The 2015 Great NEWS posts share Healthy Habits to enhance our health and nutrition.  Today’s post shares how intermittent fasting helps our health.  Extensive investigation and research is being directed into the aspects of nutrition  and the vital role it plays in our overall health and well being.  With so many people facing significant challenges with carbohydrate cravings, diabetes, hormonal issues, low energy, obesity and weight gain this information on intermittent fasting and Paleo principles seemed like the right information at the right time to help millions.   Many people are looking answers and struggling with health related challenges that appear to be directly tied to what foods are  consumed and when.  This post will offer some helpful hints on how intermittent fasting helps our health.

Are We Eating Too Much and Too Often?

Scale

There is a significant amount of awareness and information regarding the benefits of calorie restriction and how it has been shown to improve certain metabolic disease risk factors and also increase certain animals lifespan.

There is a significant amount of awareness and information regarding the benefits of calorie restriction and how it has been shown to improve certain metabolic disease risk factors and also increase certain animals lifespan. It is exciting to find recent research which indicates that intermittent fasting may provide the same health benefits as calorie restriction without significantly restricting calories every day. Intermittent fasting may be one of the most powerful strategies for those struggling with health and weight issues.

This is accomplished by training our body to be a fat burner instead of a sugar burner for our primary fuel.  There is significant research to indicate that intermittent fasting can increase our production of Human Growth Hormone (HGH).  This is often associated with our level of fitness, health, longevity and resiliency.

Intermittent Fasting and Paleo Principles

It is a primary factor affecting our ability to be active and fit, build muscle and burn fat.   Other benefits to our health include:

  • Controlling our appetite awareness and hunger sensations
  • Lowering triglycerides
  • Maintain our insulin efficiency and sensitivity
  • Protecting our learning and memory abilities
  • Optimizing our bio-markers for health
  • Helping to minimize free radical damage
  • Reduce inflammation

How to Begin Intermittent Fasting

An easy way to begin adapting intermittent fasting into our lifestyle is achieved by learning to time our meals during the day in a way as to create a mini fasting period.  This is done by lengthening the time period between our evening meal and the first meal the next day.  The goal is to eat our evening meal (dinner) by 17:00 or 18:00 and then delaying the next meal the following day until hopefully 10:00 to 12:00.  In essence you are skipping a breakfast.  To be most effective, the length of fast must be at least sixteen hours. This concept generally refers to only eating meals between 11:00 and 18:00 each day you are applying the intermittent fast.  The basic concept is to skip breakfast so lunch is your first meal of the day and then an early dinner.

A key consideration is the quality of your dinner at night and then the lunch the following day.  The goal is to have a high quality meal with some free range grass fed organic meat, wild fish or other high quality proteins, fresh greens and low carbohydrate veggies for dinner and then lunch the following day.

There is a significant amount of valuable information highlighting more of the benefits and guidelines. The Warrior Diet by Ori Hofmekler is an excellent book to read and reference for additional information. Another great resource is an excellent Dr. Mercola intermittent fasting infographic .

Healthy Habits

The Healthy Habits 2015 series shares simple suggestions to help promote enhanced health and nutrition. This post offer tips on how intermittent fasting helps our health.  By avoiding the common thinking about eating three, four or five times a day we begin to retrain our body and mind to respond more like our ancestors that had to endure periods without access to food and still survive.

This Great NEWS post on Healthy Habits shared some simple suggestions on Paleo principles and how intermittent fasting helps our health.

What is your current Gap?

How many times a day are you eating? Are you eating the conventional three meals a day; breakfast, lunch and dinner?  What time are your meals?  Do you eat snacks in between meals?  Do you eat late in the evening after 6:30?  Are you eating four, five or six times a day because a trainer or diet book says that is a good idea?

Mastery Action Plan (MAP)

Decide for three months you are willing to change your approach and follow the intermittent fasting guidelines.  This can be done two days a week or more  and two days is the minimum times per week to experience the difference it can make.  Create a mastery action plan by planning and preparing a diligent schedule to implement intermittent fasting into your eating routine.  Be sure to journal your experience and results to notice any changes or shifts that occur.

Call to Action

What comments, commitments or concerns come to mind regarding the benefits of Paleo principles and how intermittent fasting helps our health?   What other ideas and inspiration will help motivate us towards better behaviors, beliefs and biology for a better 2015 and beyond?

Next week the Great NEWS blog will share:

Can Castor Oil Help Your Health Issues?

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