So, you’ve heard about intermittent fasting.

It gets referenced a lot and you’ve seen it doing the rounds on health sites and blogs, and you’ve got to admit – it’s piqued your interest.

But what is the fuss really about?

Is it just another fad or is intermittent fasting a whole new way to improve your health?

Fortunately, there’s been plenty of research carried out, looking at the potential benefits of this long-claimed method of boosting weight loss and promoting a positive healthy lifestyle.

Hopefully, you’ve also read our article about the great benefits of linking intermittent fasting with bulletproof coffee, and it seems there are even more benefits than we realised!

Some of them are pretty obvious, and others are a bit more surprising:

 

1. It Lowers Insulin Resistance

Research has shown that regular intermittent fasting helps to reduce levels of insulin in the blood. This has its benefit for two reasons:

• It helps to facilitate fat burning (great for those who are focusing on weight loss as a part of their healthy journey)
• It reduces your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes

Sugar in our diets is becoming an increasingly common problem.

The result? Type 2 diabetes is also becoming an increasingly common problem.

One of the main reasons for this is a resistance to insulin.

Research has shown that intermittent fasting actually lowers your resistance to insulin, which in turn helps to lower blood sugar levels and offers protection against type 2 diabetes.

 

2. It Encourages Cellular Repair

Various studies have revealed results showing that intermittent fasting encourages a variety of cellular and hormone changes for the better, but one of the main findings has been around promoting the metabolic pathway called autophagy.

Autophagy is essentially the process by which your cells remove ‘waste’, usually by metabolising dysfunctional proteins that have built up over time within the cells themselves.

This has obvious benefits – getting rid of waste in the body is always a good move! And this particular process can also aid against several diseases, including cancer.

 

 

3. Increased Human Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone (HGH) is a naturally occurring hormone secreted by the brain, that has a whole host of benefits. Its peak is during our own physical development in childhood and it’s been linked to a number of positive benefits, including reversing ageing, building muscle and bone density, and aiding weight loss as an adult.

Intermittent fasting has been linked to encouraging a natural release of HGH, which in turn brings about the mentioned benefits.

While many athletes use HGH injections to reap these benefits, it seems the intermittent fasting method can aid a much more natural and balanced surge of HGH.

 

Related article: Supplements: The ultimate guide to increasing your energy

 

4. Beneficial for Overall Heart Health

We all know that looking after our heart health is crucial for a long and happy life. Unfortunately, we’re usually also a bit hazy on what this looks like.

A number of factors feed into our overall heart health, including blood sugar levels, cholesterol, blood pressure and other inflammatory markers.

The good news is research has also demonstrated how intermittent fasting can help improve the body’s defence against many of these risk factors and improve overall heart health.

 

5. Helps with Weight Loss

The main benefit you’ll see of intermittent fasting is weight loss. The 5:2 diet has been popular for many years now, and there are heaps of personal blogs and health websites out there promoting this diet method.

Intermittent fasting aids weight loss in two ways:

• Firstly, you’re eating fewer calories, so that’s a no-brainer
• Secondly, intermittent fasting encourages a variety of hormone and cell functions that also aid weight loss (we’ve mentioned a few of them already)

Short-term fasting helps to boost your metabolic weight, meaning you burn more calories, while also consuming less. This has been shown to be particularly beneficial for individuals seeking to lose belly weight.

 

Related article: Bulletproof diet: 10 secrets for success

 

6. It’s Great for Brain Functionality

When your body feels great, it makes sense that the knock-on effect is that your brain will feel great!

Studies looking at how to improve brain functionality, tend to focus on hormonal changes – and as we’ve already seen, intermittent fasting has the capacity to impact on a wide range of hormonal changes and functions. This includes a particular hormone called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

Low levels of BDNF have been linked to a number of problems in the brain, including depression. Intermittent fasting has been shown to increase levels of BDNF, meaning there are great implications that it can promote positive brain functions.

 

Related article: How to take the natural path to conquer depression

 

7. It Can Help Reduce Oxidative Stress in the Body

Oxidative stress in the body isn’t too well known but has severe implications for your overall health. Essentially, oxidative stress is an imbalance in the production of free radicals in your body, versus its ability to counteract their toxic effects with antioxidants.  

As you can imagine, toxic free radicals in the body is not a good thing.

Intermittent fasting has been linked to enhancing your capacity to overcome and resist oxidative stress. This is great for overall health, and the prevention of a host of different diseases.

 

8. It Might Help You Live Longer

Taking into account all of the above, it makes sense that one of the longer term benefits of intermittent fasting is its potential to help you live longer!

Studies in this area so far have only been linked to rats, but with positive results.

Many humans attest to the positive benefits of intermittent fasting, and recent research seems to be showing increasing support for the belief that it does indeed help you to live a longer, and healthier, life!

As research and studies continue to prove positive links between intermittent fasting and a wide range of health benefits, it’s getting harder to ignore the concept as something we should all be implementing into our routine!

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