work? How much does it work based on science? So the food that we eat is broken down by enzymes in our gut, and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream. Carbohydrates, particularly sugars and refined grains, such as white flours and rice are quickly broken down into sugar. This enters our cells and to be used for energy, if our cells don’t use it, we store it in our fat cells as fat. Sugar can only enter our cells in presence of a hormone called insulin, which is made in our pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there. Between meals, as long as we don’t snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugars, which can be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down. So the entire idea of intermittent fasting is based on this principle. The idea is to allow insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat. Hundreds of animal studies in scores of human clinical trials have shown that intermittent fasting can lead to improvement in health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurological disorders. People with advanced diabetes and those who are on medications should definitely do intermittent fasting under physician supervision. People with eating disorders, anorexia bulimia, pregnant females, and breastfeeding women should avoid intermittent fasting. They can follow some time restricted feeding, again under physician supervision.