Monday, May 1, 2017

Fasting for Longer Life

We often hear about the benefits of reducing calorie intake to get a longer life. Research has indeed proven that a drastically reduced dietary intake may prolong double the life of rodents, worms, and insects.

Even a 20-year study of rhesus monkeys, a species of close human relative, found that the benefits of the diet turned out to be diverse, ranging from immunity to cancer, reduced risk of heart disease, and reduced risk of age-related diseases.

Although many benefits are obtained by reducing the intake of calories, but the question is: who wants to continue to starve all his life? Is there an easier way? Can we get the same benefits but in a way that does not torture?

The answer was there. It is called periodic fasting or intermittent fasting (IF), and is commonly applied to weightlifting, crossfit, and other sports athletes.

"When hearing the word fast, people would usually imagine a week not eating," said Brad Pilon, author of Eat Stop Eat. "But it should not be so, but imagine that we only take a longer time lag between meals."

According to Pilon, IF benefits can be obtained when we at least for 12 hours do not eat anything, except drinking water. Simply put, we can start eating at 8 am, and stop eating at 3 pm. After that just drink water until the next day. That way there is a lag time of more than 12 hours in which we do not include calories in the body.

Although it sounds contrary to the suggestion that it is better to eat less often, this method is believed to make the body more powerful, burn more fat, reduce the chance of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and make the body recover faster.

Eating habits like this is actually dilakoni our ancestors who live as a hunter. They do not always get game animals, so there are times to fast. And like them, our bodies are designed to survive such situations.

Is it hard to get used to such a diet? Those who have done it call it an easy thing. Once we do it for a week, then the habit becomes easy. Some colleagues who tried a diet that in Indonesia was introduced entertainer Deddy Corbuzier as OCD is claimed to benefit.

Getting fitness as well as muscular body

Another benefit of IF is to reduce fat deposits in the body. We learn that one of the body's fuels is glucose derived from sugar. We get it through foods like sugar, carbohydrates (bread, rice, etc.), as well as soft drinks.

But actually our body has another fuel called ketones. When the body runs out of glucose, then this molecule starts burning the body's natural fat. It happens when we fast, or when the break does not eat. If at the time we also exercise, then the burning of fat will be more, so the fat content in our body will be reduced.
Research also shows that growth hormone, which plays a role in muscle formation, also improves performance when the body fasts. This increase in hormone performance proves that the human body is able to adapt to survive for some time without food.

"Some people not only benefit from high fat burning, but also feel more comfortable and stronger when used to fasting," says Jon Haas, a fitness trainer from New Jersey. "They also feel more able to control their bodies, and become mentally stronger. And this is how our body is designed. "

The downside of this fast, is the tendency of people to consume high-calorie foods such as sugar and carbohydrates, once the fasting period is over. This makes sense because after 20 hours of fasting our bodies will indeed try to find food and carbohydrates to replace the lost and to be used if later will not get food again. Even so, according to IF actors, our bodies can be familiarized to consume healthier foods.

Prevent cancer

A study of the human body by the University of California at Berkeley, University of Southern California, Mount Sinai Chicago shows that IF can help prevent the emergence of cancer. The reason, during the fasting of our body cells are in protective mode so as to keep the body from disease attacks. In addition, cancer cells will have difficulty developing because their diet, glucose, is not found in the bloodstream when we fast.

Longevity and nerve protection

Fasting is an activity that trains our brains just as muscles are trained with exercise, Mark says

No comments: