WINNIPEG, MB – If you’ve been watching our youtube videos and following our blog you will notice that Kevin and I have been talking about the “Intermittent Diet” recently. There is more and more evidence that it has tons of health benefits. I know, I know, Mom always said “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Turns out, maybe it isn’t!

I was recently diagnosed with Mold Exposure and the ensuing treatment required a crazy regiment of medications taken on an empty stomach at various times of the day. So, if all of your meds have to happen two hours before and two hours after meals it stands to reason that there is very little time left for eating. I realized on the first day that I only had a brief two-hour window from noon to two and another from five to seven to get my meals in, so I was essentially already doing a forced intermittent fast and it really wasn’t that bad! (Read about my 3-day water fast here which was pretty rough!)

Through our interviews with experts on the subject, a common word, ‘autogaphy’ kept coming up. Autogaphy, in a nutshell, is the body’s ability to heal itself. During the stress of starvation, as a metabolic process, the body consumes its own tissue, literally eating all of the dead, diseased and used up cells and then recycles them for energy and new parts.

Here is an interview with Dr. Petersen on the benefits of fasting.

There is growing scientific backing that it may stop cancerous growths and metabolic dysfunction like obesity and diabetes. It may also keep inflammation at bay and boost immunity. I believe that it’s still in the “rat study” phase but there are signs that it is one of the keys to slowing the aging process.

It has been shown to have benefits with as little as a sixteen hour fast but the longer you go the better the results, especially with insulin levels. It is a remarkably easy choice to make to improve your health, as the only restriction is WHEN you eat. WHAT you eat is entirely up to you. Even chocolate cake isn’t off the menu although obviously, the better your choices, the better the results.

Once my body has adjusted completely to this format I think that I am going to add a couple of days a week with just one big meal at dinner time to boost the metabolic process. I will be following this research closely as frankly, it just seems a little too easy! We would love to hear about other intermittent fasting methods. Let us know what’s working for you!

Heather Klein, Manitoba Post

Read more stories a real healthy aging journey, visit www.reallifeaging.com.

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