Fasting has been used throughout history as a means of purifying the body physically and spiritually. While there is some debate concerning the effectiveness of fasting over other methods for reducing body weight, there is an abundance of evidence supporting the benefits of fasting beyond just weight loss.

Fasting is typically defined as the abstinence from food, though it has come to be employed using a variety of time intervals and calorie counts. In some instances, food is avoided entirely, while in others, food is avoided for set periods of time, known as intermittent fasting, or there is simply a drastic reduction in calories on specific days.

In recent decades, societies in developed countries have drilled it into our heads that we should never become hungry. All forms of media bombard us with food advertisements that run on a constant loop. In addition, processed food is designed with the sole purpose of making us addicted so that we’ll buy more and more. The typical diet, even as prescribed by the medical community, is three meals, plus snacks, daily. While certain societal advances have been extremely beneficial to the improvement of life quality, this push to constantly eat has not.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I love to eat. I’ve never been super thin, even when I wrestled. I came into fitness through powerlifting, which focuses solely on strength. Think blocky and thick physique. Still, as I’ve aged, as we all do, I’ve come to realize that to live a long and healthy life that is relatively pain-free, I need to look at my entire physiology, which includes systems beyond muscular and cardio-respiratory.

As you have probably ascertained from previous articles, I have taken a deep personal interest in subjects such as strength training for health, sleep quality, cold bathing, superfoods, and fasting. In this article, we will discuss fasting as a whole as well as the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting could be as simple as skipping breakfast but is more effectively used by purposely shortening the window of caloric consumption. For example, eating only between noon and 6 p.m. gives your body a fasting period of 18 hours. The argument for this time-restricted feeding is that it isn’t necessarily good to continually be in a state of digestion. Many other societies, often in developing countries without our abundance of food, do not eat three meals per day plus snacks. While this may seem sad, they also do not have our extremely high rates of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Incidentally, the United States is one of the most obese nations on Earth, so we might pay attention to what people of other nations do.

So, what are the main advantages of fasting? Beyond assistance with weight reduction, improved nutrient absorption, and better insulin sensitivity, the biggest advantage may be improved autophagy. Autophagy is the body’s ability to naturally rid dying or damaged cells. Our bodies are constantly remodeling and remaking themselves, and as they age, they become less efficient at ridding unwanted cellular material. This is a problem because it inhibits the making of new cells. There is evidence; however, that routine fasting can help to turn on autophagy and slow down the aging process.

It is also worth mentioning that fasting is absolutely not a license to skip meals to gorge on large quantities of low-quality food during your remaining meals. The main purpose of fasting is to improve your overall health by increasing your body’s ability to absorb nutrients, increase your energy levels, improve insulin sensitivity, and to give your digestive system a break. You might also learn a new appreciation for high-quality food since you won’t be eating massive amounts of processed food.

*A word of caution, however. People with serious medical conditions such as diabetes or other health issues may not be able to fast safely and will certainly want to check with their healthcare team if they are interested in fasting.

For more information on developing a fitness program or if you are interested in personal training, feel free to email me at dave.bellomo@gmail.com or message me on my website, bellomofitness.com.