Fasting – Good for You?

Is fasting good for you?  How long should you fast?  Are there any health benefits to fasting?   A student in my class asked me if fasting is good for you and how long should one fast?  Good questions.  As it turns out, Dr. Oz talked about fasting and how he fasts in a recent article, It’s About Time!.  Dr. Oz talks about how he uses the clock for fasting and for losing weight and also for some good health benefits.  Personally, I am not a fan of fasting.  I tend towards hypoglycemia and going for days without food is not for me.  But, Dr. Oz provides a somewhat new twist on fasting.  More short-term fasting – giving your body a rest from food.  This type of fasting I can do and maybe it is something that will work for you.  In January, I wrote a blog about fasting:  To lose weight, should you count time or calories?    This plan focused on Time Restricted Feeding or TRF.  The theory is based on counting time and not calories.  TRF says to limit your eating to a 12-hour period.  A relative has followed this fasting plan for months now and she eats what she wants and has lost quite a bit of weight. 

What is the fasting plan Dr. Oz recommends?

The 12 hour plan – most of us eat all day, every day.  We eat when we are hungry and when we feel like eating.  Dr. Oz says most of us eat during most of the time we are awake – about 17 hours each day.  

The 12 hour plan – is eating when you want during 12 hours of the day and then FASTING for 12 hours every day.  Basically, it is the TRF – the Time Restricted Feeding I wrote about in January.  Dr. Oz also refers to it as “intermittent fasting”.  Dr. Oz says he has limited his eating, including meals and snacks, to a 12-hour window.  He is now in his second year of the 12-hour plan.  He prefers a 12-hour window from 8 AM to 8 PM, but the 12-hour time period can be up to you.   

Choose your 12 hour time period.   Choose a time period in which you can stop eating at least 2 hours before you go to bed. 

Why does Dr. Oz say fasting is good for your health?

Dr. Oz says for too long we have focused on the “what”.  What drugs to treat our conditions, what we eat.  But we haven’t focused on the “when” – when do we eat?  He says that “when” we eat is also important to our health. 

1. Weight loss – Dr. Oz recommends the 12-hour fasting plan for weight loss or weight maintenance.  He says this fasting plan helps prevent hunger better than some dieting plans.  And why not?  You can eat what you want during the 12-hour window of time.  No need to go hungry.  And he jokingly notes that you aren’t drinking down your juicing drink while your friend is downing some tempting tacos.  And people who fast for those 12 hours seem to eat fewer calories during the day.  Want to lose weight from your stomach?  The 12-hour fast seems to help you lose more belly fat. 
2.  Alzheimer’s – at least in animal studies, fasting may help halt decline of cognitive abilities. 
3. Gut health – I’ve written a number of times how important healthy gut bacteria are to good health (eat that yogurt every day).  Dr. Oz says that by fasting, we actually help create diversity among our gut bacteria. 
4. Inflammation -  fasting such as the 12-hour plan seems to reduce inflammation in those with rheumatoid arthritis or with asthma.  

 

 And not just Dr. Oz promotes Intermittent Fasting.   In June,  Harvard gave an update on Intermittent fasting:  Surprising update .  They note that Intermittent Fasting can not only help with weight loss but also is good for diabetes prevention.   Dr. Tello discusses a research article comparing results from an 8 hour fast to that of the 12-hour fast.  The research studied obese men with prediabetes.  One group restricted their eating to 8 hours a day, from 7AM to 3 PM.  The second group restricted their eating to 12 hours a day from 7 AM to 7 PM.  Both groups were successful in maintaining their weight.  The 8-hour group had the most health benefits with lower insulin levels and lower blood pressure. 

So, if you are interesting in “fasting” try this more moderate approach.  It may be good for your health and it is a lot easier to do than fasting for a day or fasting for days at a time. 

Sources:  To lose weight, should you count time or calories? , Intermittent fasting:  Surprising update   Image sources:  clock, alarm clock, 12 hours