No breakfast. No snacks. For wellness coach Dilan, this has become his life for the last ten years. Dilan, who is a cancer survivor, has followed intermittent fasting every single day for the past 15 years – and not to lose weight or follow the latest health fad but to give his body the rest it desperately needs.
In a recent social media post, the British health coach, who was diagnosed with stage 4 blood cancer at the age of 25, has completely healed, following many lifestyle changes.
And one among them is not eating breakfast and following intermittent fasting, which helped his cancer journey. “Cancer forced me to look at everything. Food, stress, and sleep. And what I realised was that healing happens when you stop interrupting it. When you are constantly feeding, your body is constantly digesting. It never gets to repair,” he wrote on Instagram.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of eating and voluntary fasting – focusing totally on when you eat rather than what you eat. Common methods include the 16:8 method, which is part of a restricted diet, and the 5:2 method, along with alternate-day fasting.
According to experts, intermittent fasting has several health benefits, which include weight management, improved insulin sensitivity, reduced inflammation, and potential protection against certain metabolic diseases.
What happens when you fast?
Dilan says intermittent fasting helped his body undergo the process of autophagy, in which the consumption of the body’s own tissue works as a metabolic process that occurs in starvation and certain diseases. “Your cells literally start cleaning house. Damaged cells die off. Inflammation drops. Hormones rebalance. Your body gets a break,” he wrote.
According to Dilan, there is no need to constantly snack or eat every three hours to boost your metabolism. “Because I learnt (the hard way) what happens when the body never gets a break.” He further explained, “When you’re constantly feeding, your body is constantly digesting.”
Dilan says getting up in the morning and consuming food does not leave much room for your body to go into repair mode, which increases fatigue and inflammation. And so, he advocates intermittent fasting – which he says may not be a quick fix or a trendy diet – but is sustainable for your body even in the long run.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
Weight loss
Intermittent fasting helps you lose weight and body fat without having to consciously restrict calories.
Insulin resistance
It also helps lower insulin resistance, which happens when your body is not able to respond properly to insulin, increasing your blood sugar levels.
Lowers inflammation
The marker of inflammation is a key driver of many chronic diseases – including cancer. Intermittent fasting helps lower or even eliminate it.
Cognitive health
According to studies, intermittent fasting increases the brain hormone BDNF, which aids the growth of new nerve cells.