How does Intermittent Fasting (IF) work?

When we eat, insulin is released. When we fast, insulin is not released in a healthy system. In an unhealthy system, insulin is being released often, even when we are fasting. The more this insulin is released, the less sensitive our cells become to reacting to the release of insulin. In a balanced system, insulin release leads to our body's cells to uptake and use glucose as fuel. In an unbalanced system glucose accumulates in the bloodstream and the cells ignore it. Too much insulin release means that the cells are more likely to ignore the glucose in our bloodstream which allows our blood glucose (blood sugar) levels to rise and rise which can lead to pre-diabetes or even diabetes.

Intermittent Fasting doesn't dictate exactly what you should eat but rather, when you should be eating and when you should be fasting. This type of approach is sometimes referred to as timed eating.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Insulin resistance is when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don’t respond well to insulin and can’t use glucose from your blood for energy. To make up for it, your pancreas makes more insulin. Over time, your blood sugar levels go up as the cells become less sensitive to insulin presence and are then “resistant” to acting when insulin tells the cells to uptake glucose for fuel. Insulin resistance syndrome includes a group of symptoms like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. It could affect as many as 1 in 3 Americans. You might also hear it called metabolic syndrome.

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors -- high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and weight gain around the belly -- that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle interventions can be helpful for reversing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance are essentially the same conditions.

Symptoms of Insulin Resistance/Metabolic Syndrome?

The common symptoms of these conditions are insatiable hunger, nighttime snacking, abnormal weight gain around our middle/trunk/belly (a waistline over 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women), fatigue, hormone imbalances, increased blood sugar (over 100 mg/dL), increased fasting insulin, increased blood pressure (130/80 or higher), skin tags on the neck and under the arms a fasting triglyceride level over 150 mg/dL, an HDL cholesterol level under 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women, patches of dark, velvety skin called acanthosis nigricans.

Side benefits of immune-recovery IF?

The i-r IF approach may result in balanced blood sugar, improved cholesterol, improved blood pressure, healthy weight changes, and improved hunger and satiation. Lower carbohydrate eating can also help to improve gut function by inhibiting the overgrowth of some opportunistic gut organisms (like yeast) that usually thrive on high sugar diets and can help to promote digestive tract healing. Timed eating also helps the gut clean itself out better during periods of fasting which can reduce fermentation of food in the gut and can promote gut healing.

Potential contraindications or side effects of IF?

People who are underweight, chronically ill, have a history of disordered eating, or are Type I diabetic may not be good candidates for i-r IF unless supervised by a knowledgeable provider. Some potential side effects of intermittent fasting could include weight loss, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), disordered eating, hunger, lightheadedness, or other symptoms of hypoglycemia.

Are Intermittent Fasting and low carbohydrate eating dangerous to follow long term?

No. Unless you have any of the contraindicated conditions listed below, you should be totally safe to follow a plan like the immune-recovery Intermittent Fasting plan for as long as it makes you feel well and for as long as it takes for you to reach your individual health goals.

Do I need to follow the gradual lead into 16/8 Intermittent Fasting (during the first week) or can I jump straight to eating according to the 16/8 schedule?

If you have tried IF before or you are not worried about fasting being difficult to navigate, you can absolutely start eating according to 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating schedule. Our gradual increase in fasting time during the first week is most useful for people who are new to fasting or feel like this change might be difficult to navigate or people who may want the changes to be slower because of issues of needing to adjust medications and allows our bodies and our minds the time needed to adjust to this new behavior change.