Intermittent fasting has become more popular in the last few years, although it has been around since the time humanity was mainly hunters and gatherers. With such few ways of preservation, food was not always available. It wasn’t as easy as walking into your kitchen and opening your pantry or fridge. Intermittent fasting, as you may guess by the name, is a pattern of eating that cycles between fasting and eating. This cycle of eating has been found to be very beneficial to the gut, it’s bacteria, and cell repair. This goes for anyone, but a recent study has found it may be extremely beneficial for those who have IBD.
There are three main methods used; the 16/8 or time-restricted (TRF), the eat-stop-eat or alternate-day fasting (ADF), and the 5:2 diet or intermittent energy restriction (IER). The first method of 16/8 or TRF is the most common and is categorized by daily fasting of 16 consecutive hours followed by 8 hours of nourishment where you eat as you normally would. Eat-stop-eat or ADF involves fasting for a 24-hour period once or twice a week. Lastly, the 5:2 diet or IER eating is eating only 500-600 calories on two nonconsecutive days of the week and eating normally the other five. Now that we know the basics, let’s look at how using these methods can help your gut and overall health.
Your body’s always trying to achieve homeostasis, or the state of equilibrium between all the body’s systems through various processes. When applied to fasting, your body will naturally start to make stored fat cells more accessible as well as initiate general repair of cells and gene expression. These changes can be seen by lower levels of insulin, increase in hormones specifically human growth hormone (HGH). This increase helps with muscle easier to gain, and fat easier to lose. In addition, intermittent fasting has been shown to decrease inflammation levels, improve heart health by lowering cholesterol, weight loss, and new brain nerve growth which could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
So how does this help people with IBD? After some recent lab research in China, intermittent fasting has been shown to lower gut inflammation and alter the gut microbe biome to promote the growth of healthy bacteria. It does this by killing off common bad bacteria like Shigella and Escherichia Coli that are associated with IBD. It not only improved colitis symptoms in mice, but actually allowed for healing of the gut barrier and suppressed inflammatory responses. Also, worth mentioning, this type of fasting also lowered oxidative stress. This is commonly associated with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Many people with IBD are also diagnosed with depression or anxiety. This may be a way to help these issues naturally by lowering neurological inflammation.
The catch? Only two of the three types of intermittent fasting were shown to help the mice with colitis. The 16/8 or TRF and the 5:2 or IER were the two found to be effective. Eat-stop-eat or ADF left too much time with nothing in the intestines, and it is speculated that the bad bacteria may have time to overtake the good bacteria that started building around the 16-hour mark. While much more research needs to be done in the area, this is a promising start for people that have IBD as another more natural solution to ease symptoms. That being said, you should always consult your health care professional before making any dietary changes.
Thinking of trying intermittent fasting? Check out the study done and some more helpful information HERE & HERE!
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