The image above is at “Dad’s Day” while my eldest daughter was attending university. I did the same with my second daughter (at bottom). I was at their graduations as well. The one above will be married in May. I want to be around to know her children become adults and do similar things with them.
I have a wonderful job; I advise my family, patients, my community and athletes I guide how to get and stay healthy. Not super fit. Super healthy.
In earlier posts I have referred to some strong nutritional advice; eating tips that may help move you move along the spectrum toward personal optimal health.
Today I am going to share some thoughts and medical literature for those looking for ways to move your health toward top shelf.
Below is a link with a long list of medical literature on Intermittent Fasting (IF) and potential health benefits on the body’s physical performance, aging, disease prevention, etc.
Recall, not eating after 7pm until 7am is intermittent fasting (12hrs). The question then becomes how to handle breakfast (break fast), when to have the first meal of each day and sourcing helpful foods; something I discussed in earlier posts. I don’t eat 7pm to 11am. Then eat intelligently from 11am to 7pm. If you give it a go, be kind to yourself at first. If you don’t make it, that is a clue that food choices might be improved (think sugars).
If you struggle, get up and start again. Always doing your best — no more, no less. Your best will always be different from one day to another. Sometimes your best will be high quality and other times it will not be as good. When you are refreshed and energized from a good night’s sleep your best will be better than if you are tired. Your best will change over time. Your best will become better than it used to be.
Read carefully because I don’t mean this post as a fad or a contest to see who can restrict the most calories, or a wink and nod in favor of disordered eating (we see enough of that) or a way to obsess about your body. To be clear, I eat plenty of calories and am relatively large (two Ben Franklins).
Rather, this post is a sincere effort to share what may be new to you via my experience and ongoing education.
Some medical literature suggests that intermittent fasting “IF” may support cardiac health, increased mitochondrial respiratory efficiency, modulation of inflammatory cytokines, is antimutagenic, antibacterial and holds anticarcinogenc effects.
I never suggest IF in a way that will degrade day to day performance or recovery. That is where we need to employ a well thought out plan and realize each of us is an individual.
I see IF a bit like two glasses of red wine a day to access the health benefits of resveratrol. If you are inclined to drink the entire bottle each day (disordered drinking), then the benefits of resveratrol is lost.
Like-wise if you have a history of disordered eating you should keep that in mind. Not all good things are good things for all people.
If you can get your doc to look up from his computer, swivel his chair away from the screen, roll closer and make eye contact with you, ask him about IF.
Choose wisely!
Dr. KP
Link to literature: Restricting Caloric Intake For Healthy Aging”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3919445/pdf/nihms549775.pdf
(perhaps a kind editor can make the link ‘live’ to avoid cutting and pasting)
Dr. Kevin Purcell, DC. Dedicated to serving others …