The Facts About Fasting

Within the fitness and nutrition industry, there is a lot of conflicting information, especially about fasting right now.

So what is all the hype about, regarding fasting?

In the short term, you often experience weight loss by fasting; however, when you withhold nutritious, whole foods from your body for extended periods of time, you actually impede weight loss. This is because fasting reduces not only your fat, but also your lean muscle. Reduced muscle mass decreases your basal metabolic rate, the number of calories your body uses to carry out every day functions. Once your body adjusts to the fasting, it’ll require fewer calories than before, when you stop fasting, you’ll regain the weight – and often quickly.

Dr. John M. Berardi identifies that fasting does help you recognize real physiological hunger versus psychological hunger (when you head tells you you’re hungry) which is important for you to know. Another way for you to learn to recognize real hunger is to cut out mindless eating. You know, that eating in front of the TV or while you’re on the phone not really thinking about what you’re consuming. That’s often when you’re eating the calorie filled, processed foods (one handful of chips contains 300 calories and 13 grams of fat!). Control this by committing to only eating at a table, with no other distractions around you, and try to slow your eating down so that you’re taking at least 20 minutes to consume each meal.

Overall, the research being done on fasting is still in the early stages (most of it has only been done on animals to date). I believe there’s a lot more for us to learn before I’m able to recommend a fast. What I do recommend is that you maintain a healthy diet filled with whole, unprocessed foods. Enjoy everything in moderation, and work on cutting out mindless eating.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me at 416-559-5860.