Rozalyn Anderson, professor at the University of Wisconsin: “Fasting puts the body in a different state”

Food is an integral part of life. We need sustenance to give our bodies the energy they need in order to function properly.

However, in affluent societies around the world food has become omnipresent, allowing us to have a snack just about anytime we choose. That may not be good for our bodies though. In fact, making sure that we have a period of time each day where our bodies go without could reap health benefits.

The benefits of fasting

Director of the Metabolism of Aging program at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health, Rozalyn Anderson, whose research has looked into the benefits of calorie restriction, says that “fasting puts the body in a different state, where it’s more ready to repair and surveil for damage, and clear misfolded proteins.”

The accumulation of misfolded proteins, ones that haven’t folded into their correct, functional three-dimensional shape, has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as type 2 diabetes and other diseases.

Giving our digestive system a break has also been associated with reduced levels of inflammation in the body.

Speaking to the BBC, Anderson explained that “intermittent fasting is more in line with how our bodies have evolved.” By giving our bodies a timeout, they are able to manage food storage better, in addition to getting energy to the parts of the body that need it. As well it activates the body’s mechanism which releases energy from our stores that we have.

Intermittent fasting also has the benefit of imposing a pattern. “Our biological systems do well with a pattern,” Anderson says. Patterns give our bodies the necessary cues they need in order to anticipate our eating behaviors, which allows it to deal more efficiently with the food as we eat it.

When should you fast?

There is no one size fits all for when a person should fast. Much of it depends on your lifestyle and work schedule. However, experts recommend consuming more calories earlier in your waking day and giving yourself time to have a longer fasting window while you sleep.

“If you eat most of your food earlier on, your body can use the energy you feed it throughout the day, rather than it being stored in your system as fat,” Emily Manoogian, clinical researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, and author of a 2019 paper entitled ‘When to eat’, told the BBC.

But note, she warns against eating too early in the morning. One you may not give your body sufficient time to fast, but you could also be working against your circadian rhythm.

The same hormone our bodies release to help us sleep, melatonin, also pauses the body’s production of the hormone that helps store glucose in the body, insulin.

“If you take in calories when your melatonin is high, you get really high glucose levels,” she explained. Having high glucose levels over a long period of time increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Do worry though if you are a breakfast person. You don’t need to go without. But if you can, it would be better to hold off for a little while before you sit down to a scrumptious breakfast.

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