Your Guide to Intermittent Fasting.
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of… you guessed it… fasting and eating. It doesn’t matter so much what you eat as when you eat it. There are many different fasting methods:
The 16/8 method: This involves restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours, such as 1–9 p.m. Then you fast for 16 hours in between
Eat-Stop-Eat: This involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.
The 5:2 diet: This involves consuming only 500–600 calories on two nonconsecutive days of the week, but eating normally the other 5 days.
Many things happen to your body when you start implementing intermittent fasting into your schedule. Things like making stored body fat more accessible so that our bodies use energy we already have and thus, burning the excess fat we may be holding onto. Appropriately enough, it is a great tool for weight loss. It’s a healthy one, too. Beyond the fact that it burns stored fat in our bodies, IF also improves insulin sensitivity, making the stored body fat even more accessible, helps speed up cellular repair and helps genes function against disease.
So where do prebiotics come into place? Well… prebiotics can help you stay fuller, longer and ultimately aid your IF journey. First, we’ll start with what prebiotics do/are.
Prebiotic fibers keep your gut really happy. They do this by helping to nourish the growth of good bacteria that exist naturally in your gut by contributing to an environment that is optimal for good digestive health.
Prebiotic fibers are actually indigestible in the human body. Because of this, they skip right past the stomach and go straight to the colon where they strengthen and significantly increase the good bacteria, while suppressing the bad bacteria.
There are many other benefits to prebiotics beyond a healthy gut. These benefits include:
- improving calcium absorption
- changing how quickly the body can process carbohydrates
- supporting the probiotic growth of gut bacteria, potentially enhancing digestion and metabolism
So what are the fasting tips you need to be successful and how do prebiotics help?
Tip #1: Start your morning with our Body Balance Powder
Just because you can’t eat anything for 16 hours doesn’t mean you can’t drink it. Because prebiotics aren’t digested, you don’t have to worry about upsetting the fasting period when you consume our BBP. It’s your 100% vegan superblend of prebiotic fiber, vitamins and minerals to support balanced blood sugar levels, gut health and all-day energy. As if that wasn’t beneficial enough, our Body Balance Powder goes in hot water, coffee, cold water or tea and will quite simply help keep you fuller, longer.
Tip #2: Start with the 16/8 method and go from there
This method is the simplest way to start your fasting journey and is a good gateway into the trend vs going into a full 24 hour fast. If you find that too easy, scale up from there.
Tip #3: Stop if you don’t like it
Intermittent fasting, like any eating plan, isn't for everyone. If you find that it’s too difficult, you don’t feel good and you’re constantly hungry than fasting may just not be for you. Check out our Sugar Control Tablets instead.
Sources:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323490#benefits-and-side-effects-of-prebiotics
https://www.benefiber.com/digestive-health/what-is-prebiotic-fiber/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#should-you
