Intermittent Fasting is a Rich Habit because, besides sleep and exercise, it is one of the healthiest things you can do.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent Fasting involves not consuming anything that has glucose, carbs for example, for 14 consecutive hours.
That’s impossible, you say.
Well, most people finish dinner by 7pm and go to bed at around 10pm So, assuming you eat nothing else after 7pm, that’s three hours of fasting right there.
And most people sleep around seven hours a night, so that’s another seven hours of fasting there.
The hard part, I agree is the last four hours of fasting – that time between when you wake up in the morning until lunchtime.
When I was doing my Rich habits Study, I was fascinated by how many self-made millionaires engaged in Intermittent Fasting. At the time, I didn’t even know what it was.
So, down another rabbit hole I fell, researching everything about intermittent fasting, in order to unlock the secret behind why so many self-made’s did it.
From my research, I learned that intermittent fasting has some very powerful health benefits:
- Fasting reduces the Glucose levels in the bloodstream – Too much Glucose can lead to Type II Diabetes.
- Fasting stimulates Autophagy – Fasting reduces the amount of Insulin released into the bloodstream, as a result of the lower levels of Glucose in the bloodstream. Reduced Insulin puts your body into Janitorial Mode, which allows your body to shift to repairing damaged cells, removing damaged cells that are beyond repair (called Autophagy) and this Autophagy allows the body to produce new replacement cells to do the work the damaged cells were previously doing.
- Fasting boosts cognitive function – When Glucose levels are depleted within the liver and muscles, the body will start to melt fat cells to release Ketones. Ketones are an alternative source of fuel for the body and the brain. The interesting thing about Ketones is that when they are converted to ATP, the ultimate fuel for every cell in the body, those Ketones produce more brain fuel. Ketones, I learned, provide brain cells with 20% more energy than Glucose, which boosts cognitive function.
- Fasting increases how long you will live – As I mentioned, Fasting puts your body in Janitorial Mode. During Janitorial Mode the body replenishes Telomeres (caps at the end of chromosomes, inside the nucleus of every cell). This helps keep Telomeres from getting too short. When Telomeres get too short, the chromosomes unravel and the cell is forced to commit suicide. This isn’t a problem when you’re young, but when you’re old, cells don’t reproduce as frequently and existing cells are needed to keep the body alive. The longer your Telomeres are, the longer cells will live.
- Fasting reduces the production of IGF-1 – IGF-1 is a growth hormone which accelerates aging. So, less IGF-1, means less aging.
- Fasting reduces the release of Neurotransmitters inside the brain – This gives your brain a much needed rest.
- Fasting reduces Oxidative Stress – When the body is low in Glucose it must rely on Ketones to fuel the body and the brain. Because Ketones produce 20% more ATP, this means the Mitochondria (fuel factories inside every cell) don’t have to work as hard. This also gives brain cells a much needed rest.
- Fasting boosts the release of BDNF – BDNF is a protein which keeps the Myelin Sheath (insulation for Axons) healthy, thus improving brain cell health, brain cell communication and neurogenesis (the birth of new brain cells).
- Fasting reduces Chronic Inflammation – Chronic Inflammation can lead to disease, so reducing it reduces the risk of disease.
- Fasting starves Cancer cells – Cancer cells need Glucose to survive. Cancer cells cannot survive on Ketones. Starving Cancer cells of Glucose causes those Cancer cells to die.
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