Fasting refers to the deliberate abstention from food and/or fluids for a period of time, for therapeutic purposes. Many people don’t know that fasting has been used for thousands of years in various religious and spiritual practices throughout human history, and in a sense, fasting is part of everyday life.

The term ‘breakfast’ is the meal that breaks the fast, which is done daily. The recent increase in scientific research around fasting has allowed us to understand just how fasting positively affects our physiology, cells, aging, disease and overall health. What has been incredible for me to watch in my coaching is how many people, regardless of symptoms or condition, have benefited from this completely free and simple biohack!

In 2016 Dr. Ohsumi changed the fasting landscape dramatically when he won a Nobel prize for his work on autophagy. Autophagy means “self- eating” and is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. Autophagy is like the fast track to healing and slowing the aging process. What does autophagy have to do with fasting? Well, fasting triggers this magical autophagy process.

Essentially, fasting helps accelerate healing and gets your body to naturally repair itself!

What happens to your body when you fast?

When you don’t consume food or calories, the body looks for other ways to generate energy, such as drawing on glucose, ie. sugar stores. Once the glucose is significantly used up, the body’s metabolism changes and the body begins to burn fatty acids from stored fat for energy. When this transition to burning fat for energy is made, the body begins producing ketones and is said to be in a state of ketosis. You can measure your level of ketones using a Keto Mojo (more about this later). Once you reach a state of ketosis, many of the benefits of fasting start to kick in. Now, the specific benefits can vary depending on how many hours you have been fasting. For example, growth hormones kick in at 13 hours, whereas autophagy is thought to kick in at 16-18 hours. MIT research shows that at 24 hours intestinal stem cells will begin repair and 24 hours is also when you start to see weight loss.

What are the benefits of fasting?

Fasting can provide significant fasting benefits for a variety of health issues, symptoms and conditions. Because fasting works to repair and heal on a cellular level, research suggests that it can help conditions like obesity, diabetes, sleep apnea, some types of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, IBS and chronic or autoimmune conditions. Fasting can help with the following:

• Stimulating growth hormones (a fat-burning hormone) secretion by 1300%

• Triggering autophagy, ie. cleaning up of damaged cells

• Stem cells generation

• Stabilizes blood sugar • Immune system

• Depression and anxiety • Detoxification

• Weight loss and improved metabolic function

• Slowing the aging process, longevity

• Helping autoimmune conditions

• Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity

• Lowering blood pressure

• Thyroid condition

• Chronic pain

• Candida, gut issues

• Gallbladder issues

• Improving biomarkers of disease

• Supporting hormones and fertility

• Menopause and perimonopause

• Normalizing ghrelin levels, aka “the hunger hormone”

• Reducing inflammation and lessen free radical damage

• Lowering triglyceride levels

• Memory function and mood

• Boosting brain power by stimulating BDNF (a brain-boosting hormone) by 400

• Supporting the treatment and prevention of cancer.

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The seven different types of fasting

There are seven different types of fasting that I work on and teach my clients. Each of the seven different types of fasts has slightly different benefits and parameters on how they work. So if you are wondering how long you should fast, the answer is it will depend on what benefit you are trying to achieve and which fast you pick.

1) Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is the deliberate cycling between periods of fasting and eating. Most people already fast an average of 12 hours a day, that’s from dinner to breakfast the next morning (ie. mostly while you’re sleeping). With IF, what you will want to do is extend your breakfast slightly, starting one hour at a time, till you are fasting about 13-15 hours. The easiest way to do this is pushing breakfast back a couple of hours or skipping breakfast entirely and breaking your fast with lunch. There are so many benefits to IF and it’s something that I recommend clients do every day (yes, every day). The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published a great review article discussing the benefits of intermittent fasting and how time-restricted eating contributes to healthy living.

2) Autophagy Fasting

Naomi Whittel in her book Glow 15 talks about autophagy fasting. Autophagy fasting entails 16-18 hours of fasting (this is considered the “sweet spot”). There are some additional key principles here you’ll want to follow. When you break your fast, you’ll break it with healthy fats. This helps keep your blood sugar stable and curbs hunger, allowing you to go another 3-4 hours without eating. You’ll keep carbs under 50g and protein under 20g (animal or plant). Naomi Whittel also recommends eating carbs later in the day.

3) Dinner-to-Dinner

Once you’re comfortable with intermittent fasting, dinner-to-dinner is a great type of fast to try 1-2 days a week. This means fasting from after dinner until the next day’s dinner. Drinking water and in some cases, coffee during this fast is okay. Dr. Fung, the author of The Obesity Code, calls this “OMAD”, or one meal a day. What’s important to remember here is that the longer you fast, the more the body will reach into your stored areas of fat to burn fuel and the more ketones your body will create.

4) Dry Fasting

Unlike the other fasts, during a dry fast you’ll also abstain from drinking any water or liquids. There are a lot of reasons why dry fast is great. Research shows us it can decrease inflammation and increase BDNF. BDNF is fertilizer for your brain. Incorporating dry fasting into your weekly diet variation, for those of you that want better brain clarity, improved memory, and better mobility, this would be the one you would do. I recommend a maximum of 12-24 hours of dry fasting, however I do not recommend that you dry fast for more than 24 hours. Dry fasting is definitely for the more expert faster.

5) 36-48 Water Fasting

The purpose of a 36-48 hour water fast is really to keep insulin down and go after stored sugar. One of Dr. Fung’s key strategies for releasing long-standing weight is fasting for these longer periods. If you are extremely weight loss resistant then you are going to want to implement the 36-hour fast on a weekly basis. Many of you will notice with this fast the beginning of stem cells being released. Stem cells are repair cells, so often I will have clients of mine do a 36 hour fast to heal a musculoskeletal injury. When you get to this type of longer fast, you can also start playing with cycling your fats.

6) 3-5 Day Water Fasting

The longer 3-5 day water fast does amazing things for immune and other chronic conditions. I recommend these longer fasts once a month when attempting to trigger your body’s own healing process. I personally do one of these quarterly. However be aware that this type of fast is for advanced fasters.

7) Fast Mimicking

The fast mimicking diet was popularized by Valter Longo and The Longevity Diet. In this study, Longo showed that limited calories and low protein also forces the body to release stem cells. I recommend fast mimicking to clients who want the benefits of a longer fast, but still want to be able to eat food. Fast mimicking is designed to attain fasting-like effects by keeping your carb, protein, and calorie intake low and your fat intake high. Fast mimicking can also be a great fast to train your body for longer fasts.

How long should you fast?

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is, “how long should I fast?” Well, that depends on what health benefits you are hoping to achieve. The longer you fast, the more the benefits add up. However, that does not necessarily mean longer is better for everyone. For example, if you are hoping to increase ketones, a 17 hour fast may be what you need, however if you are trying to heal a musculoskeletal injury, you will want to work your way up to a 72 hour fast. Here are the benefits of fasting broken down by hours fasted:

• 13-15 Hour fast: A 13-15 hour fast is considered intermittent fasting and if you are new to fasting, this is where you will want to start. At 13 hours of fasting, your body will secrete growth hormone. The growth hormone assists in burning fat and slowing down the aging process. If you are looking for an anti-aging solution I recommend this level of fasting.

• 15 hours is when most people begin to create ketones. Ketones are a sign that your liver has moved burning sugar to burn fat for energy. Furthermore, ketones are neuroprotective and will go up to the brain, giving you energy and better mental clarity.

• 17-24 hour fasting offers the following benefits: cellular repair, detox, cancer prevention, gut repair, aids with anxiety and depression, and brain and memory loss.

• 17 hour fast: When you reach 17 hours without eating you will start to stimulate autophagy. What this means is the intelligence of your cells has been turned on and they are able to repair themselves. This is best for people with autoimmune conditions.

• 24 hour fast: At 24 hours, your intestinal cells reboot and GABA production occurs. GABA is the neurotransmitter known to relax our brain and help with anxiety. Our gut health is incredibly important in preventing autoimmune disorders and aiding in weight loss.

• 36 hour fast: The more you fast, the more it forces your body to burn glucose, insulin, and toxins that are stored in fat. I always say that it is better to have fat around your muscles than around your organs and this length of fast will force your body to burn stored glucose and insulin. 36-48 hour fasts is where to start to see fat loss, anti-aging, and an increase in dopamine.

• 48 hour fast: At 48 hours you begin to reset dopamine receptor sites. If you are feeling like your happiness level is not where it needs to be this is where you need to be.

• 3-5 day fast: I have seen these fasts used for people with severe injuries and diagnoses that want to reboot their whole immune system where healing starts. At 72 to 120 hours your stem cells for the immune system are regenerating as well as stem cell production for musculoskeletal injuries. If you remain in ketosis, this will keep on going for approximately10 more days!

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Do not forget to feast!

Finally, do not forget about FEAST DAYS! The biggest mistake I see people make when they implement a ketogenic diet or fasting lifestyle is that they forget that their body needs to cycle between feasting and fasting, so make sure you are including hormone and nutrient feasting day into your fasting lifestyle.

Disclaimer:

All information posted is merely for education and informational purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for professional or medical advice. Please consult with your Primary Care Physician if you have any concerns or questions. Should you decide to act upon any information on this website, you do so at your own risk.

Sammi photo.jpg — Author Samantha Mattos
MS Kinesiology - California State University Northridge,
B.A. Advertising - Michigan State University,
C.H.E.K Practitioner - Level 3
C.H.E.K Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Level 2
E.L.D.O.A Level 3
MFS - Myofascial Stretch Certified
ACE - American Council of Exercise -
Certified Personal Trainer
NASM - National Academy of Sports Medicine -
Certified Personal Trainer
NKT - Neurokinetic Certified Therapist
SFG II: Strong First Givra II Certified Instructor
CK-FMS - Corrective Kettlebell –Functional Movement Specialist
WKC - World Kettlebell Club Fitness Trainer
CST - Circular Strength Training Instructor
TACFIT Field Instructor
FRCms - Funtional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist
Kinstretch Certified Instructor

Everything you need to know to start fasting