Secret revealed! - How Greek philosopher Pythagoras benefited from intermittent fasting?
"Instead of using medicine, rather, fast a day."
- Plutarch (a Greek biographer and essayist) which time period???
Intermittent fasting has its roots in ancient history….
Pythagoras tried to join a Mystery school in Egypt but he was refused entry. He was told that he will have to go on a 40 day fast to get entry into school at Diospolis. After successfully fasting for 40 days he was allowed entry into the school.
“You are not allowing Pythagoras in. Now I am a different man. I am actually reborn,” Pythagoras said while joining the school.Similarly, Israelis went on a fast whenever they faced a war. Such a fast was taken up at the time of Haman (a high priest) when they were defending themselves against enemies.
Fasting, throughout centuries, has been claimed as a method that brings physical as well as spiritual renewal. Other examples include:
1. In Judaism, there are many annual fast days such as Yom Kippur, known as Day of Atonement.
2. In Islam, fasting is undertaken in the holy month of Ramadan.
3. Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholics go on a 40 day fast during Lent. Lent is a period when Christ fasted for 40 days in the desert
All the above details clearly highlight the fact that intermittent fasting is nothing new. It has been practiced for centuries and we all can also benefit from intermittent fasting.
In recent history also there are stories of remarkable transformation brought about by fasting like what happened with patient “A.B.”. Let us move back in time to 1971.
In 1971, a 456-pound man went to Department of Medicine, the University of Dundee seeking help.for?? The patient, referred to as A.B., was certainly overweight and had to lose weight.
His physician suggested a drastic step; stop eating.
Patient A.B. responded quite well to brief fasting stint. Excited by results achieved, he decided to continue fasting for more than one year. His fasting became longest recorded fast and entered into Guinness Book of Records, 1971.
The astonishing thing was that the patient suffered very little to no negative effects on his health. When his 382-day fasting ended, he had lost 276 pounds. Moreover, during his abstinence, he ingested only non-caloric fluids, yeast, and vitamin supplements.
More importantly, after 5 years when doctors checked back, they pound that patient A.B. had only gained 15 pounds!
Are you intrigued listening to this story? Would you want to know how you can benefit from intermittent fasting?
Read ahead…
So, in the next few sections let us look at what intermittent fasting is and how it can be helpful for you.
Does intermittent fasting mean starvation?
Starvation is where your food intake plummets because of the scarcity of food.
When we look at starvation, it is the involuntary absence of food intake. Additionally, it is not controlled or deliberate. On the other hand, in fasting, we perform voluntary withholding of food consumption.
In intermittent fasting, food is readily available but we decide not to eat the same. Such fasting can be for any period of time, ranging from few hours to days.
Can we term it a “diet’? what is the difference between fasting and dieting?
No, instead of calling it diet, the right term would be eating pattern. Why???
Where is the need to fast? Why should you fast? Or How can fasting benefit you?
When we fast, it can result in substantial reduction in insulin levels as well as in blood sugar. In addition to it, a drastic improvement in human growth hormone (almost 5-fold) can occur. Human growth hormone is a hormone that enhances growth, cell regeneration, and cell reproduction in humans.
Additionally, studies also reveal that this type of fasting can help us live longer.
Moreover, intermittent fasting can also provide protection against different diseases such as heart diseases, cancer, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and many others.
Different types of intermittent fasting
In past few years, different methods of intermittent fasting have become popular. Let us look at some of them here.
1. 16/8 method: Here you will have to fast for 16 hours every day. As for instance, you may well select to eat between noon and 8 pm.
2. Eat stop eat: In this type of fasting you will have to stop eating anything from dinner to dinner next day. This is to be done once or twice every week and also known as a 24 hour fast.
3. 5:2 diet: On any 2 days in a week make certain that you are not eating more than 500 to 600 calories.
4. Alternate day fasting: As the name suggests, here you will have to fast every other day.
5. The warrior diet: Here you will be fasting during the day and then have a big meal at night.6. Spontaneous meal skipping: In this option, you can decide to skip a meal when you are not feeling hungry or do not want to cook. As for instance, you can skip breakfast and have a good lunch and dinner. Similarly, if you are traveling somewhere and not getting your type of food then you can skip the meal.
Can it be beneficial for us? “Intermittent Fasting can be a boon for your health”
Can support changes in hormones, genes, and cells
Intermittent fasting brings about changes in your body such as:
1. There can be a drop in insulin level, which helps in initiating the process of fat burning.
2. As mentioned above, there can be a five-fold increase in growth hormones in a person doing intermittent fasting.
3. Our body may well start cellular repair processes like the removal of waste materials from the cells.
4. Beneficial changes can take place in molecules and genes related to protection from diseases and in longevity.
Thinking of weight loss? Why not try intermittent fasting?
It has also been found that intermittent fasting can improve our metabolic rate by 3.6 to 14%. This, in turn, helps us burn more calories. Metabolic rate refers to the rate of metabolism, the total amount of energy used by us in a specific time period.
Studies show that this type of intermittent fasting can result in weight loss of 3-8% when it is continued for 3-24 weeks. Moreover, it has been found that people lose belly fat by 4 to 7% by continuing intermittent fasting.
Could reduce insulin resistance and lower risk of type 2 diabetes
By reducing insulin resistance, intermittent fasting can assist in lowering blood sugar levels as well as protect you against type 2 diabetes.
Studies show that blood sugar can go down by 3 to 6% and insulin may well reduce by 20 to 31% when on intermittent fasting.
All these details mean that intermittent fasting protects those who have a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Oxidative stress is basically an imbalance between the production of harmful free radicals (toxic byproducts) in body and body's ability to fight them. Oxidative stress results in several chronic diseases and causes aging. It has been found that intermittent fasting can improve the resistance of your body to such oxidative stress.
Moreover, it has been noticed that it can be helpful in fighting inflammation. Inflammation is often the root cause of different common diseases.
Could be beneficial for heart health
According to WHO, cardiovascular diseases are one of the top causes of deaths worldwide.
It might sound disturbing but it is true that heart diseases are presently the leading cause of deaths in the U.S. Heart diseases result in about 633,842 deaths while cancer is at the second position and results in 595,930 deaths.
You need to be aware of the fact that various risk factors are associated with increased risk of heart diseases. Intermittent fasting can have a positive effect on these risk factors. The common risk factors that intermittent fasting helps to decrease include:
1. Blood triglycerides (these are a form of fat present in blood and they can increase the risk of heart diseases).
2. Inflammatory biomarkers (are the biological measures of any biological state that indicate inflammation).
3. Blood sugar levels
4. Blood pressure
5. LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol)
Can initiate cell repair process
During intermittent fasting, body cells start a cellular waste removal procedure that is known as autophagy.
Autophagy is a process where cells break down and metabolize dysfunctional proteins that build up over time within cells. A higher level of autophagy can provide protection from several diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.
May well help in the prevention of cancer
However, there is evidence that in cancer patients, intermittent fasting helps to reduce different side effects associated with chemotherapy.
Can be good for the brain
Studies conducted on rats show that this type of fasting can cause new nerve cell growth, which can be beneficial for brain functions.Additionally, intermittent fasting increases Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which is a brain hormone. If BDNF is deficient then it can result in depression as well as other brain problems.
Animal studies have also confirmed that this kind of fasting provides protection against brain damage because of strokes.
May prevent Alzheimer’s disease
Additionally, it was noticed that intermittent fasting helped in improving symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in nine out of ten patients.
Moreover, animal studies confirm that intermittent fasting can protect from other diseases like Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease.
Can extend your lifespan
In one study it was noticed that rats fasting on alternate days lived 83% longer than other rats who were not fasting.
Are there any side effects to know about before starting intermittent fasting?
Infertility
Additionally, problems like amenorrhea (where loss of menstrual cycle occurs) can occur when someone under eats and has low body weight.
Moreover, animal studies show that intermittent fasting interferes with fertility in rats.
May impair the performance of athletes
May hamper physical endurance
Athletes need to properly time their calorie intake to achieve better performance results. If calorie intake is restricted for a longer duration then the athlete may feel weak and sluggish you may well feel sluggish. Additionally, if the workout is not synchronized with the eating schedule, it may also hamper muscle growth / weaken muscles timed correctly in the same time phase when you are taking food, it can hamper muscle growth.Thus, your muscles may actually start breaking down instead of building up.
Affect Sleep
In conclusion
This quotation is irrelevant to the topic since we are not asking people to start an intermittent fasting routine
“Everyone can perform magic, everyone can reach his goals if he is able to think if he is able to wait if he is able to fast.”
- Hermann Karl Hesse (Nobel prize winner in literature)
Reference Articles:
1. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-intermittent-fasting#section22. https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting#intro
3. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/11524808/The-history-of-fasting.html
4. http://9waysmysteryschool.tripod.com/sacredsoundtools/id13.html
5. https://www.ou.org/holidays/fast-of-esther/fast-esther-13th-adar/
6. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19524509
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23773064
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3245934
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22323820
11. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16126250
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11835290
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20157582/
14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11220789
15. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.0022-3042.2001.00747.x/abstract
16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11220789
17. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16011467
18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC151440/
19. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3022308/
20. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2844782/
21. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17306982
22. http://www.aging-us.com/article/NjJf3fWGKw4e99CyC/text
23. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622429/
24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10398297
25. https://academic.oup.com/geronj/article-abstract/38/1/36/570019
26. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047637400001093
27. http://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/212538
28. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/amenorrhea/conditioninfo/causes
29. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0052416
30. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577439/
31. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/quit-coffee_b_1598108.html
32. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/
33. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1548337
34. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12425705
35. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2355952
36. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#section3
37. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640462
38. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622429/
39. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-ways-to-do-intermittent-fasting#section1
40. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495396/
No comments:
Post a Comment