What types of fasting are there?

Officially, fasting is the process of completely withdrawing from food to enter a “fasting state.” In recent years, many different forms of fasting have emerged, all of which have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Intermittent fasting

16:8

With intermittent fasting 16/8, you don’t eat for 16 hours and you eat for the remaining 8 hours each day. Many people keep their “eating window” between 12:00 and 20:00. This is a very popular way of fasting because it is very accessible to many people. How you want to schedule it is entirely up to you. You can also make it even more effective by going to 20/4, where you only eat in a 4-hour window and thus fast for 20 hours.

5:2 diet

The 5:2 diet is also a form of intermittent fasting. Two days a week you don’t eat for 24 hours (or hardly at all), and five days you eat normally. With this diet, there are no real restrictions on what you can eat. It’s primarily about when you eat.

Water fasting

This is a form of fasting where nothing but water may be consumed. The duration of a water fast is often 24-72 hours, but some people do it for 5-7 days or even longer. The longer your body is in a “fast,” the more you experience the benefits. That’s why water fasting has good effects because your body is in a fasting state for a longer period of time. But beware: if you keep it up for a really long time, your organs can come to a standstill. If you have any doubts about your health, contact your doctor before you start.

Fasting Mimicking Diets (FMD)

For many people, fasting is quite difficult, especially if you are not forced into it. We all have a natural urge to eat, especially when food is up for grabs. Research shows that our cells react especially strongly to shortages of protein (=building material) and sugar (=fuel).

That science led the top scientist Valter Longo to the idea of a “fasting mimicking diet”: food with virtually no sugar and protein, but mainly fiber and healthy fats, so that your body thinks that nothing is coming in while you can eat something. Tons of research since then has shown that fasting mimicking diets have almost the same effects as total fasting.

Benefits of Fasting Mimicking Diets

FMDs are formulated exactly so that the body reacts as if nothing is eaten at all. There is a growing body of research showing that regular use of an FMD can contribute to better health. For healthy people, doing an FMD is also safe. You may experience mild symptoms such as occasional sluggishness (due to the lack of energy) or headaches (due to a lack of your accustomed amount of caffeine).

Scientist Valter Longo created the first and only FMD as part of L-Nutra. More than 20 years of extensive research, millions of investments and many different trials conducted worldwide finally led to the development of the first FMD®: ProLon®. The program consists of a 5-day plant-based meal program consisting of a mix of complex carbohydrates, very little protein and high levels of healthy fats.

1 – It stimulates fat burning which often helps you lose some pounds

When you fast, your body produces less insulin. The body will then look for the necessary energy elsewhere, such as the fat reserves that are already stored in your body. Burning these fat reserves will also releases ketones.

2 – Fasting reduces the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease and it lowers cholesterol and blood pressure

Because your body produces less insulin, your insulin resistance also decreases. This is many cases a major cause of obesity and cardiovascular diseases. By fasting you will reduce the risk of getting these diseases. Also, regular fasting helps to improve cholesterol levels and lower your blood pressure.

3 – Fasting triggers autophagy: cleaning up and repairing damaged cells

Our cells “sense” when there is less food coming in and they adapt accordingly. They become more preserving with energy, stop growing and multiplying, and start investing more in maintenance and repair. They protect themselves from damage and start using waste products in the cell as fuel (“autophagy”). They “clean themselves up”; the process of cleaning up and repairing is enhanced. Studies show that after about 72 hours you have achieved a total reset of the immune system.

4 – Improve your intestinal flora

Bad bacteria die off faster with fasting, giving healthy bacteria a chance to grow. These bacteria play such a big role in metabolism, food digestion and your immune system that this can prevent complaints when the healthy bacteria replace the bad ones. For example, irritable bowel, bloating and abdominal pain can be reduced.

5 – Fasting protects and supports your brain from brain diseases

Through fasting and taking in fewer calories, you protect your brain from genetic and environmental factors that would normally cause deterioration of the nervous system. This can help prevent diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Fasting also supports your overall brain function, stimulates the production of new neurons and keeps existing neurons healthy for longer.

6 – Fasting helps to fight Diabetes Type 2

The body becomes more sensitive to insulin as blood glucose and insulin, among other things, decrease. This reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If you already have type 2 diabetes, fasting can also ensure that this is completely reversed so that medication use can be reduced and sometimes even stopped.

7 – Fasting supports cancer therapy

When a patient fasts during their cancer treatment, healthy cells are protected and cancer cells are not when the chemotherapy takes place. This ensures that patients experience significantly fewer side effects like fatigue and gastrointestinal problems from this treatment than people who do not fast. Often they also need less medication to combat these problems.

8 – Fasting = living a longer life

Due to the increase in autophagy (damaged cells break down faster and other cells are repaired), promoting your health. Also, the changes in IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor), helps fight aging. This substance causes growth in almost all cells in our body. Although we need it when we are young, this growth can accelerate aging when we are older.