From an evolutionary perspective, intermittent fasting seems to make perfect sense. If, in fact, our genes evolved from this idea of plenty vs. scaricity it would have been common for the paleo crowd to maybe eat more when they were successful in the hunt and less when not. So, they may have been eating the bulk of their diet every 2 days, perhaps.
Our current conventional wisdom argues that this type of “feeding” causes the metabolism to slow down and our bodies to “cannilbalize” our muscle. In actuality, our bodies do not go to our muscles for energy until around 72 hours of no food.
It is often suggested that “grazing” every 3 hours is best for blood sugar metabolism and insulin sensitivity. I can say from personal experience, not only does this not work for me with respect to these specific issues, it is a nightmare trying to keep up and it takes the pleasure away from eating.
I mentioned last week that I had begun 1 day/week of a 24 fast – 6 PM – 6 PM. I’m upping it to 2 this week.
Dr. Michael Eades discusses some studies done on IF here. He outlines an every other day type of approach this will be something I try most likely sooner than later – simply for the ease of it and how it really fits well to my natural inclinations. Here is another link that outlines IF without all of the medical data.
Although I love to cook and enjoy eating, throughtout a typical day when I’m working, I think of it more as fueling.
Next week I’ll focus on the strength training program I utilize and briefly take a look at Crossfit and P90X with respect tot he primal blueprint approach.
