Why I don't recommend Intermittent Fasting
For a reallllly long time, fad diets have been an ever revolving door in popular culture.
How many of these have you heard of?
Atkins
Carnivore
Banana (I had a friend do this once, 100% banana diet! crazy!)
Keto
Paleo
Zone
Alkaline
Blood type (I admit I tried this a few years ago!)
Grapefruit and Juice cleanses
Cabbage soup
The issue is that these are marketed as 'quick fix' options, which aren't sustainable longterm and lack scientific evidence.
In my clinic I do often recommend certain restricted diets as part of a short term therapeutic treatment, for example protocols such as gluten free, dairy free, low FODMAP, bi-phasic and anti-candida diets. However, the emphasis is on the fact that they are used short term and are chosen based on what that individual client needs (no 'one-hat fits all' approach).
What I really want to talk to you about this week is not so much a diet, but a dietary regime.
Intermittent fasting...
Essentially, (in case you hadn't heard about it), it is time restricted eating, where people chose to fast for longer than usual and consume their calories in a smaller window frame of time. For example, the most common option is 16:8 (fasting for 16 hours and then eating for 8 hours), although people tend to be a bit more flexible with this and often increase the eating window to 10 or even 12 hours.
Research is available and I have to admit, results have been promising!
However! the issue is that most of this research has been completed on middle aged men....and ahhh...well as a woman (and most likely menstruating) our hormones work a bit differently to them, which impacts results.
There are a few different reasons why intermittent fasting isn't effective for every woman but let me put it in a nutshell for you...
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is made in the hypothalamus part of the brain. It is responsible for signalling Lutenizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) to be sent from the the pituitary gland to the ovaries. This signal encourages oestrogen to be produced and also for ovulation to occur. We need ovulation to occur to make progesterone (our chill hormone). So if this feedback loop is disrupted you can experience delayed ovulation or no ovulation at all, which can lead to increases in PMS symptoms and irregularities with your menstrual cycle.
In addition to the HPO axis, intermittent fasting can also negatively affect the adrenal glands by placing the body in "fight of flight" and increasing cortisol. This in turn reduces insulin secretion, which leads to higher circulation of glucose, resulting in increased fat storage storage in the body and lower energy levels.
Further to all of this hormone stuff, sometimes we just get SUPER hungry when trying to fast for extended periods of time and end up over eating, consuming more calories than usual. It can also sway our food choices and lead to grabbing quick fix foods higher in carbs, sugar or fat.
It makes it seem that starting the morning with a healthy bowl of porridge, smoothie or eggs isn't so bad after all...
Oh and lastly, our digestive systems get a good break while we sleep, so unless you are getting up for a cheeky midnight snack...you ARE fasting, and probably for whats natural and long enough for a modern woman x