Over the last few years, intermittent fasting has become a popular subject of conversation in the health and fitness community. Much of this spark in popularity can be attributed to the educational power of the Internet. As many individuals have experienced great results from intermittent fasting, they have taken to the web to share their success with others.
But does intermittent fasting help psoriasis? The health benefits that are associated with fasting are undeniable. Learning how to weave short fasts into the fabric of your lifestyle can prove to be very powerful in healing psoriasis as well as many other diseases and health conditions.
I personally attribute much of my skin healing success to the healing properties of fasting. Although I have committed to a couple of long fasts over the years, I believe that making shorter intermittent fasts a staple in your health regimen is a more simplified approach that is capable of yielding the same results.
WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?
To put it simply, intermittent fasting is a method of scheduling your meals and making the conscious decision not to eat during a designated period of time. The point is not to starve yourself, but to allow your body and digestive system some time to relax and repair on a consistent basis. While there are many ways to go about planning your fasts and modifying them to fit your schedule, I will be highlighting two generally popular approaches.
The 16:8 approach
In this approach, the method is to fast for around 16 hours every day/night and then consume all of your food for the day in a designated 8 hour window. For instance, If you eat your last meal of the day at 8 pm, you would then refrain from eating and fast until 12 pm noon the next day. This is a 16 hour fast. All of your calories for the day would then be consumed between the hours of noon and 8pm. As I mentioned, you can modify this approach to fit your personal schedule. You could also extend or shorten your fasting period. Do what works for you.
The 5:2 approach
This approach is not quite as popular as the 16:8 but it can prove to be just as effective. The method behind the 5:2 is to eat according to your normal schedule for 5 days a week and then fast for 2 days. In my opinion, this method isn’t as attractive to many people because the fasting period is longer and it is also more difficult to plan. With that in mind, having a longer fasting period definitely has some pros. While short 16 hour fasts every day can undoubtedly produce some great results, fasting for 2 whole days can allow your body to dig deeper into the detoxification process. There are great pros to both methods. Experiment with both. See which one works better for you.
INTERMITTENT FASTING SKIN BENEFITS
Cellular repair
By refraining from eating for a certain period of time, you are allowing your digestive system to relax and take a break from breaking down and processing food. Instead of expending its energy on digestion, your body will use its energy for detoxification and cellular repair.
This benefit is crucial when it comes to healing psoriasis. With poor gut health being the catalyst of autoimmunity, it is essential that you allow your body some gut healing time if you want to soothe your immune system and clear your skin.
Increased growth hormone and insulin sensitivity
Some may think that it could be difficult to gain muscle while intermittent fasting, but it turns out that fasting has been proven to increase growth hormone. While it may be a little bit more difficult to fit in the necessary amount of calories to gain muscle with a smaller feeding window, your body will be more efficient in absorbing the nutrients in your food which will ultimately result in more growth.
Increasing insulin sensitivity is not only key in promoting fat loss, but it also is very important in terms of treating or preventing diabetes. As the incidence rate of diabetes continues to increase, intermittent fasting is a powerful way to keep your insulin levels in check.
Fat loss (increasing metabolic rate)
The most common reason that people decide to begin a intermittent fasting regimen is fat loss. By limiting your caloric intake to a shortened time window, you are not only likely to eat less calories but your body will also be more efficient in using the calories that you consume for energy rather than storing them as fat.
Fasting is very effective in preparing your body for food consumption and improving digestive efficiency. This kind of efficiency signals an increased metabolic rate as your body will be more prepared to effectively process the food that you are consuming.
Increased energy and brain function
There is a certain lightness and clarity that you experience while in a fasted state. I find that my energy and focus are at their highest level in the morning hours when I am drinking water and sipping on some herbal tea. Your body is not spending its energy digesting food and therefore has more energy to use for other activities. Ultimately, your body just becomes more efficient in spending its energy. This will lead to improved long term sustainable energy.
Fasting is also proven to be a great way to reduce inflammation and eliminate free radicals within the body. Not only does this greatly benefit your skin health, but it also has a large impact on brain function. By eliminating stress elsewhere in the body, you are effectively limiting the amount of stress you are putting on your brain. This will leave you feeling more “awake” upstairs and will increase certain brain hormones.
WHAT CAN YOU CONSUME WHILE FASTING?
During a fast, you can technically consume anything that contains zero calories without breaking your fast. At the end of this article, I will touch on some other types of effective “fasts” that involve consuming calories. But if you wish to stay true to the actual definition of intermittent fasting, you must stay away from all calories during the fasting period.
My favorite things to consume other than water during my fasting period are apple cider vinegar and herbal teas. Both of these are extremely effective in soothing the gut and promoting detoxification. So not only are these two options a great way to make your fast a little bit more enjoyable and interesting, but they also enhance your fast as they introduce some added benefits.
OTHER TYPES OF FASTS
Juice fasts
Juice fasting is personally my favorite form of fasting. I’m not sure you can find a better gut healing remedy than fresh vegetable juice. In a juice fast, you refrain from consuming anything other than water and fresh vegetable/fruit juice for a determined period of time. You can do short fast, long fasts, or you could even work some juice into your intermittent fasts. Yes, juice contains calories. With that said, these are some of the most medicinal gut healing calories you can find.
It wasn’t until I bought my juicer and starting juicing on a consistent basis that I really started to sustain long term results. It really was a turning point in my healing process and I recommend juicing to everyone I ever speak to about health/nutrition.
Extended fasts
No matter what type of fast you are entering, the amount of time that your spend fasting is up to you. Short fasts are a great option, but long fasts can provide you with a deep internal cleansing that can bring you some fast results. I would not water fast for longer than 10 days without consulting with a professional. Try some shorter fasts to start and see how it goes. Juice fasts on the other hand can last for as long as 60+ days. As with water fasts, I would suggest that you listen to your body and only go for as long as you feel comfortable.
Fruit fasts
In a fruit fast you consume nothing but fruit for a period of time. Grape fasts and apple fasts are probably the two most popular versions. With that in mind, there are plenty of fruits that are great for healing and therefor could be a great fruit fast option. You want to find fruits that are high in antioxidants and are going to spark to detoxification process in your body. I personally have also seen some good success in doing smoothie fasts which include bananas and lots of berries. You can also add some smoothies into your juice fast for a sort of modified take.
CONCLUSION
If you want to find a habit that is going to give you a jumpstart on healing your immune system and reversing your skin disease, start incorporating intermittent fasting into your lifestyle. It is such a simple thing to do and it really can make a big difference. With that said, intermittent fasting alone probably isn’t going to do you much good if it isn’t accompanied by a well-formulated healing diet. If you’re looking for an in-depth protocol that will give you a dietary guideline to follow as you go through the healing process, click here to download my free skin healing formula. This ebook is completely free of charge and will give you a great understanding of how you should go about building your healing regimen. While reversing skin disease definitely isn’t easy, it’s certainly possible. Good luck to you.
