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(0:00) Introduction to fasting and modern eating schedules (2:04) Fasting: Historical Context and Metabolic Benefits (6:36) The Healing Science of Fasting vs Big Pharma (12:24) Sponsor: Authentic Nutrition (13:48) Beginner's Guide to Fasting Safely and Effectively (20:15) Fasting Toolbox: Tips and Proper Break-Fast Methods (24:34) Embracing Fasting as a Lifestyle and Mindset Shift (26:02) Connect with Health Decoded and Alessi Functional Health (27:23) Closing Remarks and Invitation for Listener Interaction00:00:00
Let's get one thing straight.
00:00:01
You were born to fast.
00:00:02
Your body already knows how, it's wired into your biology, and what's really gotten in the
00:00:07
way is just the modern eating schedule.
00:00:09
Right?
00:00:10
We wake up, eat, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert, late night snack.
00:00:16
That's not nourishment, that's constant interruption.
00:00:19
Welcome to Health Decode, your number one source for real health information with your
00:00:24
host, Doctor.
00:00:25
Alessi and Matt Tack.
00:00:30
Hey, Health Decoded listeners.
00:00:31
Doctor Alessi here.
00:00:33
Let me ask you a serious question.
00:00:35
Are you tired of waiting until something goes wrong to finally see a doctor?
00:00:39
At Alessi Functional Health, we take a different approach, the right approach.
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We believe true health care isn't about chasing symptoms.
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It's about preventing them in the first place.
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Welcome back to another episode of Health Decoded.
00:02:02
I am your host, Doctor.
00:02:04
Alessi.
00:02:05
This week, we have a really special, really fun episode, something that's really important and
00:02:11
that we touched on briefly last week in our episode about gut health.
00:02:15
And this is the importance of fasting.
00:02:18
Now humans have been fasting forever.
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For as long as humans have been on this planet, fasting has been a part of just our biology.
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And realistically, people didn't used to have access to food all the time.
00:02:32
It wasn't that we always just were able to eat whenever we wanted.
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And so fasting was just a part of how we lived.
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And I think it's safe to say that getting away from fasting as much and being able to have
00:02:45
access to so much food all the time has created a lot of issues for human health and ultimately
00:02:51
gut health and just the way that we balance our metabolism as human beings.
00:02:57
So this is going to be a really, really impactful episode.
00:03:00
We hope that you enjoy it and let's just get started.
00:03:04
So first things first is, know, what is fasting?
00:03:09
How do you do it?
00:03:10
What, why does it work?
00:03:11
Let's just start with that.
00:03:13
So fasting is not a diet.
00:03:15
It's not a hack and it's definitely not starving yourself, right?
00:03:19
What it is, is a biological rhythm that's hardwired into your DNA.
00:03:24
It's a cycle that our ancestors followed naturally because they had to.
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In the absence of grocery stores, Uber Eats and protein bars every three hours, the body has
00:03:33
evolved to thrive during periods of both what we call feast and famine, right?
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They would kill an animal or whatever they would have to eat, they would eat that and then
00:03:42
they maybe go a couple days without food.
00:03:44
And so what is fasting?
00:03:45
It's simply going a period of time without consuming calories.
00:03:49
That's it.
00:03:50
But in that simplicity lies a biological superpower.
00:03:55
When you stop eating, your body doesn't shut down, it actually levels up.
00:04:01
Energy is redirected away from your digestion and toward healing, detoxification and cellular
00:04:07
repair.
00:04:08
So, now enter the concept of metabolic flexibility, something we harp on a lot.
00:04:13
Most modern humans are stuck in sugar burning mode 20 fourseven.
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They eat every two to three hours, which maintains a level of elevated insulin all day.
00:04:24
And then they wonder why they feel exhausted, inflamed and foggy.
00:04:28
Because fasting actually restores your body's ability to burn fat as fuel and eventually
00:04:34
produce things called ketones, which are a clean burning energy source that your brain
00:04:39
thrives on.
00:04:40
And it ultimately can cause healing in the body as well.
00:04:43
And so, concept of metabolic flexibility is basically your ability to toggle between sugar
00:04:49
and fat burning states as needed.
00:04:52
Without it, you're metabolically inflexible and at a greater risk for obesity, diabetes,
00:04:58
Alzheimer's disease and more.
00:05:01
So, what happens inside the body when you fast?
00:05:04
Well, number one, insulin drops.
00:05:06
Within twelve to sixteen hours of fasting, your insulin levels begin to fall.
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This signals your body to start releasing stored fat and burning that as fuel.
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Around the sixteen to twenty four hour mark, autophagy activates.
00:05:21
Autophagy is when your cells begin cleaning house.
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Basically, autophagy means self eating.
00:05:26
Breaks down damaged mitochondria, misfolded proteins, and precancerous cells and starts to
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get those out.
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Then what happens, inflammation begins to lower.
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Fasting will suppress those pro inflammatory cytokines and promote an anti inflammatory
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state.
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Growth hormone begins to rise.
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This hormone is what helps preserve muscle, regenerate tissue, even when you're not eating.
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And then mitochondria multiply.
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So, extended fasting promotes mitochondrial biogenesis, giving your cells more energy
00:06:00
producing powerhouses to fuel optimal function.
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We discussed this in a previous episode.
00:06:07
And so, a study out of the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019 said that intermittent
00:06:12
fasting improves biomarkers of disease, reduces oxidative stress, and preserves learning and
00:06:19
memory function.
00:06:20
So basically, fasting makes you healthier, sharper, and live longer on a cellular level.
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Now, why does big pharma hate this?
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Well, because there's no profit in fasting.
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There's no prescription to fill, no side effects to manage, no monthly subscription.
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Fasting treats the root cause of disease, which is insulin resistance, inflammation,
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mitochondrial dysfunction, and an overload of toxins.
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Big pharma profits off managing symptoms, whereas fasting dismantles the disease before
00:06:50
that even starts.
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So if you want real energy and real fat loss, real disease prevention, you don't need a new
00:06:58
pill.
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You need to honor the biology you were born with.
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Fasting won't break your body, it will finally give it the chance to fix itself.
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And so the science, the healing science of fasting is remarkable.
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It's not just about losing weight.
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It's not just about, you know, getting a lower calorie count so you can kind of reset that
00:07:19
diet and cut some pounds, although those are beneficial side effects often.
00:07:24
It's about resetting your biology because once the food intake stops, your body isn't shutting
00:07:29
down.
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It's turning on systems that have been dormant, right?
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Things that are not active because there's constantly new food coming in.
00:07:36
And then healing begins at the molecular level.
00:07:39
So, let's talk about that same process we just briefly spoke on and exactly how fasting
00:07:45
becomes a form of regenerative medicine.
00:07:49
So, little bit more detail here on that biological chain, the reaction of a fast.
00:07:54
So, first things first, insulin drops.
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When you eat, insulin rises.
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And when you stop eating, insulin drops.
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That single change will trigger a cascade.
00:08:04
Fat burning turns on, your blood sugar levels will begin to stabilize and then your hormones
00:08:09
will begin to balance, allowing inflammation to start to go down as well.
00:08:14
And so, elevated insulin or hyperinsulinemia is really the silent driver behind most chronic
00:08:20
diseases, and so fasting is a great way to reverse that.
00:08:25
What happens next is your growth hormone rises.
00:08:29
Contrary to popular myth, fasting doesn't burn muscle, it protects muscle.
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During a fast, growth hormone can increase by up to 1300% in women and 2000% in men.
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This is according to research published in Clinical Endocrinology.
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The growth hormone in human body supports tissue repair, enhances muscle preservation and
00:08:52
boosts fat metabolism.
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So, you're not going to be wasting away, you're going to be rebuilding smarter.
00:08:58
Now, autophagy kicks in and this is basically the cellular spring cleaning.
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At about the sixteen to twenty four hour mark of a fast, something remarkable happens.
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Your cells begin to self clean.
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Misfolded proteins linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease are broken down, damaged
00:09:16
mitochondria are recycled, and precancerous cells are often destroyed before they even
00:09:22
become a threat.
00:09:23
So, autophagy is basically the body's built in detox program that only turns on when insulin
00:09:29
is low and you're not eating.
00:09:32
What happens next?
00:09:33
Inflammation plummets.
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Chronic low grade inflammation, which is the root cause of nearly every modern disease from
00:09:39
heart disease to anxiety, starts to go down.
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Fasting reduces inflammatory markers like C reactive protein, interleukin six, and TNF
00:09:49
alpha, giving your body a chance to repair without interference.
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And so, there are some conditions that have been shown to dramatically improve with
00:10:00
fasting.
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Things like type two diabetes.
00:10:03
Fasting will restore the insulin sensitivity and can reverse diabetes in many cases,
00:10:08
especially when paired with low carb diet.
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We have seen this many times in our clinic, we have helped people go from labeled diabetic on
00:10:17
blood work to non diabetic, or maybe from diabetic to pre diabetic, but even reversed.
00:10:23
And so that's huge.
00:10:25
PCOS, a hormone driven metabolic condition often worsened by insulin resistance.
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Fasting helps to regulate the cycles, lower androgens and reduce inflammation.
00:10:37
Another condition helped benefited from fasting is Alzheimer's, also known as type three
00:10:42
diabetes.
00:10:44
The brain becomes insulin resistant, just like the body, and so fasting can increase ketone
00:10:49
production, which will fuel the brain more efficiently and reduce those amyloid plaque
00:10:54
buildups.
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Cardiovascular disease.
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Fasting improves blood pressure, cholesterol profiles and endothelial function.
00:11:02
And obviously, obesity.
00:11:04
Fasting directly targets stored fat, reduces cravings and resets the appetite regulating
00:11:10
hormones, leptin and ghrelin.
00:11:13
So there's an awesome study out of the journal Cell Metabolism 2020 that showed that time
00:11:18
restricted eating significantly reduces markers of inflammation and improves cardio metabolic
00:11:24
health.
00:11:26
In this study, participants improved blood pressure, insulin sensitivity, and inflammatory
00:11:32
markers, all by simply restricting their eating window without changing what they ate.
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Remarkable.
00:11:38
And so here's a hot take for you, okay?
00:11:40
If fasting could be packaged into a capsule, the big pharmaceutical industry would make it a
00:11:46
$10 blockbuster drug.
00:11:48
But because it's free and accessible and requires nothing but some discipline, most
00:11:53
doctors never learn about it and most patients never hear about it.
00:11:57
So your body was designed to heal.
00:11:59
Fasting doesn't just allow that process, it will accelerate it.
00:12:03
And so in just twelve to twenty four hours, your body starts doing what no medication
00:12:07
really can.
00:12:08
It starts reversing disease by removing the root cause.
00:12:13
Now, let's get into the nitty gritty of how to begin fasting and implementing this powerful
00:12:18
practice into your life.
00:12:20
But first, here's a quick word from one of our sponsors.
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Now back to the episode.
00:13:46
Alright.
00:13:46
Welcome back.
00:13:48
Thank you for that.
00:13:49
Now, let's get into it.
00:13:50
Let's talk about how to start fasting, but how to start fasting safely.
00:13:56
Because this is one of those things that when done properly is immensely beneficial, but when
00:14:01
done improperly can actually maybe even be harmful.
00:14:05
And so let's get one thing straight.
00:14:07
You were born to fast.
00:14:08
Your body already knows how, it's wired into your biology, and what's really gotten in the
00:14:13
way is just the modern eating schedule, right?
00:14:16
We wake up, eat, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert, late night snack.
00:14:22
That's not nourishment, that's constant interruption.
00:14:25
And no, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day despite what you've been told.
00:14:31
So why does fasting feel hard at first?
00:14:33
It's not because the body is broken, but it's because you've trained yourself to expect fuel
00:14:39
constantly.
00:14:40
This is called metabolic inflexibility.
00:14:43
Your cells are stuck in sugar burning mode.
00:14:45
So, when you stop eating, your body freaks out at first because it doesn't remember how to tap
00:14:50
into fat for fuel.
00:14:52
Just like anything with a little patience and practice, you can retrain it and that's when
00:14:57
the magic happens.
00:14:59
So let's get into some protocols here.
00:15:01
So the beginner fasting protocol that I recommend people who have never fasted, perfect
00:15:07
for beginners, especially if your eating has been all over the place, is a twelve twelve
00:15:11
protocol.
00:15:12
Basically, that's a twelve hour fasting window and a twelve hour eating window.
00:15:16
A good example would look like you don't eat after 7PM and then you can eat again after 7AM.
00:15:23
And then your eating window is during the day.
00:15:25
This isn't just fasting, this is normalizing your schedule again, and it often ties in with
00:15:31
your circadian rhythm as well.
00:15:33
That's a great place to start.
00:15:35
Now, to take it up a notch, and this is something that I do almost basically every
00:15:40
single day, is a sixteen eight intermittent fast.
00:15:43
So basically, fasting from 8PM, I don't eat anything after eight, and then I don't eat
00:15:49
until twelve the next day.
00:15:51
So, you know, the easiest way is just, Hey, I'm not going to eat until lunch, skipping
00:15:55
breakfast.
00:15:56
And so, you're shortening your eating window.
00:15:59
The goal is you're going to get fat burning, improved insulin sensitivity, and reduced
00:16:03
cravings.
00:16:05
This is basically the gold standard of daily fasting and most people can feel best when they
00:16:09
skip breakfast and then they break the fast with a clean protein rich meal at noon.
00:16:16
Pro tip here, hydration is key.
00:16:18
Most people don't just need more food, they need more water and electrolytes.
00:16:22
You'll often find that you can just drink some water with some Himalayan salt in it and it's
00:16:28
going to decrease those hunger signals that your brain is creating.
00:16:32
Now, the next step is a twenty four hour fast, doing this like once weekly.
00:16:38
So basically an example is you don't, you stop eating after dinner, you don't eat until dinner
00:16:42
the next day.
00:16:44
The goal here is you're going to tap into that deep autophagy, a dramatic insulin reset, and
00:16:50
you're going to start to recalibrate your body's appetite signals.
00:16:54
So you still are eating every day, but it's just not for a twenty four hour stretch during
00:16:58
the week.
00:16:59
This is ideal for experienced fasteners who are ready to take it up a notch.
00:17:03
Now, what can you consume while you're fasting?
00:17:06
This is the question we hear all the time.
00:17:07
Can I still do anything?
00:17:09
There's different schools of thought on this, but basically if it spikes insulin, it breaks
00:17:15
the fast.
00:17:16
That's it.
00:17:17
So even healthy sweeteners that you can put into your coffee, they can sabotage this
00:17:22
metabolic process.
00:17:23
So what can you consume?
00:17:25
Water.
00:17:26
Obviously water still or sparkling.
00:17:28
Black coffee, as long as there's no cream or sweeteners.
00:17:32
Herbal teas, no flavors, no stevia.
00:17:35
And electrolytes, which we recommend.
00:17:38
Now there's going to be people who are more hardcore fasters that say, you can't have
00:17:42
anything, even water.
00:17:44
I'd go against that because I think the hydration is important and it's key to
00:17:49
sustaining the fast, especially when you're just getting started.
00:17:52
Now, a very important note here, when not to fast.
00:17:57
Fasting isn't for everyone and that's okay.
00:18:00
You should avoid prolonged fasting if you're pregnant or breastfeeding.
00:18:05
If you have a history of eating disorders, this could be a trigger.
00:18:09
If you're underweight or malnourished, I don't recommend lowering your calorie count.
00:18:15
And if you're taking medications for diabetes or blood pressure, make sure you're fasting
00:18:20
with the supervision of a professional, right?
00:18:24
Either a functional medicine doctor or even a medical doctor if they're well read on this.
00:18:29
And so safety is always greater than speed.
00:18:31
A real cool study out of the journal Obesity in 2015 showed that alternate day fasting led to
00:18:38
significant weight loss and metabolic benefits without the loss of lean mass.
00:18:44
So, preserving that lean muscle tissue.
00:18:46
So the translation here is basically, you can burn fat and preserve muscle while fasting, if
00:18:52
it's done correctly and paired with enough protein in your eating window.
00:18:56
That is a huge, huge critical factor.
00:18:59
So just to rehash, how to start in some practical steps.
00:19:03
Start with that twelve hour overnight fast.
00:19:06
Stop eating after dinner, no snacks, and then eat breakfast twelve hours later.
00:19:11
Delay breakfast by thirty minutes each day.
00:19:13
Within a week, you'll likely hit that fourteen to sixteen hours of fasting without stress.
00:19:18
That's a great way.
00:19:19
Focus on quality during your eating window.
00:19:23
Fasting isn't going to save you from eating ultra processed junk food.
00:19:27
So focusing on real whole foods and protein rich meat while you're eating.
00:19:33
And then supporting your body with proper sleep, movement, and stress management.
00:19:38
Fasting is the spark, but you need oxygen, sleep, and calm to fuel the flame.
00:19:43
Also, fasting is a mild stress on the body.
00:19:46
And if you're chronically stressed, it may actually negatively impact you rather than
00:19:51
positively.
00:19:52
So it's always best to do it appropriately.
00:19:56
And so fasting is it's really simple, but it's not always easy, especially in a world where
00:20:01
food is engineered to hijack your hunger, the marketing ploys, right?
00:20:04
Everything's screaming at us, consume, consume.
00:20:07
So that's why you need a plan and a protocol, and then obviously some confidence to listen to
00:20:13
your body.
00:20:15
And so I love this because we basically put together what we call the personal fasting
00:20:20
toolbox.
00:20:21
So you've now, I've given you some of the science, you understand the benefits.
00:20:26
You might have even tried some protocols.
00:20:28
Let's talk about how you make this stick and how you can do this consistently.
00:20:32
Because the truth is motivation will fade.
00:20:34
Everybody has motivation at the beginning.
00:20:37
But tools are what can keep you consistent.
00:20:40
So here's some tools to help you succeed.
00:20:42
There are apps, fasting tracker apps.
00:20:45
These track this tracking builds awareness.
00:20:47
Awareness builds consistency.
00:20:49
And so, some really cool apps are one called Zero.
00:20:53
Very user friendly, it's educational and it has like a community aspect to it.
00:20:58
There's an app called Fastic.
00:21:00
This is integrates steps, step counter, hydration and basically a fasting timeline.
00:21:06
And then there's an app called Life, which includes glucose, ketone and mood tracking.
00:21:11
This is really good for those more advanced bio biohackers.
00:21:14
So, here's the tip, right?
00:21:16
Set your goal.
00:21:17
Set a fasting goal, hit start and watch how quickly your brain loves checking the progress
00:21:22
bar on these apps.
00:21:23
It's a very gamified way to make this something that you can cling onto.
00:21:29
And now, you know, really the next thing that we talk about in this fasting toolbox is
00:21:32
electrolytes.
00:21:33
They're not optional in our take on fasting.
00:21:36
When you're fasting, your insulin will drop.
00:21:39
This signals your kidneys to start flushing out sodium and water.
00:21:42
That's good for your blood pressure, but if you don't replenish these minerals, you can often
00:21:47
get what's known as the fasting fatigue.
00:21:49
You just feel sluggish, you feel down.
00:21:51
That's not a great way to become consistent because you're not going to want to do that.
00:21:55
So some key minerals you want to replace are sodium, huge.
00:21:59
It's the most important one.
00:22:01
Using things like Himalayan salt or Redmond real salt.
00:22:05
Potassium, you can get this through cream of tartar in water, that's not going to break your
00:22:10
fast or a low dose electrolyte blend.
00:22:13
And then magnesium, using magnesium glycinate or citrate.
00:22:16
If you're feeling dizzy, headachy or foggy during a fast, the chances are you just need
00:22:22
more minerals.
00:22:24
Now, the next one and this is one that again, the hardcore fasting people will say that this
00:22:31
breaks your fast.
00:22:32
However, it's not spiking insulin, so we approve of it is using bone broth.
00:22:37
This is liquid gold.
00:22:38
If you're doing extended fasts, forty eight to seventy two hours, using bone broth can
00:22:44
replenish those minerals and collagen.
00:22:46
It's going to support the gut lining and it can reduce hunger pangs without breaking your fast.
00:22:52
So, a little bonus is it keeps your fast kind of therapeutic while you're giving your body
00:22:57
this kind of warm, comforting nutrient infusion.
00:23:01
Now, all of those things are great ways to help you during the fast.
00:23:04
Now, the next very important thing is how to break your fast the right way.
00:23:09
Cause the first meal after a fast is critical.
00:23:12
Your cells are now primed to absorb nutrients.
00:23:16
Don't give them junk food, Right?
00:23:18
Don't give them a bunch of carbs and processed stuff.
00:23:21
However, you do need to start slow.
00:23:23
So the best combo for breaking a fast is a protein and a healthy fat.
00:23:28
So things like some bone broth with added collagen, some eggs and avocado, and then maybe
00:23:35
some grilled chicken with some olive oil.
00:23:38
This combo is going to stabilize the blood sugar, prevent the dreaded post fast crash, and
00:23:45
it's going to ultimately give your body the nutrition that it's craving and is going to
00:23:49
know what to do with.
00:23:50
However, things to avoid is processed carbs, high sugar fruits or smoothies.
00:23:56
Most people think a smoothie after a fast, but that's going to spike that insulin like crazy.
00:24:01
And then large meals, you want to ease back into it.
00:24:04
So think of your gut kind of like a muscle.
00:24:06
It just rested.
00:24:08
You don't want to slam it with a three plate buffet.
00:24:10
You want to ease back in.
00:24:11
Starting with some bone broth, getting into some soft cooked veggies, some eggs that are
00:24:16
scrambled avocado, and then ultimately getting back into some whole food protein like grilled
00:24:21
chicken with some olive oil.
00:24:23
And so, you know, it's really, yes, there's a physiological component, but there's also the
00:24:27
mindset shift that comes with fasting, because fasting is freedom.
00:24:32
It's not a punishment, it's not about restriction.
00:24:34
You need to think about it about as taking control, right?
00:24:38
You are taking control of yourself from the sugar addiction, the constant hunger, the
00:24:44
emotional tie to eating, right?
00:24:46
We get dependent on eating.
00:24:48
And so every fast is basically a vote for healing for your body.
00:24:52
Every hour without food is time that your body spends repairing, regenerating and optimizing.
00:24:58
You're not depriving yourself, you're unlocking one of the most powerful healing states known
00:25:03
to human biology.
00:25:05
There was a study done in the journal Science Translational Medicine in 2016 that showed that
00:25:10
fasting diets promote regeneration, reduce cancer incidents and autoimmune symptoms.
00:25:17
That's why we incorporate this into basically every functional medicine protocol that we use
00:25:21
within our clinics.
00:25:23
It's not fringe science.
00:25:25
It's published evidence showing how fasting can regenerate systems pharmaceuticals only try to
00:25:31
manage.
00:25:32
So, I want to leave you with a closing takeaway here.
00:25:35
Fasting is not a fad.
00:25:36
It's been around forever.
00:25:38
It's not dangerous when you do it correctly, and it's certainly not profitable for the big
00:25:43
pharmaceutical industry.
00:25:45
But what is it?
00:25:46
It's evolutionarily natural, scientifically proven, metabolic healing and emotionally
00:25:53
liberating.
00:25:54
Because your body isn't broken, it's just been over stimulated.
00:25:57
So you need to give it what it needs.
00:25:59
That's time.
00:26:00
And then the miracles will follow.
00:26:02
So if you want to learn more about how we incorporate fasting within functional medicine
00:26:08
to improve health and longevity, go to alessifunctionalhealth.com, schedule a
00:26:14
consultation with myself or one of my other providers, and let's create a personalized plan
00:26:19
for fasting and for lifelong health.
00:26:22
As always, listeners of the Health Decoded podcast are going to get exclusive discounts
00:26:26
and price reductions on all of our protocols and lab testing.
00:26:31
If you found value in today's show, please, please like, subscribe and share this with
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someone who needs to hear it.
00:26:39
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That's how this message gets out and how we can help people change more lives.
00:26:44
If you want to get in touch with us or be featured on an episode and share your story,
00:26:48
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00:26:53
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00:26:58
That will keep you in the know of all the exclusive things we have coming out, and you
00:27:01
can check out our resources page to learn about our cutting edge approach to nutrition and
00:27:07
cutting edge therapies.
00:27:09
Thank you so much for tuning into Health Decoded, where we break down the science, bust
00:27:12
the myths, and help you take control of your health naturally.
00:27:16
Until next time, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.
00:27:23
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded, where we break down the truth about all things
00:27:29
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00:27:32
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00:27:53
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00:27:58
Until next time.
00:27:59
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.