FAST to feel better, improve your shape, and live longer! - Intelligent Health

by Dr. Richard Powers

Fasting – done correctly – can help improve your resilience, stamina, mood, clarity, focus, and shape, boost your immunity and longevity, all while lowering inflammation, pain, and your risk of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, and Alzheimer’s.

Do you often feel tired, unwell, or in pain? Experience bouts of anxiety, depression, or memory lapses? Have some digestive challenges, skin rashes, or allergies? Although not a cure-all, implementing one or more types of fasting to your routine will likely help.

If you generally feel well, fasting can help you stay that way, help your immune system prevent infection and cancer, and extend your healthspan, as well.

Until recent times – evolutionarily speaking – food was periodically unavailable. To accommodate times of food scarcity, our physiology has evolved to adapt so we could survive and even thrive without periods of food intake.

During periods of “fasting” (not eating):

A biological process called “autophagy” is upregulated (increases) which basically cleans up our cells of metabolic waste products and recycles them.

Benefit: Our cell’s efficiency improves (as “old” non-functional senescent cells are cleared) with quenching of inflammation – both of which translates to pain relief, stronger immunity, reduced cancer risk, extended healthspan, and an increased sense of well-being.
Sirtuin (“longevity”) genes are activated.

Benefit: When activated, these genes improve metabolism, help repair damaged DNA, manage oxidative stress … all of which helps us “burn” fat, feel and function better, and helps extend our lifespan.
Our digestive tract gets a bit of a rest which also frees up the body’s resources for healing and repairing our cells and tissues.

Benefit: As a result, our gut health and immunity are facilitated, both of which directly positively influence brain function, infection resistance, and impact virtually every aspect of our health and well-being.
Body fat – especially at our waistline – is metabolized, particularly with the Prolon Fasting Mimicking Diet (see under Intermittent Fasting below)

Benefit: This reduces our visceral “belly fat” adipose tissue (fat around your waist) which correlates with improved shape and appearance which, for many, also improves one’s self-image.
Unwholesome eating habits are disrupted during fasting, and our focus – and even “obsession” – with our next food “source” often shifts a bit more in the direction of self-reflection and self-nurturing.

Benefit: When resuming eating after a fast, we tend to be more conscious of our food choices and it is a little easier to make better diet and lifestyle decisions.
Less time is spent deciding what to eat and shopping and preparing meals.

Benefit: You have freed up time you can use for more self-nurturing, rest, and doing things you enjoy.

So, what’s the problem?

It is no longer common for (most) people to go for extended periods of time without consuming food, and thus lose the inherent healthful benefits gained from fasting.

Generally, there are two obstacles to fasting.

Nowadays food in our country is readily available most of the time to most people. And, the “food” that is easily accessible – almost 24/7 in many communities – consists of heavily preserved/treated, sugar-rich, nutrient-poor, empty non-food products.

In addition, many people have become “addicted” to food – especially this non-food – and shy away from the concept of fasting.

Part of the reason for one’s fear of fasting centers around their (often unconscious) “obsession” for food, as the most readily available food choices also happen to be the most addictive, which subsequently drives one to eat more of it, more often. For example,

Sugar has been equated to be as addictive as cocaine
Dairy products and wheat are metabolized to caseo- and gluteo-morphines, both of which bind with opiate receptors in the brain, making us (temporarily) feel good, and hence driving our craving for these foods.

Case in point … who doesn’t crave some or all of these … pizza, lasagna, ice cream, pie, candy, cookies, baked goods, sweetened cereals, “wheat” bread/carbs, or bagels and cream cheese?!

We, as human beings, are hard-wired to feel “good.” Then there is the fact that “everyone is fighting a tough battle,” as we are (or have been) dealing with unresolved grief, unrequited love, gripping fears, or unfulfilled dreams. As a result, it is easy to become addicted to anything – including food – that helps ease our emotional pain.

Whether due to non-stop access to food, to one’s biochemical addiction to certain foods, or because we rely on food as a fundamental source of satisfaction or emotional pain relief, skipping or delaying meals no longer occurs for most people most of the time. (Of course, with the homeless or impoverished as the obvious exceptions.)

As a result, we miss the many benefits associated with fasting – more energy, improved weight and shape, better memory and focus, less pain – and experience the consequences of not fasting, like increased disability, accelerated aging, infection vulnerability, and a reduction in our quality of life and healthspan.

The solution

Continue to pursue wholesome solutions to soothe your soul and nurture yourself, many of which are listed in my book, Foundations for Creating Optimal Health.

Then …

Learn how to make it easier to fast and still retain the numerous benefits.
Then, intentionally schedule (extended) periods of time when you are not eating, that is, sufficiently to reap the rewards of fasting.

Two Basic Types of Fasting:

Although there are many names and permutations of fasting, it generally falls into one of two categories – time-restricted feeding and intermittent fasting.

1) Time-restricted Feeding:

Simply put, this is type of fast is about restricting your “window” of eating by extending the time overnight that you don’t eat, that is, to a minimum of 12 hours and up to 14-16 hours.

Or, said another way, you fast by restricting the period of time that you do eat. For example, eating only between 8 AM and 6 PM – a 10-hour eating window – amounts to a 14-hour, overnight fast.

It is safe for most people to slowly work up to 12 to 14-hour daily fast, although there are some exceptions – see fasting precaution noted below.

2) Intermittent Fasting:

This type of fasting is usually associated with abstaining from eating food and only drinking pure water, usually for a period of 1 or more days. In addition to water, research suggests that consuming a tasty Fasting Bar (3 flavors) for breakfast, as well as some black coffee, and/or some green/black tea (without sweeteners of ANY kind) during the day will not negatively impact the effectiveness (and resulting benefits) of the fast.

Several of the key benefits of this type of fasting kick in on days 3+ of the fast, but I generally don’t recommend fasting for more than about 5 days for most people as it often results in unanticipated and unwelcomed consequences, like muscle wasting, excessive release of toxins from “safe” storage depots (in fat cells), and more.

There are many variations of an intermittent fast – 2 days eating and 1 day fasting, 5 days eating and 2 days fasting, as well as juice “fasting” (only consuming Fresh-Pressed vegetable and/or fruit juices), and others. However, please beware, many fasting approaches I have found to be either impractical, unsustainable, or potentially harmful – physically or mentally. (Please refer to the fasting precaution noted below.)

The 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet

Although a water-only fast one day a week can definitely be beneficial, the intermittent fasting approach that I found to be the safest, most beneficial, while also being practical, is the science-backed 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet. During the Prolon fast, you get to enjoy some food (included within the Prolon “kit”), yet still maintain your body in a fasting state.

During the 5 days of this highly researched fast, you consume small quantities of certain foods (all pre-packaged in a “kit”) that have been shown to not interfere with the outcome of the fast – Fasting Bars, olives, crackers, and a variety of soups.

And, although food cravings and muscle wasting are both common with extended water and/or juice-type intermittent fasts, the 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet approach actually helps keep your appetite at bay and slows muscle loss.

Bottom line: With the Prolon fast you get to minimize the common fasting pitfalls while still optimize the numerous fasting health benefits.

Fasting precaution:
If you have a medical condition and especially if you are taking any prescription medication, consult your physician prior to initiating any type of fasting, and if approved, it is best under supervision by a qualified practitioner.

Fasting Implementation Tips:

Improve your resilience, stamina, mood, clarity, focus, and shape (by burning more fat around your “belly”, i.e., visceral adipose tissue), boost your immunity and longevity, all while reducing inflammation and pain, and lowering your disease risks (like cancer, heart attacks, strokes, Alzheimer’s, etc.), by:

Slowly working up to restricting your “feeding” most days for a period of 10 to 12 hours – or said another way, intentionally avoid eating for 12-14 hours overnight, that is, between dinner and breakfast.

For example, have your break-fast between 7 AM – 9 AM, and finishing your last food of the day between 5 PM – 7 PM. This means enjoying an early dinner and consuming nothing (unsweetened, non-caffeinated herbal tea is fine – like chamomile) after dinner until breaking your fast the next morning.

Note: When it comes to eating, the earlier the better. Research confirms that eating earlier in the day tends to promote fat burning rather than fat storage for most people.

And, avoiding eating 3-4 hours before bedtime has the added benefit of supporting a more restorative night’s sleep and awakening feeling more rested and refreshed. (A full stomach near bedtime pulls the body’s energy and resources towards digestion instead of transitioning to night-time resting physiology.)
Periodically implement a 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet, ideally beginning with 3 consecutive months. Then, as often as every month or at least once or twice a year, depending on the benefits you are seeking.

The 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet approach is not only practical and doable but when implemented regularly, it helps disrupt unhealthy eating habits, “burn” belly fat (improving both your health and shape), calm inflammation (and resulting pain), improve brain function (focus, memory, and mood), promote infection protection and longevity, and an overall sense of well-being.

If you want to feel, look, and/or function better – be it your weight and shape, energy levels, brain function, or digestive challenges – or, if you want to help ensure your continued well-being, I invite you to begin extending your fasting time between dinner and breakfast, and to incorporate a 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet into your routine.

Over time, you will feel (and see) the difference, and your body and mind will thank you for it!

Get your 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet “kit” and receive an additional 20% discount when you click here. (Note the additional 20% discount is applied at CHECKOUT.) Keep this link for future orders.

Learn more about the 5-day Prolon Fasting-Mimicking Diet (download PDF)

Purchase any of the healthy and tasty flavors of Fasting Bars – honey nut, chocolate chip, and coconut macadamia here.