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What Happens In Our Bodies During a Fast?
Important:
- If you’re a woman, you should not be fasting all the time. Your cycle and hormones need to be taken into account (a future article is coming on this topic)
- If you have very low body fat levels, keep fasts on the shorter end.
What happens inside your body while fasting:
12 - 15 hours: Human Growth Hormone (HGH) increases. Body begins to break down and burn fats. Benefits of HGH:
- Burns fat
- Builds lean muscle mass
- Prevents the loss of muscle
- Strengthen bones
- Collagen formation
- Slows down the aging process
17 - 20 hours onwards: Autophagy begins and your body begins to burn fat as fuel. The longer you stay in a fast, the more enhanced the effects of autophagy become. Autophagy peaks at ~72 hours of fasting Autophagy Benefits:
- Repairs and cleans out damaged cells and regenerates new ones
- Toxins moved out of cells for excretion
- Brain function and cognition improve
- Immune system improves
- Sex hormone production improves
- Increases longevity
24 hours onwards:
Gut begins to be repaired
36 hours onwards:
- Autophagy ramps up
- Fat burning increases rapidly
- Stored sugars in body get released
- Cholesterol is reduced
48 hours onwards:
- HGH ramps up to 5x more than when you started fasting
- Dopamine levels are reset
- Anxiety levels drop
- Many additional neurological benefits from 48 hours +
54 hours onwards: Significant improvements to insulin sensitivity (especially helpful for diabetics, pre-diabetics and people who struggle with losing weight) 72 hours onwards:
- Autophagy peaks
- Stem cell activity is maximized
- Your body regenerates stem cells and these repair your immune system and any injuries around the body
- Effects of aging slows down.
Note: Some people prefer to fast for 3 - 5+ days to maximize the benefits from the stem cell activity. People pay big $$$ for stem cell treatments. You can access these benefits for free with extended fasts. 3 - 5 day fasts are especially beneficial for healing injuries and diseases.
What type of fasts should I do?
- Healing your gut → 24 - 36 hours onwards
- Fat burning → 36 hours onwards
- Regular health maintenance → 20 - 36 hours onwards
- Dopamine reset & anxiety reduction → 48 hours onwards
- Improving insulin sensitivity → 54 hours onwards
- Healing injuries & diseases → 72 hours onwards
Fasts of 48 hours or more should not be done more than once a week. Your body also requires nutrients from food 😉
- 1/8 - 1/4 tsp magnesium chloride powder (food grade)
- 1/8 tsp mineral rich salt
- 1/8 tsp potassium powder (chloride / bicarbonate)
OR use a product like Concentrace
As soon as you’ve finished your last meal.
During a fast, the only thing you should be consuming is water with electrolytes - a pinch of salt for sodium, magnesium chloride powder (food grade) and potassium powder… or just buy an electrolyte formula without added sugars such as Concentrace. No coconut water or any juices. All of these have natural sugars or make your digestive system work, which will kick you out of the fasted state. How to Break a Fast Correctly:
The purpose of this four step process is to slowly get your digestion back on track, by gradually reintroducing foods. Most people break their fasts with a large meal. This is incorrect and will put a lot of stress on your digestive system. Follow this four step process:
Meal 1: Break your fast with a simple soup or bone broth. Bone broth is by far the best thing for your gut after an extended fast.
Wait 1 hour
Meal 2: Have some more soup/bone broth + some fruit like banana, dates, etc.
Wait 1 hour
Meal 3: Have a probiotic source such as kefir, yogurt, etc. It's fine to add toppings such as honey and cacao nibs, etc here too.
Wait 1 hour
Meal 4: Now you can eat as you normally would - meats, veggies, etc.
What’s a Good App to Track Fasts?
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