The TRUTH About Intermittent Fasting…

Intermittent fasting is everywhere right now. What people really aren't talking about is that fasting can actually work, but only if your body is prepared for it. If it's not, then it's not going to work. If your body is not primed and ready for fasting and you jump into it, it can actually harm your health. So today I'm breaking down the science you really need to know before you skip another meal. By the way, if you haven't watched one of my videos before, I'm Dr. Ashley Lucas. I'm the owner and founder of Ph.D. weight Loss and Nutrition, where we have to date helped over 11,600 people collectively drop more than £480,000 nationwide. And my goal with this channel is to help you get the information you need to create that same positive change in your own life. So the deal is when you eat, it moves your body into a storage mode. And when you fast, it allows the body to release and repair. Let's talk about metabolically, what's happening. So when you eat, no matter pretty much what foods you eat, your blood sugar is going to increase, your insulin is going to increase as a result. Because insulin is what helps sugar from the bloodstream get into your muscles so you can use it as energy. And the body prioritizes storing fuel. Insulin specifically is a fat storage hormone. So when you eat, blood sugar goes up, insulin goes up to pull that blood sugar out of the bloodstream, and you start converting that sugar, for most of us, into fat. Now, different foods raise insulin differently. So when you have simple carbs, it's going to raise your blood sugar and therefore insulin the fastest. I want you to think of a simple carb like apple juice or sugar filled sports drink, Skittles or some kind of candy. Those are going to be your most simple, simplest form of carbohydrates. They're easily digestible. Turn to sugar. Fats are actually the foods that raise blood sugar and insulin the slowest. Actually, not at all. So if you were to eat a stick of butter, your blood sugar wouldn't go up because there's no sugar in a stick of butter. Right? And therefore insulin wouldn't go up either. So you can eat a lot of calories of fat without increasing blood sugar and insulin fasting lowers insulin. This allows storage stored fat to be used for energy. When you don't eat, it's not going to trigger those specific insulin and other fat storage hormones. So that means your body's going to have this time where it can repair itself and it can also Release the fat that's being stored so we can burn that for energy instead. Fasting triggers cellular repair processes that do not occur in a fed state. In a fed state, your liver is really preoccupied in storing and metabolizing that food. And, and when you give the body a chance without food, it's actually really positive for the liver because the liver can then start burning fat, which we all want, especially when we are wanting to drop excess fat weight. Intermittent fasting simply increases the amount of time your body spends in this repair and release phase. If you feel like you have tried fasting before and you just don't see any changes, it's most often because your metabolic foundation isn't aligned. And I see this happen with clients at PhD weight loss all the time. They'll come in initially, you know, struggling with 30, 50, 80 plus pounds of excess fat weight, and they say they're eating healthy. They don't understand why the weight just won't drop off. They've tried fasting, they've even tried medications, and maybe they'll drop weight only to regain it. This is a metabolic issue and we need to focus on resetting, repairing the metabolism first. And then you can go in and you can try intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is definitely a tool that we utilize at PhD weight loss, but only once we have reset and repaired the metabolism. If you feel like this is something you have struggled with and you feel like a customized, personalized approach, getting you to a place where you can actually dabble in these different tools and have them work for your body would be of benefit, then you should definitely check out PhD weight loss. Just head on over into the description. There will be a link for my PhD weight loss so that you can learn more. Now, as I just said, it's important to recognize that fasting is a tool. It doesn't necessarily work for everyone, and it doesn't necessarily work for certain people at certain times during their weight loss journey, their overall health journey. Like for me, for example, there has been times in my life where I have intermittent fasted and I actually really love it because I'm not much of a breakfast person. And I can see that my body's thriving and it feels good. But if my body is under a lot of stress, biologically, a lot of stress, let's say if I've had Covid recently, if I'm not sleeping well, then I know that fasting will pull on my systems because it's another biological stressor. That's actually how it works. One of the ways that it works is it stresses the body and it's good to put the body under stress once in a while. Like think of a cold plunge, right? That's a healthy biological stressor. But we have to understand and think about where we are in our lives and if our body is going to benefit from yet another biological stressor. My life right now is a bit more stressful. You know, running multiple big companies, three kids, it's a really, really busy right now. And so intermittent fasting, I know, isn't going to serve me. It's going to pull on my thyroid. So it's just important to really listen to your body. Just because your neighbors fasting and it might benefit them, it does not mean that it's going to automatically benefit you. If you've got specific hormone patterns, if you've got lifestyle demands that are significant, it really can make intermittent fasting backfire. If you have a tendency to binge and overeat and you're in a weight loss journey, and if you incorporate some fat fasting in there and you find yourself doing just that, especially at the evening time, the binging, the overeating after dinner, and you've been fasting throughout the day, that could be a sign that you're just not yet ready for intermittent fasting. The reason why you might not be ready again is because it's a biological stressor. When we go under specific stress. You've heard of the hormone, very likely cortisol. Cortisol is our stress hormone. And cortisol can just rise up way too fast when fasting is too aggressive or when you got other stressors in your life. Cortisol rises naturally in the morning to help you wake up. And if you delay eating too long, cortisol can stay elevated, creating anxiety, irritability, increased cravings. This is what happens to me if I'm under a high stress state just due to lifestyle. And then I add fasting on top of it. I can see that my cortisol is elevated. I actually have had it tested before to prove like, yes, this is what's going on. My adrenals are being stressed right now. And we know that chronically high cortisol can lead to muscle loss, which is the last thing we want, and fat retention, especially around the belly area. A few other things you want to look out for if you are playing around with intermittent fasting and you feel like, I just don't know if my body is adjusting to this. Well, if you are experiencing blood sugar drops, so this might feel like, or manifest like in you with low energy, dizziness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and it just signals that your fasting window might be too long, it's poorly timed, it's too frequent, or it's just not a good time in your life. To put intermittent fasting in there doesn't mean forever. It can come back. But at the moment your body is telling you that it's not loving what you're doing. It's also important to note that women respond differently to men around intermittent fasting. Now the reason why is because the hormonal system in women is much more sensitive than men, specifically more sensitive to longer fasting periods. Too much fasting can disrupt menstrual cycles, it can disrupt thyroid function, which is how it impacts me when I am in a high state of stress anyway. And it can impact mood regulation, specifically in women. Now much of the research around intermittent fasting has been conducted in groups of men and not women. So for you women watching this, it's just important to listen to your body. And if you really feel like fasting is right for you, but you're getting these symptoms coming up, I encourage you to reconsider that and just take a break from intermittent fasting and bring it back later once you're less stressed. Now, stress and poor sleep and heavy training really increases your fuel needs. If you are having some high stress days or, or you have certain days with intense workouts, maybe you do a lot of training over the weekend, then fasting can reduce your recovery, it can increase fatigue. So on those specific days, those are probably the best times not to fast. And to fuel your body, the nervous system sometimes interprets long fasting periods as a threat rather than a health tool. Now as I alluded to earlier, some people just feel worse fasting. If this is you, this isn't a negative. It just means again that your body is not meant for fasting at this specific period of time. Things that you might experience. If this is you, it's mood changes, energy crashes, digestive discomfort, disrupted focus. These are valid biological signals that a different eating pattern might be healthier for you. Now it's really important to understand that what you eat matters more than your eating window. Now by eating window, I mean the hours that you are actually eating outside of the fast. Now, let's say you're going to doing a 168 fast. What this means is that there's going to be 16 hours during which you are not eating and then you have that eight hour window. So what I'm explaining here is that during this eight hour Window of when you are eating, it's really important to focus on nutrient density. You don't want to just go back and eat whatever you want thinking that the 16 hour fast is giving you an excuse to be able to do so. Because when you fast, it is so, so important to focus on protein. Because I would say one of the highest risks we might experience if we are participating in fasting is reducing and wasting away our muscle mass. So during that eating window, you need to focus on high quality, good food choices. Remember that getting adequate protein helps to stabilize your hunger, it prevents overeating and it supports your metabolism. You want to make sure that your meals are balanced. And by balanced, I mean getting adequate high quality protein, getting some fiber in there and healthy fats to help stabilize your blood sugar. Because again, even if you have a fasting window, it's not good during the eating window to have your blood sugar have highs and lows. You want to make sure that you're choosing nutrient dense foods to support metabolic health effectively. And then if you have this habit of large reward meals after fasting, it can just erase all of the good you've done during the fasting window. So I want you to think that fasting sets the schedule, but nutrition determines how your body responds during that specific schedule. Now if you want to dive into the deep science behind intermittent fasting and how to do it, I've got a great video on the topic that I've done previously. So head on into the description and you will find that link in there and definitely check that out. Now if you haven't tried fasting before and you want to, or maybe you are playing around with it, but you want to make sure you're doing it the right way. I'm going to guide you through my checklist here on how to do this safely. So number one is you want to make sure that you transition gradually and listen to your body's feedback. You want to play with shrinking your eating window by one hour every few days. You don't have to fast for super long. Again, it could be like 16 hours. That would be eating dinner at 7 and then eating again at what, 11 or noon. I think that's the right math. And then you have an eight hour window of when you eat really good protein forward nutrient dense meals. Another thing to do is to consider a light walk after meals to support blood sugar regulation. I would highly encourage lots of great electrolytes. You could use Dr. Ashley Wellness electrolytes if you want. I also like LMNT electrolytes if you want to check out Dr. Ashley Wellness electrolytes specific electrolytes that I crafted for folks in a weight loss or weight loss maintenance phase, go in into the description and click the link. You could also put a pinch of salt in water with a squeeze of lemon, especially if you're feeling lightheaded when starting. Getting adequate salt and electrolytes is the key to having a pleasurable fast. So if you are just going through your fast and drinking plain water, you're not going to feel very good. Now some people who are pregnant or have an a history of eating disorders or specific metabolic conditions, you definitely want to check in with your doctor before you play around with fasting. You might want to modify it a bit or not do it at all and then if sleep, mood and energy decline, adjust the window and ask for help. So I am here. If you have any questions specifically on your body and intermittent fasting, feel free to drop them in the comments and we will be here to respond and help guide you. Now if you feel like you have done all of these things and your blood sugar is still all over the place because really fasting should help stick stabilize your energy and your blood sugar, but you feel like nothing is working no matter what you are doing, then you should check out Glucocut Plus. I created Glucocut plus because I wanted to help folks stabilize their energy, increase fat burn during weight loss and preserve muscle mass. Because we know that muscle mass is your metabolic currency. It is the marker for longevity and this supplement is super helpful for that. So if you think your body responds well to supplementation and you want to give it a try and again, head on into the description and click the link for Dr. Ashley Wellness and we'll have a special discount code for you there. So the key to starting intermittent fasting safely is to one begin with a 12 hour overnight fast. Number two keep your first meal protein forward and number three track how your energy feels. Rather than chasing a number of hours. The main thing is that your body should start to feel better and if you're not then something is likely off and again drop your comments or your feedback in the chat below. All right you guys, I hope that this was helpful and I will see you on the next video. Check it out right here.