Priceless…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJmTCYmo9g]
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Generally, to lose fat and/or gain muscle one has to eat 5 to 6 meals per day with plenty of high quality proteins and fats while moderating carbohydrate intake. This dispersal of caloric intake and carbohydrate moderation is done, mainly, to maintain consistent blood glucose levels which will regulate insulin release - a fat storage hormone, among other things. And so the majority of nutrition literature says. As many know, humans are here because somewhere along the way we were genetically embellished from our precursors to survive in what ever environment we might be in at the time. That being said, diet played a major role in that evolution. I could just see our paleolithic ancestors eating six meals a day with paleolithic tupperware packed and ready to eat at the all important 3 hour feeding time. The fact is hunter/gatherers did just that - hunted and gathered. Some hunts were unsuccessful i.e. they fasted and some hunts were successful at which point the food, high in protein and fat, was eaten and what was not eaten was left to rot as no freezer was available. This is the environment in which humans survived and evolved. So why is the prescription for optimal health to eat six times a day, which was a pure fantasy for our ancestors? Could there be some benefit to eating at interval windows that mimic our fasting paleo past and further more could there be a benefit to following a diet that our precursors were evolved to eat?
Enter IF or intermittent fasting and Paleo nutrition. Before I get into the meat of these philosophies check out the blogiture on these great sites The IF life and Modern Forager. Intermittent fasting is not to be confused with starvation patterns it is simply letting the body take time off of digestion and incorporating that into a lifestyle. There is a growing body of research that supports this lifestyle choice and some of the benefits include the following: “improving insulin resistance (which you will hear alot about as being the #1 key marker in so many health factors including weight loss, muscle gain, performance, recovery, anti-ageing and disease prevention) and giving the body a chance to do some internal cleaning (or housework), which can lead to improved immune function and overall health.” (from IF life website) Check out some of the academic research here. The benefits are amazing and it releases you from the slavery of tupperware and eating six times a day. It just does not make sense academically and personally that the body needs that constant supply of food to be healthy. This way of life resonates with me personally and I will definitely give it a try. I’ll try to keep you posted on the progress!