Intermitent Fasting FAQs 2

Can I eat breakfast and skip dinner?

Some of us love our breakfasts! It’s often the most delicious meal of the day. It is perfectly alright to eat your breakfast and skip your dinner. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Don’t eat breakfast as soon as you wake up in the morning. Give your body at least an hour or two before having breakfast. Use this time to get your water and hydration levels up.

It’s a myth that we need to eat as soon as we wake up. The body naturally increases the blood sugar levels with the help of Cortisol (the stress hormone) in the morning. So there is no need for us to raise it further with food.

The best thing about intermittent fasting is that you can play with it to suit your need. If I am traveling abroad I will use fasting to help beat jet lag by eating at the timings of the destination.

How often should I fast?

A 16 hour fast you can do almost every day. It is not very strenuous on the system. I like to fast six days out of a week and one day eat more than normal. Note this is not a cheat day. I will not be eating pizzas and brownies. It’s a day of eating larger portions and more calories of good quality food.

Another option is to do a 24 hour or 36 hours fast, just twice a week. Some people enjoy this form of fasting so that they can work through the whole day without worrying about food.

Won’t Intermittent fasting slow down my metabolism?

Dieting is referred to as calorie restricted eating.

Intermittent fasting is referred to as time-restricted eating.

When we restrict the calories, our body realizes that food is scarce and needs to save energy. This is when we start eating small portions of food. Or low-calorie food, foods that have the word diet in front of it. This is when the body goes into self preservation mode and reduces the metabolism to save calories.

When we think about intermittent fasting, we are not restricting the quantity of food or calories! We are just making sure we eat all our food in a few hours. So the goal is to eat enough for your body’s normal metabolism. Hence it does not reduce it.

Long-term fasts 72 hours or more will create a temporary drop in the metabolism. But after you eat the metabolism actually increases.

Is fasting safe for diabetics?

You should always speak to your doctor before starting a fasting protocol. However, fasting is not for type 1 diabetics. The body already has a hard time getting nutrition into the cells.

If you are a type 2 diabetic, which is a lifestyle disease, then fasting is definitely important for you, under the doctor’s supervision. Many doctors have been able to reverse type 2 diabetes with the help of intermittent fasting and a low carbohydrate diet. I have seen this with my own father.

By fasting the body gets to use the excess sugar in the blood. If you combine fasting with exercise the results are much quicker.

If you are on Insulin or other medication that dramatically lowers blood sugar, then your doctor needs to lower the dose as you start fasting.

Ask your doctor to read books by Dr. Jason Fung: The Diabetes Code. You can also see a video by Dr. Fung here

Should I fast if I am pregnant?

No! Simple one-word answer. When you are pregnant the body needs as much nutrition as possible to form the baby. If the body doesn’t get enough nutrition, it steals it from the mother’s body. Making the mother weaker and the baby unhealthy. This is why, when pregnant you must stay off junk foods because junk food has almost no nutrition.

Being pregnant doesn't give you a free pass to eat anything you want. Listen to your cravings and understand them.

For previous FAQ's on Intermittent Fasting. Click here