We are often bombarded with information to eat this, drink this smoothie or take this pill/vitamin/supplement. But maybe what our bodies need is less rather than more.
Before the advent of agriculture, food scarcity was a common occurrence, so our bodies are well adapted to fasting. Here the stages of fasting:
- First 8 hours: Blood sugar levels drop, you feel hungry.
- 8-12 hours: Glycogen stores start to be used, you feel more energetic. These short fasts are great for increasing Insulin sensitivity.
- 12-18 hours: Fat metabolism starts, your liver starts to break fats into ketone bodies –> Mental clarity. Great for weight loss.
- 24 hours: Autophagy starts
Autophagy (Latin for self eating) involves the breakdown of old proteins in the cell. This is important because the accumulation of these defective proteins can harm the cell’s metabolism.
Autophagy has been shown to reduce inflammation in the body and might be protective against neurological conditions and cancer.