It’s almost the New Year – only a couple of more days to get your resolutions ready…So you’re drinking lemon water with cayenne pepper every morning (Habit #1) and eating less refined sugar (Habit #2)…. now what?
How about fasting everyday? Ut oh – I just heard a record screech …
What? Fast everyday?! That’s insanity, you might be thinking. But it’s not – especially when you are only fasting for half the day and most of the time you are sleeping.
Habit #3 – Fast Every Single Day - At least 12 hours from the time you eat your last meal until the time you “break” the “fast” with breakfast.
Adopting this habit can be so rewarding, restorative to your health, ultimate youth and beauty!
After reading several studies and chapters on detoxification from Dr. Gabriel Cousens and Dr. Alenjandro Junger – I now understand it takes at least 8 hours for your body to completely digest it’s meals from the day. If you add in another 4 hours to that time without introducing more food to digest, the body actually goes into detoxification mode and has more time to remove dead and dying cells from the body. During this “idle” time, the body also stimulates the development and regeneration of new cells. “Aging occurs when we have more cells die than are being produced.”
Allowing your body sufficient time every single day to digest, eliminate dying cells and develop new cells is a habit that will get you closer to drinking straight out of the fountain of youth!
More Incredible Benefits of “Intermittent” Fasting -
- Improved Fat Burning - When you fast for 12 hours, your body has to use up stored glucose for fuel, burning excess fat off your body.
- The Brain Can Fight Stress Better – 12-hour fasts give the brain a chance to fight the chemical byproducts of stress. They also help the mind to re-focus and improve memory and sensory perception. Also, short fasts promote the production of beta-hydroxybutyrate, which is a protective brain chemical that can make you less sensitive to excitotoxins like MSG.
- Promotes Heart Health – 12-hour fasts lower the body temperature, the blood pressure, and the heart rate and increase your good cholesterol.
Following this habit is extremely easy for me and can be easy for you too – I try to keep my dinner time somewhere between 7pm and 8pm, go to sleep around 11pm, then wake up early to work out and then I “break the fast” at or about 8:30am or 9am. Finding the right time frames might be different for you based on your schedule – but if you are eating lots of whole non-processed foods this habit should be sustainable for life.
One of the most amazing things I immediately noticed after I adopted this habit was that I woke up with more energy and was better rested. If you’ve ever gone to bed with a full stomach, you know what I mean!
Here’s to breaking the fast and waking up feeling lighter, more rested and re-engerized in the New Year and Beyond!
Food Babe
P.S. Got questions or comments? – I’d love to hear what you have to say here or on my Facebook Fan Page!
