Episode 23: Any thoughts on intermittent fasting?

In this week’s episode, Jessica tackles the popular intermittent fasting diet. We answer the question, “is intermittent fasting really for our health or is it just another restrictive diet?” Jessica breaks down the science behind  intermittent fasting as well as the potential long term effects and what it means for those of you that struggle with emotional eating.

Want us to answer your question? Email us here at support@shiftnutrition.com

Connect with Jessica on Instagram: @shiftnutritioncounselling

If you want to hear more “The Art & Science of Eating”, be sure to subscribe and tune in for new episodes

Intro 

Welcome to the art and science of eating. I’m Jessica Begg, registered dietician and clinical counsellor. I worked for fifteen years in programs for the treatment of eating disorders. I now help those that struggle with emotional eating and their relationship with their body. This podcast is where I answer questions to help people along this bumpy journey to creating peace with both food and their body.  

Hi everyone and welcome back. This week’s question was asked within a talk and I pulled out the tidbits for us to discuss. And this question for this week someone asked what do you think about intermittent fasting? And so this is what my answer was for them. Thanks for listening, and talk to you next week!

Podcast

So intermittent fasting is a funny one because historically like all diets people always skip breakfast like it’s a very common thing because it’s very easy to skip breakfast. It tends to have this effect where people are chasing their hungry and mildly at the night they’re more tired because they haven’t been eating enough. Also they’re around food they wouldn’t otherwise been so if you struggle with emotional eating or feeling out of control at other times it’s pretty much setting up the stage entirely for that. 

Intermittent fasting the way it first came out was there was one person who was restricting and they were saying that they were replicating the rat students where if we underfeed the rats then the rats will be able to live longer. And so this one guy was basically restricting and was doing this pattern of intermittent fasting and when he was first kind of talking about it he was doing 5 and 2. So eating regularly what one would and 2 days of the week eating less, think about 600 calories which is a very very like big restriction. Like typically, the average adult eats like 21- to 24- to 2500 calories so eating like 500 calories is a pretty big deal. Then I’ve noticed that its been a thing over the last handful of the years where people are doing hours of the day like they say I’m restricting like I don’t eat past 11 or so. That’s just that part is just old school dieting, just skipping meals, so we have to be really cognizant of that -- the impact of restriction. All of the studies say that 97% of people that restrict, are destined to gain more weight and we have to separate. Are we talking about health or weight? People go like yo-yos out and if we’re talking about health like the diet culture. Oh this is healthy if we lose weight but it isn’t. If talking actually about health we know that person isn’t eating enough. They aren’t getting the nutrition that they need. And so, in terms of health, they aren't getting enough. It’s also not really sustainable particularly for people that are active because they can’t move on the 500 calorie day so that cuts out 2 days and then also like we said building out on your fed days, you’re restricting on the next day so you aren’t building the muscle that you need. So it’s not my favourite. There’s some people that can manage it but I don’t find that it’s conducive for people that are busy.

Two thirds of the calories that you take in are used for just keeping your body in a comatose-type state. So two thirds is to open and close your lungs, pump your heart, turnover cells, that kinda stuff. And so, this idea of if I eat right before bed it’s going to turn into fat is not true like we’re going to need it to do all of those things during the sleeping time. It is however a problem if you’re eating all of your food right before food because then it’s difficult for your gut to manage that amount of food and so often people get reflux, difficulty sleeping and that kinda thing. And like I said, your body does better when you eat more spread out, like your body gets the fuel, what it needs, when it needs it. You’re able to manage your blood sugar as in it’s like being consistent. You’re giving food but never overfeeding any one time. So yeah you can and should have a bedtime snack if that’s often what you feel like. It’s a precursor to serotonin so it’ll often help us fall asleep but yeah doing too much right before bed will have more other complications. 

It depends on what you’re doing in terms of your activity is that you want to book in your workout so you want to make sure you have fuel to do the workout and then you want at the latter end of your workout you want to make sure you have fuel to build muscle and build up the fuel you use during activity. And so what should you eat before you go, when you’re working out you’re going to be burning out a lot of carbohydrates so your muscles uses carbohydrates to do all of the things whether or not you’re running or playing sports or going to the gym.So that’s what I would prioritize before you go. Doesn’t have to be hardcore but something that is easy on your stomach but close enough to the workout so you still have the fuel on board. So if it is just a snack, try to put the snack relatively close to the workout just not so you don’t feel sick but something easily digestible. So fruit or yogurt will probably be enough carbohydrates but not cheese and crackers. Bananas if it’s really early in the morning, I find that that’s enough.

Outro

If you’d like to come on the show to have me answer your question live, or you have a question you’d like me to answer on my own on the show, email me at support@shiftnutrition.ca. Looking forward to chatting with you all! See you next week!

Disclaimer

This podcast is for education and information purposes only. Please consult your own healthcare team to discuss what is right for you and your care.