Intermittent fasting is becoming a trend, it is being talked about more and more and in turn more people are encouraged to follow this new lifestyle.
In this post, we’ll talk about what intermittent fasting is and its health benefits.
In addition, we will recommend Active Foods, products that can go hand in hand with our diet.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a dietary model that respects prolonged periods without the consumption of food.
The most popular categories are three:

• Fasting on alternate days.
  It consists of alternating between ad libitum feeding days and fasting days, which typically consist of a single meal containing approximately 25% of the daily caloric needs.
• Full-day fasting: All-day fasting is perhaps the simplest form of intermittent fasting and usually consists of 1 to 2 days of full fasting per week plus ad libitum feeding on the other days.
  However, some programs allow food intake of up to approximately 25% of the total daily energy expenditure on fasting days.
• Time-restricted feeding.
  This model involves following the same eating routine every day, with a certain number of hours designated to the fasting window and the remaining hours to the eating window.

Like any research topic, and even more so when we are in the discovery of new findings, it has its defenders and detractors.

The idea of eating less to live longer

Intermittent fasting is not a fashionable theory or treatment (although it seems that way lately), but rather a necessity that was due to the scarcity of food in the times of primitive man.
Thus, there were days when hunting and gathering were abundant, and there were other periods of forced fasting due to ignorance of food preservation techniques.

This adaptation in the first chapters of human history caused our body to develop certain genes that encoded certain proteins in order to get the most out of periods of abundance.
But other genes were also developed that would enhance organic functions in periods of famine.
This was to generate an energy balance that allows the survival of the species over time.
In current times and with the abundance of food – in certain regions of the planet – those genes that encoded the proteins related to fasting, have fallen into disuse.

Our body has cellular memory

Our body has cellular memory, a characteristic also developed over millennia and that provides a rapid adaptation to the environment.
This is crucial for survival.

Looking for new alternatives as a way of life and for weight control in overweight people, intermittent fasting emerged again, but no longer as a physiological need, but as a social need in the face of the disproportionate increase in obesity, as well as chronic diseases due to the overabundance of food.

Calorie restriction for weight loss

One of the main factors associated with calorie restriction and considered responsible for its benefits is weight loss.
These benefits would be related to better control of glycemia or cholesterol levels.
In other reviews, it was proposed that, by ingesting smaller amounts of calories and more separated by periods of time, oxygen consumption for cellular energy would be reduced, which in turn would reduce the oxidative damage produced by reactive oxygen species.

Intermittent fasting would allow activating some beneficial mechanisms of caloric restriction such as the already famous SIRT-1 and 2 proteins.

Genetic and pharmacological interventions have successfully extended lifespan and health in animals, but their genetic interventions are not appropriate options for human applications and pharmacological intervention needs more robust clinical evidence.
Consequently, dietary manipulations are the only practical and likely strategies for promoting health and longevity in humans. Calorie restriction to a level that does not compromise overall health has been considered one of the most promising dietary interventions to extend the lifespan of humans.
Although it may seem simple, continuously reducing calorie intake is not easy to practice in real life.

Intermittent fasting has benefits beyond weight loss.

Fasting-related interventions, such as intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating, have emerged as alternatives to calorie restriction. Fasting appears to extend lifespan both by common, partially overlapping mechanisms, such as the rapamycin pathway and the circadian clock, and by distinct independent mechanisms that remain to be discovered.

In one of the most recent scientific reviews, it was found that during periods of fasting, our body “resets” and begins a process of internal cleansing.
During these periods, DNA strands are repaired, senescent cell autophagy is performed, the immune system is activated, and actions are generated to combat oxidative stress.

A review by a leading scientific portal details the possible clinical applications of intermittent fasting.
In addition to the already studied increase in life expectancy, this type of diet reduced visceral fat, the incidence of cancer, rejuvenated the immune system and delayed the loss of bone mineral density related to osteoporosis.
As is known, most of these conditions are associated with the aging process.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2015.05.012

Another review examined studies of intermittent fasting programmes to find out whether they are effective in improving body composition and clinical markers of health associated with the disease.
Trials of alternate-day fasting of 3 to 12 weeks appear to be effective in reducing body weight (≈3%–7%), body fat (≈3–5.5 kg), total cholesterol (≈10%–21%), and triglycerides (≈14%–42%) in normal-weight, overweight, and obese humans.
Full-day fasting trials lasting 12 to 24 weeks also reduced body weight (≈3%–9%) and favorably improved blood lipids (≈5%-20% reduction in total cholesterol and ≈17%-50% reduction in triglycerides).
Research on time-restricted eating is limited and, at present, no clear conclusions can be drawn.
Future studies should examine the long-term effects of intermittent fasting and the potential synergistic effects of combining intermittent fasting with exercise. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuv041

Among other benefits, it contributes to improving the lipid profile and the reduction of cholesterol, triglycerides

Another study shows that modified alternate-day fasting regimens result in weight reduction, ranging from 3.2% compared to a control group over a 12-week period to 8.0% in a trial over an 8-week period.
There was limited and mixed evidence of reductions in insulin concentrations, improvements in lipids, or reductions in inflammatory factors.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.02.018

Active Foods, ideal for intermittent fasting

One of the mechanisms studied within the benefits of intermittent fasting is the generation of ketone bodies, capable of diverting the metabolism of carbohydrates towards other energy options such as fats and proteins, whose final result is weight loss.

Within our ACTIVE FOODS, we offer a complete range of products with high protein content of vegetable origin and made with natural ingredients, without additives, low in calories and mostly of organic origin that provide vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and fibers.
These products are:

• ORGANIC LUPIN PROTEIN, which in 2 measures provides 14 grams of protein and 9g of fiber.
• ORGANIC PEA PROTEIN, which in 1 measure provides 16 grams of protein.
• ORGANIC RICE PROTEIN ISOLATE, WHICH IN 1 measure provides 16 grams of protein.
• PEA PROTEIN, COCOA AND COLLAGEN PEPTIDES, WHICH IN 1 40-GRAM MEASURE PROVIDES 23 grams of protein, 5 grams of collagen and 3.2 grams of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA’s).

In the case of antioxidant supply, we have two products of excellent quality.

• ANTIOX RED FRUITS BIO IN POWDER FORM, WHICH CONTAINS A RICH BLEND OF POLYPHENOLS, ANTHOCYANIDINS, ELLAGIC ACID AND VITAMIN C. In addition to being an excellent source of bioactive compounds, it contains high levels of fiber and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
• DRENANT PRICKLY PEAR BIO IN POWDER, MADE FROM THE FRUIT OF THE PRICKLY PEAR OF BIO ORIGIN, ADJUVANT IN HYPOCALORIC DIETS AND DRAINING IN CASE OF FLUID RETENTION.
• ORGANIC COCOA POWDER, which in 1 measure provides 4 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber.
  It also contains phenolic compounds and theobromine, which, according to a study carried out with this same product, improves photopic visual acuity.

Conclusion

Calorie restriction has shown very promising effects in several aspects related to aging.
Although the results of studies in laboratory animals cannot be extrapolated directly to humans, it has been possible to study the mechanisms behind this prolongation of life and that also work in our species.

Studies in laboratory animals support the hypothesis that intermittent fasting and restricting food availability for the normal eating cycle improves metabolic profiles and reduces the risk of obesity, obesity-related conditions such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic conditions such as diabetes and cancer.

In healthy, normal-weight, overweight, or obese adults, there is little evidence that intermittent fasting regimens are physically or mentally harmful.

In the Salengei team we continue to work tirelessly to bring you healthy options that help with your goals of healthy weight, health preservation and delay of aging.
Active Foods is the answer to this new demand that is so much talked about.