Better than Diet Intermittent Fasting

The Many Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting by Dr. Joseph Mercola

A large and growing body of medical research supports the use of intermittent fasting, showing it has a wide range of biological benefits. For example, intermittent fasting has been shown to:

1. Promote insulin sensitivity, which is crucial for your health, as insulin resistance or poor insulin sensitivity contributes to nearly all chronic diseases

2. Promote leptin sensitivity

3. Normalize ghrelin levels, also known as the "hunger hormone," resulting in lowered hunger

4. Improve blood sugar management by increasing insulin-mediated glucose uptake rates

5. Lower triglyceride levels

6. Increase human growth hormone production (HGH) — Commonly referred to as "the fitness hormone," HGH plays an important role in maintaining health, fitness and longevity, including promotion of muscle growth, and boosting fat loss by revving up your metabolism. Research7shows fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women and 2,000 percent in men.

The fact that it helps build muscle while simultaneously promoting fat loss explains why HGH helps you lose weight without sacrificing muscle mass, and why even athletes can benefit from intermittent fasting

7. Suppress inflammation and reduce oxidative damage

8. Upregulate autophagy and mitophagy, natural cleansing processes necessary for optimal cellular renewal and function

9. Boost fat burning and improve metabolic efficiency and body composition, including significant reductions in visceral fat and body weight in obese individuals 

10. Prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes, as well as slow its progression

11. Improve immune function

12. Lower blood pressure

13. Reduce your risk of heart disease — One study11 found those who fasted regularly had a 58 percent lower risk of coronary disease compared to those who never fasted

14. Reproduce some of the cardiovascular benefits associated with physical exercise

15. Boost mitochondrial energy efficiency and biosynthesis

16. Shift stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal

17. Reduce your risk of cancer

18. Increase longevity — There are a number of mechanisms contributing to this effect. Normalizing insulin sensitivity is a major one, but fasting also inhibits the mTOR pathway, which plays an important part in driving the aging process

19. Regenerate the pancreas and improve pancreatic function

20. Improve cognitive function, thanks to rising ketone levels

21. Protect against neurological diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, thanks to the production of ketone bodies (byproducts of fatty acid breakdown, which are a healthy and preferred fuel for your brain) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, which activates brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health)

22. Eliminate sugar cravings as your body adapts to burning fat instead of sugar