There are so many different diets out there that claim to help with weight loss and disease prevention: low-fat, low-carb, ketogenic, paleo, whole 30, vegetarian, vegan, DASH, Mediterranean, MIND, etc. With so many choices, how do you know which one is right for you?
What is intermittent fasting?
You may be used to eating three meals every day, plus snacks. That’s pretty common. With intermittent fasting you can essentially eat how much of whatever you want—but here’s the catch: you have to stay on schedule. With intermittent fasting there are scheduled periods of time when you can eat and others when you have to fast. Unlike most other diets, intermittent fasting tells you when to eat, not what to eat.
Most diets that help achieve weight loss work by reducing the number of calories consumed. Intermittent fasting does the same thing, but in a different way. This way of eating significantly limits calories (requiring fasting) for certain durations of time (intermittently), while allowing little or no restrictions the rest of the time.
Here are a few different approaches to intermittent fasting:
Time-restricted feeding—Having all of your meals during an 8-to-12-hour window each day, drinking only water the rest of the day.
Alternate day fasting—Eating normally one day but only a minimal number of calories the next; alternating between “feast” days and “fast” days.
5:2 eating pattern—Consuming meals regularly for five days per week, then restricting to no more than 600 calories per day for the other two. This happens by eating very little and drinking only water on those two fasting days.
Periodic fasting—Caloric intake is restricted for several consecutive days and unrestricted on all other days. For example, fasting for five straight days per month.
It is important to note that going for long periods of time 24, 48, 72 hours of fasting periods are not necessarily better for you and may actually be very dangerous. In addition, going for too long without eating may encourage the body to start storing more fat in response in starvation.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
Studies show that intermittent fasting can promote weight loss. However, when it comes to weight loss, intermittent fasting seems to work just as well—not better—than other diets.
Research suggest eating this way suppresses appetite for some people by slowing down the body’s metabolism. With a smaller appetite, you simply eat less and that is going to help you lose weight. Other people who try intermittent fasting struggle with hunger and are much more uncomfortable during the fasting days. As a result, those who struggle with hunger during fasting may overeat during periods of eating.
Most of the research on calorie restriction and intermittent fasting have been conducted in cells (e.g., yeasts), rodents, and even monkeys. Some, but not all of these studies show it may help to increase exercise endurance, support immune function, and increase longevity. Intermittent fasting may also support the body’s ability to help resist some diseases like diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and Alzheimer’s.
When it comes to clinical studies on intermittent fasting, most have been pretty short—a few months or less. What we know so far is that it may help reduce markers of inflammation like C-reactive protein, diabetes, blood glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, and help to reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Other research supports the beneficial effect that intermittent fasting has on sleep cycles and the gut microbiome. Fasting gives the gut microbes a period of rest time and improves and maintains the population of good bacteria.
Overall, research on the effect of intermittent fasting on people’s health is still emerging as to whether it is beneficial for weight loss and disease prevention.
How does intermittent fasting affect overall health?
Naturally, our bodies have survival mechanisms allowing us to adjust to periods of fasting. This has been necessary, as throughout history, humans have endured many periods where food was scarce.
What happens when we don’t take in sufficient calories is that our body starts using up stored carbohydrates called glycogen. The liver stores enough glycogen to last about 12 to 16 hours before it runs out of fuel. Beyond 16 hours, the body switches fuels and begins to use fat as an energy source.
This is when your metabolism shifts from a carbohydrate-burning state to a fat-burning state. Some of the fat is used directly as fuel, while some is metabolized into biochemicals called ketones. This new fat-burning metabolic state is called ketosis. The state of ketosis brings on other changes throughout the body. It’s these changes that are thought to underlie some of the health benefits seen with intermittent fasting.
Ketones are a more efficient source of energy for our bodies than glucose. They help keep many of our cells working well even during periods of fasting. This is particularly true for brain cells and this may be part of the reason some animal studies show protection against age-related disease like Alzheimer’s.
Ketones may also help to ward off some cancers and inflammatory diseases like arthritis. They are also thought to reduce the amount of insulin in the blood which may help protect against type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, too many ketones may be harmful, so more research is needed to better understand the links between fasting, ketones, and health.
Before you start intermittent fasting
Before considering intermittent fasting, you should understand that there are certain health conditions that can make it dangerous. For example, if you have diabetes you need to eat regularly to maintain your blood sugar levels, therefore, fasting is not recommended. Also, if you’re taking certain medications like diuretics for high blood pressure or heart disease, intermittent fasting increases your risk for electrolyte abnormalities.
Intermittent fasting is also not recommended for anyone who is under 18, has a history of eating disorders or anyone who may be pregnant or breastfeeding.
Some people who restrict their calories or start intermittent fasting may experience side effects which includes fatigue, weakness, headache, reductions in sexual interest, and a reduced ability to maintain body temperature in cold environments.
Beyond the health risks and side effects, fasting is simply hard to do voluntarily—especially when it’s for two or more days. As a result, some people may have a natural tendency to indulge too much on their “feast” days which can negate some of the benefits of fasting.
According to the National Institutes of Health, “More research will be needed to determine the long-term impact of the diet on human health and provide information on when and how such a diet might be applied.”
As with all major dietary changes, be sure to discuss it with a registered dietitian nutritionist or your healthcare professional before making significant changes to your diet. `
Intermittent fasting can be hard. If you choose to try IF, one suggestion that may be helpful is having a social support network—especially for those days when you’re fasting, Even though the idea of intermittent fasting is to restrict when you eat, not what you eat, the quality of your food choices matters because you still need your essential nutrients.
To sum it up
The main goal in dietary changes should be to create sustainable nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits that will help you meet your health goals and promote optimal wellness. Whether you’re looking to lose weight or prevent disease, support immunity, or improve your gut health, I recommend choosing a pattern of eating that is enjoyable, sustainable and practical for you.
It’s important to remember that one particular diet or eating pattern that helps some people may not have the same effect on everyone. Considering all the different diets that there are to choose from, you may find it frustrating trying to figure out which one will work best for you.
If you need some guidance in deciding which eating pattern will be most practical for you, schedule a free discovery call with me to see how my programs can help you optimize you health and reach your health goals.
References:
Harvard Health Publishing. (2017, January). Any benefits to intermittent fasting diets? Retrieved from
NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. (2018, August). NCATS-Supported Study Shows Eating Before 3 p.m. Can Improve Health. Retrieved from
Your gut and brain are interconnected more than you probably realize. New research is proving that there is a communication system between your gut and your brain called the gut-brain axis. Recent studies show that your brain affects your gut health and your gut may affect your brain health.
Imagine if eating differently could elevate your moods or improve your brain and mental health. It can. Or, if reducing stress can also reduce gut symptoms. It does.
Sounds interesting? Learn about the gut-brain axis and how you can leverage this new research to improve your gut and brain health.
Your gut is (partially) controlled by your brain
Gut disorders can cause pain, bloating, or other discomfort. They impact over 35 percent of people at some point in life—affecting women more than men. Many times, these gut issues don’t have an apparent or easily diagnosable physical cause, so they can be difficult to treat and find relief from.
We know that our brains control some of our digestive processes. For example, research has found that even thinking about eating can cause the stomach to release juices to get itself ready for food. Your gut is also sensitive to emotions. You may recall a time when you felt anxious and nauseous or felt “knots” or “butterflies” in your stomach.
Several studies show that stress may be an important—often overlooked—reason for gut issues. According to Harvard Health, “Stress can trigger and worsen gastrointestinal pain and other symptoms, and vice versa.”
This is why it’s so important to look at your stress and emotions if you have gut issues. Many studies have found that stress reduction techniques can lead to greater improvement in gut symptoms compared to conventional medical treatment alone.
Now, let’s look at a bit more of the biology behind the gut-brain axis.
Your nervous systems
There are two main parts of your “main” nervous system. One is the part that we can consciously control, like when we move our muscles to walk around, chew our food, or swim laps.. This is called the somatic nervous system.
The other part of our nervous system controls all of those things that we can’t control, but need to survive. These include processes that happen automatically in the background: breathing, heart beating, sweating, or shivering. This part of the nervous system is called the autonomic nervous system because it works automatically.
The autonomic system regulates our body’s functions by either speeding things up or slowing them down. When things are sped up, like when our “fight or flight” reactions kick in, this is done by the sympathetic part. We feel this happening when we sense danger (real or not) and get stressed. Our heart beats faster and we breathe heavier. We’re preparing to fight or flee, so our body focuses on ensuring our muscles get enough blood and oxygen to work hard.
Slowing things down, on the other hand, is done by the parasympathetic part. This happens when we’re relaxing or after the danger has passed and we start to calm down. Our heart, lungs, and muscles rest and our digestive systems do their jobs much better. In this phase, we’re secreting more digestive juices to break down food, we’re absorbing more nutrients, and we have lower levels of inflammation in our gut. That’s why this is called the “rest and digest” phase.
Both of these arms of the autonomic nervous system—the sympathetic and parasympathetic—interact with the gut [GI tract/digestive system]. This means that when our body is stressed we can experience gut symptoms and when we’re relaxed our digestion does what it’s meant to do.
Your gut is your “second brain”
In addition to your “main” nervous system, your gut has its own nervous system called the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system spans your whole digestive tract from your esophagus, along your stomach, intestines, and colon. This nervous system is sometimes referred to as the “second brain” because it works in the same way that the “main” one does. It has 100 million nerve cells (called neurons) that communicate with each other using biochemicals called neurotransmitters.
Your enteric nervous system gets input from both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, so it can speed up or slow down when it has to. It also has a “mind” of its own and can function independently of them.
This complex system is important because of how complex our digestive processes are. For example, after we eat, the neurons in our enteric system tell the muscle cells of the stomach and intestines to contract to move food along to the next part. As our gut [GI tract/digestive system] does this, our enteric nervous system uses neurotransmitters to communicate with the central nervous system.
Your enteric nervous system is also very closely linked to your immune system. This is because a lot of germs [bacteria/pathogens] can enter the body through the mouth and end up in the gut. You have a large immune presence there to help fight them off before they become a larger problem and infect other parts of the body. The cells of the immune system provide another path for the gut to communicate up to the brain. They relay information like when they detect an infection or when your stomach is bloated, so your brain knows, too.
Even the friendly gut microbes (gut microbiota) that help us digest and make certain nutrients play a role in communicating with the brain. They make neurotransmitters, some of which are known to influence our moods.
The gut-brain axis
This intimate and complex connection between your gut and brain is called the gut-brain axis. And we now know that the signals go in both directions: from your brain down to your gut, and from your gut up to your brain.
This is where we see the link between digestive issues and brain, stress, and mood issues.
When someone is stressed enough that they get into the “fight or flight” reaction, digestion slows right down to allow the muscles to fight or flee. The same physical reaction appears whether the stress is from a real threat or a perceived one. This means that your body reacts the same whether you’re facing a real life-threatening situation or whether you’re super-stressed about a looming deadline. This disruption of the digestive process can cause pain, nausea, or other related issues.
Meanwhile, it’s known that experiencing strong or frequent digestive issues can increase your stress levels and moods. People with depression and anxiety have more GI symptoms, and vice versa.
How stress and emotions affect your gut
Because of these strong connections between the gut and brain, it’s easy to see how stress and other emotions can affect the gut. Things like fear, sadness, anger, or feeling anxious or depressed are often felt in the gut [GI tracts/digestive systems]. When they cause our digestive systems to speed up (or slow down) too much, this can influence pain and bloating. It can also allow germs to cross the lining of the gut and get into the bloodstream, activating our immune systems. It can increase inflammation in the gut or even change the microbiota.
This is why stress and strong emotions can contribute to or worsen a number of gut [GI/digestive] issues such as Crohn’s disease, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or food allergies or sensitivities.
Then, these gut issues are communicated to the brain, increasing the stress response and affecting our moods.
This loop of stress and gut issues and more stress and more gut issues becomes a vicious cycle.
New research shows that changes to the gut’s inflammation or microbiome can strongly affect many other parts of the body as well—not just the brain and mood. They’re also associated with depression and heart disease.
How to eat and de-stress for better gut and brain health
What you eat can have a huge impact on your health. This is particularly true when it comes to the microbiome. Your gut health improves when you eat a higher-fiber, more plant-based diet. That’s because it provides your friendly gut microbes with their preferred foods so they can grow and thrive. Probiotic foods that include health promoting bacteria are also recommended. Reducing the amount of sugar and red meat you eat can also help. These can lead to a healthier microbiome by helping to maintain a diverse community of many species of microbes to maximize your health. They can also lower levels of gut inflammation, as well as reduce the risk of depression and heart disease.
For better gut and brain/mental health, eat more:
Fruits and vegetables
Nuts and seeds
Whole grains
Yogurt
Sauerkraut
Eat less:
Sugar
Red meat
What about stress? Evidence suggests that some stress reduction techniques or psychotherapy may help people who experience gut [GI/digestive] issues. They can lower the sympathetic “fight or flight” response, enhance the parasympathetic “rest and digest” response, and even reduce inflammation.
Some of the stress-reduction techniques I love and recommend are:
Meditation
Deep breathing
Mindfulness
Relaxation
Yoga
Prayer
Your gut, brain, and mood will thank you.
To Sum it Up
Our bodies are complex and interact with other parts on so many different levels. The gut-brain axis is a great example. Research shows that what we eat not only improves the gut and overall health, but also brain and mental health. Not to mention that several stress-reduction techniques have been shown to reduce digestive illness and distress as well.
Want to learn how you can eat and de-stress to improve your gut and brain at the same time? Are you looking for a way to incorporate “mood foods” into your diet? If so, schedule a free consultation https://www.plantfedlife.com/services to learn more.
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2016, October 6). Gut-Brain Connection. Retrieved from
Before we dive into what a leaky gut is, let’s discuss the gastrointestinal system also known as your gut. Your gut or gastrointestinal system can be up to 30-feet in length in adults and is a muscular tube that begins at your mouth and ends with you going to the bathroom.
It is a massive and complex system that has multiple functions. It takes the food you eat and breaks it down food into small digestible pieces, keeps it moving through the gut, absorbs water and nutrients, and keeps out toxic substances. Research suggest that these essential gut functions are interconnected throughout your body and can have an effect on everything from your heart to your brain.
Your gut is lined with millions of cells, side by side in a single layer. Those intestinal cells help your body to absorb what it needs from foods and drinks. It acts as a guard allowing in what your body uses and keeping out the rest which ends up as waste. This ability to carefully allow some things in your gut to be absorbed while keeping harmful substances out is only possible if the cells are working correctly and physically joined tightly together creating “tight junctions”.
Leaky gut happens when the tight junctions become disconnected or loose. The cellular barrier becomes irritated and weakened, allowing tiny holes to appear. These tiny holes allow harmful substances that normally would not enter bloodstream get into the bloodstream. Things such as food particles, waste products, and bacteria.
When these harmful substances get into the bloodstream your immune system is triggered to start fighting them. Similarly, to how your immune system starts fighting the cold virus and causes inflammation. This immune reaction is normal and is vital to keeping you healthy.
Do you have a Leaky Gut?
The symptoms of leaky gut can be like those of other commonly known digestive conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease. Symptoms can vary, including issues like diarrhea, constipation, cramps, bloating, food sensitivities, or nutrient deficiencies.
When harmful substances have been absorbed into the bloodstream which travels throughout your body, symptoms can vary and appear anywhere. Studies show that leaky gut may cause symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, confusion, difficulty concentrating, joint pain, or skin problems like acne, rashes, and eczema. Leaky gut is also linked with diabetes, polycystic ovarian syndrome, liver disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis. Leaky gut may also be linked anxiety and depression as well.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to diagnose leaky gut, or how leaky it is. Although, there are some biomarker tests, there isn’t a reliable diagnostic test available currently. So, it is difficult to diagnose whether your symptoms are from leaky gut, or whether leaky gut is a symptom of another health issue.
What causes Leaky Gut?
It is not clear what exactly causes those bonds or “tight junctions” to loosen and result in tiny holes in the gut barrier. Leaky gut may in part, be due to your genetics. It may also be caused from certain medications or gut infections. Leaky gut can be linked to eating a diet that is low in gut friendly fiber. Fiber is an important part of maintaining a healthy gut. Adults should be eating 25-30grams of fiber per day.
However, the average adult in the United States consumes only 15 grams of fiber per day. Leaky gut can also be from consuming too much added sugar and saturated fat. Leaky gut may even result from stress or imbalance in the variety and the numbers of your gut-friendly microbiota. As you age, your cells can become more susceptible to damaged and may heal slowly, including the cells that line your gut, which may weaken the gut barrier.
Nutrition for a Leaky Gut
If you suspect you have leaky gut you should consult with your healthcare provider, or a gastroenterologist. In the meantime, it may be helpful for you to eat a more gut-friendly diet. Implement more foods rich in gut-friendly probiotics and fiber which is a prebiotic. These include:
Yogurt or kefir
Fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, and miso)
Fruits and Vegetables (berries, oranges, broccoli, carrots, and zucchini)
Nuts and Seeds (walnuts, cashews, and chia seeds)
Whole grains (oats, corn and quinoa)
If you’re just starting to increase your fiber intake, increase fiber slowly over several days or weeks because a sudden increase in fiber can cause gas, bloating, and other gut discomfort. If you have IBS, talk to your doctor or discuss with a dietitian.
Regular exercise can help with the digestion process. It may be helpful for you to take a 15-20 minute, or longer, walk after you eat to help your food digest. You might be surprised how much better you may feel afterwards. Also, don’t forget the importance of managing stress, getting quality sleep and refraining from smoking.
If you plan on making changes to your diet and lifestyle, journaling may help to pinpoint the irritants that may be upsetting your gastrointestinal system.
Take Care of Your Gut
Leaky gut is an inflammatory condition that has been linked to metabolic disorders, autoimmune conditions, and even mental health. There is not a definitive diagnostic test at this time to know for sure if you have leaky gut or not. If you have symptoms that suggest a leaky gut, you can incorporate a more gut-friendly foods into your diet as listed above.
It is recommended to reduce alcohol consumption, avoid processed foods, and any foods that you may be allergic or have sensitivities to. Incorporate foods and drinks that are high in gut-friendly probiotics and fiber.
A well -balanced diet, regular exercise, stress management, good quality sleep, and a healthy environment are all great lifestyle strategies to promote gut health and overall health. If you’d like to learn how transform your gut health, book your free consultation today.
Leech, B., Schloss, J. & Steel, J. (2019). Association between increased intestinal permeability and disease: A systematic review. Advances in Integrative Medicine. 6(1), 23-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aimed.2018.08.003
Mu, Q., Kirby, J., Reilly, C. M., & Luo, X. M. (2017). Leaky Gut As a Danger Signal for Autoimmune Diseases. Frontiers in immunology, 8, 598. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2017.00598
US Department of Health and Human Services and US Department of Agriculture. (2015). Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, eighth edition. Appendix 7. Nutritional Goals for Age-Sex Groups Based on Dietary Reference Intakes and Dietary Guidelines Recommendations. Retrieved from
