We hear about a lot of ways to boosting your metabolism for weight loss and better health, but what’’s the one thing to do it best? It’s fasting! Intermittent fasting (IF).
Most people relate fasting to weight loss, internal body cleansing or a religious practice for spiritual enlightenment. But while our metabolic health does influence our body’s ability to maintain a healthy weight, it’s so much more.
The definition of metabolism, according to Medicine Net, is: a whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. In other words, metabolism is the mechanism your body uses to convert food to fuel, nutrients to support growth and getting rid of your waste for instance. So ensuring that your metabolism is working as it should is of highest importance in your daily life.
A study published in the latest issue of Scientific Reports by a combined group of research experts from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and Kyoto University found a group of metabolic markers that usually decreases with age which influences our general health. However, the study also showed that IF affects the body’s ability to increase these markers and provide a winning method for long term good health.
The study is pretty complex, but in laymen’s terms it essentially means that when we fast for a period of time, metabolites like butyrates, which have anti-inflammatory effects, are released, along with the chemicals of purine and pyrimidine which are crucial for protein synthesis and gene development, and anti-oxidants which prevent age-related diseases and decline.
iI has long been known that fasting promotes longer life spans, but now we have a scientific study discovering one of the possible explanations for longevity which is the production of antioxidantsduring fasting.
As the lead author of the study, Dr. Takayuki Teruya, explained that “These are very important metabolites for maintenance of muscle and antioxidant activity, respectively. This result suggests the possibility of a rejuvenating effect by fasting, which was not known until now.”
So, along with good aerobic exercise, adequate sleep and water intake and a healthy diet, IF is the way to go for good health maintenance and especially for increasing longevity.
mindbodygreen.comhas a beginner’s guide to IF for those who wish to start on a program to better health and increased longevity.
