The body has two fuel system: sugar and fat.
The sugar system is activated when we eat as our body uses the ingested glucose as energy source. Eight hours after the last meal the body shits to the fat-burning system. Of course out first intention is: I can lose fat when I am fasting. This is right, when you are in a caloric deficit. But fasting is way more than that. Reasearches suggest to use fasting in the treatment for obesity, diabtetes, cardiovascular and neurodegenrative diseases and cancer due to its benefits for cellular health:
Increased ketones, mitochondrial stress resistance, antioxidant defenses, autophagy, DNA repair
Decreases glycogen, insulin, mTOR, protein synthesis
You don't know what that all means? You give your body time to healh. To make it more catchable with visible effects:
reduce total body fat percentage and visceral fat
lower blood pressure
decrease LDL cholesterol
decrease hemoglobin A1c (indicator for blood sugar levels)
My personal experience
As i am adjusting fasting periodes along my cycle, I only used fasting for the first 19 days of my cycle. I used mostly 17h fasting windows, once 24h, sometimes 13 or 15 hours. Additionally I reduced my carb intake by increasing my fat intake. My protein intake is always between 1-2g of protein per kg of body weight. After two days of my body getting used to it - as it had to shift its fuel source ketones instead if glucose - i felt amazing. I had tons of stable energy without crashes, my mood improved, i had no cravings at all (not a single thought about bingeing, which i struggle with for years) and i easily lost 2kg. But the effects don't stay for two weeks. In the second half of the cycle, i don't fast but listen intuitively to my body's signals and incorperate more carbs for progesteron production. Eating intuitively, which was always a riddle for me, is now the easiest thing ever. I continue loosing weight with less effort and I can go without food for more than 4 hours, while having energy and still good mood which was not the case before. These benefits are what being metabolic flexible and having a high insulin sensitivity actually means. It is not a cryptical blood result, it is something you can feel.
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