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What are the health benefits of intermittent fasting?

Powerful changes take place in your body when you fast.

  • The reduction in insulin levels resulting from not eating any carbohydrates during the fasting period reduces insulin-resistance – a phenomenon associated with a host of diseases.

  • Your body benefits from taking a break from consuming proteins while you’re fasting; this reduces levels of hormones that drive cell growth and encourage cancer.

  • Your fasting body increases its use of fats for fuel – and this generates substances (ketones) that our brains thrive upon,  and improving the functioning of our nervous systems.

Learn more about what happens when we fast

Read more about how fasting can improve your health:

Insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome

A key feature of many modern diseases is the phenomenon of insulin resistance (also known as metabolic syndrome). Insulin resistance occurs when the body’s cells do not respond properly to the signal from insulin to take up glucose from the blood stream and convert it into glycogen or fat (which is the body’s way of keeping blood sugar down to safe limits). Because blood sugar does not lower sufficiently, the body has to produce more insulin to bring blood sugar down. High insulin levels are an indication of insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is found in many diseases, including:

  • Obesity

  • Diabetes

  • Cardiovascular disease and stroke

  • High blood pressure

  • Kidney disease

  • Polycystic ovary disease

  • Gout

  • Alzheimer’s disease.

Fasting and exercise are two great ways of lowering insulin resistance and this is the foundation for many of the health benefits of both.

Learn more about how fasting can help diabetes

Learn more about how fasting can help the heart and circulation