An intermittent fasting window is an incredible tool you can implement daily to optimize your health. Many people use intermittent fasting as a weight loss/weight management tactic, but it’s also great for preventing common metabolic diseases and neurological disorders.
Intermittent fasting is not “weird” or “dangerous”. It is one of those essential health practices that humans forget about.
Fasting was the key to our survival for thousands of years. Our ancestors didn’t have a choice, but to fast in times of feminine.
Humans did not evolve to eat high-protein meals every 2-3 hours “to keep the metabolism running”. We evolved to be very efficient with our stored body fat. This is one of the reasons why we consume most of our food at night.
From an evolutionary standpoint, it was never conducive to our health to eat frequently throughout the day.
In this article, we are going to discuss different daily intermittent fasting windows and the health benefits you get from each one.
12 – Hour Intermittent Fasting Window
The 12-hour fast is considered “entry level” for intermittent fasting. It takes about 12 hours for the body to switch from burning stored food energy in the form of glucose to burning body fat for fuel. This process is known as ketosis.
You will not see many benefits in the way of ketosis with a 12-hour daily fast. It would be like you’re knocking on the door of ketosis to drop off a package and leave. Longer fast would be optimal for the full ketosis experience.
What you do get with a 12-hour daily fast is the elimination of psychological eating. Many people eat for false reasons. In other words, we eat when we are not truly hungry.
Examples of false hunger can be:
- You just woke up and you believe you should eat first thing in the morning.
- You are on a college campus, and you see student organizations giving out free food so suddenly, you’re “hungry.”
- You are at work and the office has free muffins and bagels every morning.
- You are watching Netflix and want to snack to make the show more enjoyable.
In addition to a reduction in blood sugar and the elimination of false hunger, a 12 hour fast has been shown to kill bad bacteria in the gut.
14 -Hour Intermittent Fasting Window
A 14-hour fast allows you to experience ketosis a little bit longer than a 12-hour fast. At this point you are in ketosis for about 2 hours. You would get more benefits that includes:
- Fat metabolism
- Reduction in inflammation
- Stable blood Sugar levels
- Improved focus and cognition
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, you would have more energy and improved sleep.
16 – Hour Intermittent Fasting Window
The 16-hour daily fast is the gold standard of intermittent fasting. This is where you receive significant health benefits in term of:
- Weight Loss/Weight Management
- Low levels of Insulin
- Reduction in the risk of Type 2 Diabetes
- A significant increase in Human Growth Hormone or HGH for muscle preservation
If you are not fasting for 16 hours a day with the intention of losing weight or maintaining muscle in a caloric deficit, then you are most likely doing it as a preventive measure for Type 2 diabetes.
A 16-hour fast is great for hormonal regulation, especially on a fat loss plan. If you want to learn more about hormones, check out this article 7 Hormones You Must Mange on a Weight Loss Program.
18 -Hour Intermittent Fasting Window
After 18 hours of fasting, you start to see autophagy benefits. Autophagy is defined as a cellular process that goes on in the body, where old and damaged cells are disposed of and replenished with newer stronger cells.
Autophagy is extremely important if you want to reduce your risk of common diseases associated with aging such as
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Parkinson’s
- Dementia
Cancer prevention is another big reason to do autophagy fasting. When you consistently fast for 18 plus hours a day, you kill bad cells that have the potential to mutate into cancer cells.
Ketone production is heightened at the 18-hour mark and cancer cells cannot thrive on ketones.
What You Can Have While Intermittent Fasting
You don’t have to dry fast to receive the benefits of intermittent fasting. There are zero calorie beverages you can consume that includes:
- Water
- Black Coffee
- Caffeinated Tea
- Sparkling Water
- Zero-Calorie Energy Drinks
Black coffee would be the best thing to consume during your fasting window. It acts as an appetite suppressant and can even speed up the ketosis process by pouring fat cells into the bloodstream.
It’s important to drink the coffee black. Adding cream, sugar, or stevia would cause an insulin spike and take you out of the fasted state.
Also, only consume coffee when fasting during the day. You don’t want to consume caffeine at night because it can comprise your sleep quality.
It you want to read about the amazing benefits of coffee consumption, check out this article How Coffee Can Improve Your Health and Fitness.
Conclusion
The best intermittent fasting window you should adopt depends on your personal health goals.
If you just want to have a better relationship with food, stop eating for the wrong reasons, reduce your blood sugar levels, improve gut health, and reduce inflammation, a 12-14 hour daily fast would be best suited for you.
This style of fasting is sustainable for the general population. If you stop eating by 12 midnight, you should be able to fast till 12:00pm or 2:00pm the next day without feeling like you’re starving.
If you want to optimize for weight loss/weight management as well as reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes, then you need to go with the standard 16-hour a day intermittent fast.
If cancer prevention is your primary health goal, then you would want to gravitate towards the 18-hour a day fast to get a little bit of benefit from autophagy.
Regardless of whatever fasting window you choose for your lifestyle, you should consume water, black coffee, or a combination of both to make sure the fast is supported and hunger is managed.
3 Responses