This past week, as I sat at the dinner table, celebrating my mom’s 90th birthday, the topic of fasting came up. I listened for awhile, to various opinions and counter opinions before weighing in on the subject. One thing I’ve learned over the years, is that a “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work with health. Just take, for instance, the huge differences between men and women’s hormones. Women, go on something akin to a white water rafting trip down the Colorado each month, as their monthly hormone cycles take them on a wild ride. Men, on the other hand, just have the one hormone. That being true, diet, fasting and exercise can’t be a neat little formula that is able to be applied across the board to both women and men.
The new trend in intermittent fasting works great for men and can be incorporated as a long term strategy with great results. It also boasts a great number of health benefits including boosting testosterone. Who doesn’t love that? Women, on the other hand, need to honor those crazy cycles, if they want to be successful. And, if you are a woman without a cycle, you still need to metabolically switch your fuels while incorporating fasting.
One of the first topics I broach with new clients is blood sugar and the need to keep insulin and blood sugar in check to avoid the dreaded insulin resistance that is plaguing the modern world.
Whenever you eat something, you raise your blood sugar. When you fast, your blood sugar begins to drop. Lower blood sugar and a reduction of insulin resistance are just two of the benefits of fasting. Recent studies have shown that fasting can also decrease levels of inflammation, improve heart health by improving blood pressure, boost brain function, aid in cancer prevention and assist in weight loss. As a spiritual person, fasting can also be a time to focus on God and clean out the clutter of your mind.
Think of fasting as a tool, that not only gives your body time to heal, but can actually allow your body the space it needs to begin healing itself. Imagine if all the money we spent yearly on supplements, digestive aids, and medications wasn’t required, simply because we gave our bodies the space and time to heal itself. I want to be clear, I’m definitely not telling anyone to come off their medications or not to go and see their doctor, but the idea of allowing your body the time to heal itself is without a doubt, incredible. It’s incredible to think of how awesome our God is in his design of the human body.
This healing process is called autophagy. Autophagy is a state of “clean up” in the cells that occurs when a person has fasted about 17 hours and increases the longer the fast continues. The word autophagy means simply, to “self – eat.” So, literally, your healthy cells are consuming the unhealthy, damaged toxic cells in order to remove them, and leaving healthy cells behind.
So, how should a woman fast? First, don’t get stuck in a rut of doing the same thing. The same 14 hour or 16 hour or 18 hour fast over and over again. Studies have shown that when women consistently repeat the same fasting schedule that more negative occurs than positive. Some of the negative side effects are hair loss and thyroid issues. The best time for a cycling woman to fast is during the first 18 days of their cycle. In the days leading up to their bleeding window (day 19-28), fasting should cease, and fueling should change from a low carb/high fat to a lean protein/healthy carb meal plan.
This weeks menu is a fasting schedule that could be used for a week. It is not a long enough fast to get your body in autophagy, but it’s a good place to start to learn how to fast. Please, unless you are a guy, do not repeat this cycle without a break in between. (and that doesn’t mean pigging out break) Metabolic switching is key! Staying low carb and high fat or fasting every day, is a recipe for disaster for a woman. Don’t go there.
Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday
Drinks during the fasting window: Coffee with MCT oil or Grass Fed Butter/1 Gallon of Water with electrolytes
1:00 meal – Protein Smoothie (protein powder, berries optional, water, ice)
4:00 meal – Large green salad with plenty of color and 4-6 oz of protein. Don’t forget to add plenty of healthy fat. (ex. avocado, olive oil, olives etc)
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
Drink plenty of water throughout the day. A really great brand of electrolyte powder comes from the company “LMNT.”
1:00 meal – Protein smoothie
4:00 meal – (4-6 oz) of protein, 2 – 3 cups of cooked or raw vegetables, and plenty of healthy fat.
Deep Roots Wellness 