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What About Fasting?
Blog | June 29, 2014
While discussing the side effects of chemotherapy with a friend who recently battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, I chanced upon a really interesting article published by the University of Southern California. The piece discussed the benefits of intermittent fasting for people who have undergone chemotherapy. As some of you may already know, though chemotherapy can be effective in treating cancer, it also devastates the rest of the body in doing so. The article focused on a study published in a recent issue of the scientific journal, Cell Stem Cell.
According to the study, fasting enabled the body to regenerate and repair cells damaged by chemotherapy. Essentially, fasting ‘awakened’ dormant cells and triggered them into a state of renewal. Heady, complicated stuff for sure, but amazing nonetheless. Dr. Tanya Dorff, who also worked on the study, is hopeful that fasting may repair much of the collateral damage that chemotherapy causes in the body.
Fasting has been around for thousands of years as a religious ritual. Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc., all have methods of fasting. While religious practitioners fast mainly for reasons of discipline, self-control and devotion, fasting also has numerous health benefits. According to Mark Mattson, one of the lead scientists at the National Institute on Aging, fasting has been shown to increase longevity, prevent disease and lead to better brain function, especially as we age. Mattson also echoes the findings of the study on chemotherapy and says that fasting may trigger our cells into an active form of defense against old and new damage no matter the cause.
A simple google search shows that there are a number of ways to fast. Some include fasting for a 24-48 hour period with no food while other methods involve cycling calories every 12-16 hours. An important point to remember when fasting is not to binge after breaking your fast. Also, most experts suggest fasting no more than once or twice a week, especially if it’s a practice that one wishes do to on a regular basis.
One particular problem with fasting as I see it is that women (especially younger women in their teens) can unnecessarily starve themselves with the excuse that they are just ‘fasting.’ This is, in turn, can lead to dangerous eating disorders. The truth is there is a distinction between fasting and starving ourselves. Fasting is a disciplined and active choice that we do with our overall wellbeing in mind while simply starving ourselves is a neurotic quick fix in an attempt to fit into our size zero jeans from high school or because summer is here and we want to shed those last few pounds in a hurry. Always be aware of your choices and be honest with yourself.
If you’re currently fasting or have fasted in the past let me know your experiences!
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Does anybody know where the contact info is for billing? It says my account is inactive but i paid on the 3rd of june for 3 months.
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Looking back at the history on my card i paid $18 on may 8th then june 3 rd another $20. A 3 month subscription is 25 ish dollars so i am getting ripped off. Heads up to everybody else!
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Dear Zuska,
I think you’re fabulous and very inspiring. I’ve been following you for about 5 years now; I came across you when I was 14, and followed your work outs, I’ve only just recently had the ‘Guts’ to complete your work outs, and its wonderful to know that I’m stronger than I was.
I love the fact that when I do your workouts on a regular basis, I can see improvements, and feel myself getting stronger, so thank you…. Not only that, you were such a great role model for me as a teenager, healthy and strong 🙂
Anyway, a little side tracked there. I did look into fasting for the whole ‘health benefits’ side of things, but underneath it was secretly looking for quick fix weight loss. I think that point you made was very important, that you need to be fasting with your health in mind and not to starve your body hoping for ‘instant’ results.
Again, I think you’re great and a lovely lovely person 🙂
Thanks Zuska,
India
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I fasted reecently for 2 months my consumption was from 7am to 4pm with all clean eating and juicing in the interm. I loved it, I loved the rules and structure it gave my nightly routine. The end result was more muscle mass and energy.
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I fast for a week about 1 or 2 times a year. Just finished up a couple of weeks ago and I felt great after, especially my digestion. I’ve been really into learning about Ayurveda recently and they teach to fast once a week to improve digestion and detoxify. I find it helps a lot.
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I’m fascinated by the idea that our bodies can regenerate themselves when given the proper environment. How lucky is our generation that we’re finally learning exactly what environment to create to jumpstart that state of renewal?!
I’ve never fasted – only green juice/smoothie cleanses – and now I’m feeling re-inspired to explore fasting. Thank you for sharing what you learned, Zuzka!
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I’ve also read into scientific literature as there seems to be some cool new stuff (though referring to studies on rodents) which point out that eating the same amount of calories during a small time window (8-9h) leads to no/less weight gain or even loosing weight than when the calories are consumed over the day (which could also strongly relate to dysbalances in the circadian cycle). Many of my athletes have great results with intermittent fasting for 16/8 and I also follow it for health benefits but also lost about 15 pounds slowly (Back then I was actually not knowing I was doing IF- i just skipped breakfast and replaced it with one cup of BP Coffee cause it felt good and gave me the freedom not to worry about eating a little later in the day (I can’t sleep when I’m hungry)). Though its more a mens field currently, I can also state that my cravings for unhealthy food vanished quite quickly (though I certainly have my treat, even daily, when I fancy it) and its a way of eating (no matter if you like to loose weight, gain or keep it stable) that is easy to follow and gives me great energy and clarity in the morning. I’m very curious if more human studies will investigate this seriously in future.
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tampa, florida, usa
Hello Zuzka!! I recently started intermittent fasting about a week ago and I feel great and more attentive. My main goal with this is to maintain a healthier lifestyle, as well as cut down on some body fat and become leaner. But I’m a bit scared to continue fasting daily and heavily working out, due to the fact that in the past I’ve struggled with anemia and vitamin deficiencies. Therefore, I’d love to know your opinion on this matter.
P.S: loving the new workouts😉
Kind Regards, Naimah Barake
xoxo!