5 Health Benefits Of Fasting

15 May 5 Health Benefits Of Fasting

Posted at 08:26h in News by

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the key health benefits of fasting.

When I was studying nutrition we were taught that eating little and often was the key to maintaining good health. Regular meals, with snacks in between, would keep us healthy and help us reach an ideal weight. Skipping meals, fasting or going for extended periods without food was certainly not encouraged.

With the knowledge and research that we have today, this belief system seems very outdated. Going for extended periods of time without food, we now know, can benefit our health in many ways.

Fasting became widely popularised in 2012 following Michael Mosley’s Horizon documentary. Mosley then went on to encourage the hugely successful 5:2 Diet which promotes eating a normal calorie diet for five days of the week and restricting your calories to 5/600 for two days.

Ever since Mosley’s introduction of fasting, it has retained its popularity. The practice has stayed current for over a decade and for good reason. Although its popularity has risen at a high rate throughout the past ten years, fasting has been practiced amongst religious faiths for many centuries.

Here are 5 ways fasting can benefit your health:

PROMOTES WEIGHT LOSS

Not only is fasting a form of calorie restriction, fasting has beneficial effects on how your hormones influence fat storage. Regular fasting has been proven to help your body more effectively maintain a healthy weight.

SLOWS AGEING PROCESSES

Research shows fasting reduces oxidative stress and inflammation within the body. These are two key processes that speed up the ageing process. In Mosley’s documentary, when compared to someone of his own age on a calorie restricted diet, he performed much worse in all age related tests before he starting fasting.

STIMULATES CELL REPAIR

In a fasted state, our cells begin a ‘waste removal’ process called autophagy. This is where your cells clean out debris, including toxins, and recycle damaged cell components.

REDUCES RISK OF TYPE 2 DIABETES

Studies have shown that fasting can help lower blood sugar levels and reduce insulin resistance. Fasting can even reverse type 2 diabetes in some individuals.

PROMOTES BENEFICIAL CHANGES IN GENE EXPRESSION

Even if you have a genetic predisposition for disease, lifestyle choices can ‘switch on’ or ‘switch off’ genes. Fasting has positive effects on how genes express themselves helping to prolong lifespan and protect against disease.

There are a number of different ways to fast and different methods suit different people. Personally, I prefer to fast for 4-5 days at a time, 2-3 times a year, rather than try to fit it into my weekly schedule. You might imagine that fasting would leave you feeling tired, hungry and miserable, but in fact quite the opposite is true. Strangely, I look forward to my green-vegetable-juice-only fasts.

Another popular way to fast is restricting your eating window to just eight hours in every 24 hour day. That might mean that you don’t eat before 11am and you’ll have finished your last meal by 7pm giving your body a 16 hour window to fast.

INTRODUCING PROLON

One of the professors interviewed in Mosley’s documentary was Dr Valter Longo. Longo is a professor at the University of Southern California, researcher and leading expert. He predominantly works in the field of fasting and focuses on its effects on cellular protection against ageing and disease.

Longo has developed a five day diet that mimics fasting, providing all of the health benefits without having to stop eating. The diet is called ProLon and it’s made up of nutrient dense, plant based, mini meals sent to your doorstep. Since their launch in 2016, I have worked with ProLon as their official UK brand ambassador to monitor case studies, educate the press and general public, as well as the medical community, about the benefits of fasting and this practical way to fast.

ProLon is available in the UK and this is one of the dietary approaches we recommend to some of our clients. To read reviews from our clients who have experienced the benefits of ProLon, click here.

If the ProLon approach to fasting appeals to you and you’d like to find out more, please do get in touch. If you would like to purchase ProLon, you can use this link and enter our discount code KP10 to get 10% off your order.

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LINDA ROBINSON

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Originally from Texas, Linda completed her MBA at SDA Bocconi in Milan. Linda has worked as a Strategy Consultant across multiple industries globally in cities including Kyoto, Paris, Chicago and San Francisco. She developed an interest in nutrition whilst volunteering for an organisation that provides cooking and nutrition education to children and families.

Linda is now settled in London with her husband, two children, and her very bouncy, sociable dog.

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Sarah spent a large part of her teens and 20’s as a professional dancer battling with orthorexia and an unhealthy relationship with food and her body. This created a desire to understand the human body more so she could finally cut through the confusion and end the cycle of yoyo dieting. This fuelled her passion to help other women do the same.

 

Sarah specialises in supporting women who are struggling to lose weight due to underlying health issues. She’s helped many women manage their weight during and after the menopause, as well as clients with thyroid disease and immune system dysfunction. Sarah loves food and sharing healthy recipes with her clients. Her aim is to ensure that clients don’t feel deprived and instead, achieve their weight loss and health goals in a positive and sustainable way.

 

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NIKKI ANDRIANI

Nikki is our Practice Manager, managing our team and heading up the day-to-day running of our clinic.

 

Coming from a background in town planning, Nikki is involved in the strategic development of our practice, continually ensuring we are delivering the very best service to our clients.


A Florida girl, Nikki relocated to the UK in 2014 where she lives with her husband, two children, and her rescue dog Skyy.

STÉPHANIE ACHAR

Stéphanie is a skilled nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner with additional training in eating disorders, disordered eating and obesity. She believes that working towards both physiological and mental health is key in achieving optimum wellbeing.

 

Stéphanie’s personal experience of emotional eating and the ongoing struggle to find the right support led her to combine the science of nutrition with behavioural coaching to motivate and empower her clients. She specialises in helping people who struggle with their weight and their relationship with food. She helps them develop a healthier and more peaceful relationship with food and their bodies.

 

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INNA WEARN

Inna is passionate about supporting women on their journey to improved health and wellbeing. She believes that the solution to effective weight loss does not lie in ever more restrictive diets, but a more sophisticated approach that optimises health and vitality, as well as promoting effective weight loss.

 

Working with Inna you will benefit from her in-depth knowledge of female health and hormones. She will support you in developing a healthy diet, lifestyle and mindset that ensures you reach your ideal weight and maintain it in the years to come.

 

Inna is passionate about food with a wide repertoire of delicious healthy recipes and meal ideas to ensure your weight loss journey is as enjoyable as possible!

 

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Ania is a firm believer that improving your health and losing weight should be a positive, empowering journey, not one centred around deprivation.

 

After being diagnosed with two autoimmune conditions in her twenties, Ania spent several years educating herself on the power of food and nutrition. She put it all into practise and changed her diet and lifestyle, reversing her endometriosis and thyroid disease. After experiencing such a significant improvement in her health, Ania had a big desire to help others. She embarked on a four year journey to study nutrition, graduating from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition with distinction.

 

Ania specialises in autoimmunity and works with clients who have underlying health issues preventing successful weight loss. Her expertise enables her to successfully support our clients with conditions such as hypothyroidsm (underactive thyroid), PCOS and diabetes. 

 

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