Is intermittent fasting bad for you?
For most people, the answer is, no.
In fact, there are many benefits of intermittent fasting which makes it so enticing to try. That includes:
- Improved mental clarity and concentration.
- It lowers blood sugar levels and it improves insulin sensitivity. If you’ve been watching my videos you know how important that is when it comes to controlling your weight.
- It increases energy it lowers blood cholesterol.
- It decreases inflammation.
- It even reverses the aging process.
- And most importantly, intermittent fasting makes you lose weight. A lot of weight.
The science behind intermittent fasting is pretty simple.
What do you think would happen if you don’t eat? What do you think would happen if you ate two meals a day instead of three meals a day? You’re probably, most likely, going to lose weight. A lot of weight.
I don’t think you need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Unfortunately, intermittent fasting is not safe for everyone. In this video, I’m going to show you the seven different types of people who shouldn’t do intermittent fasting.
1.You shouldn’t do intermittent fasting if you’re pregnant
Listen, there’s a human being growing inside of you. Which means that whatever you eat, your baby also eats. That also means that if you don’t eat anything, if you do intermittent fasting, then your baby also
doesn’t eat anything.
That is not a good thing for a developing fetus.
Your developing fetus requires adequate nutrients for optimal growth and any deficiency may cause irreversible damage. Again, there’s a growing human being inside of you. You should not even be thinking about dieting at this point.
What you should be focusing on is properly nourishing yourself during your pregnancy. And it’s not like it’s permanent. You’re only pregnant for nine months. Once your baby is born then you can start getting back into your intermittent fasting routine. Unless…
2.You shouldn’t fast if you’re breastfeeding
This is just a little bit of continuation from number one in that you shouldn’t do intermittent fasting if you’re nursing your baby.
Again, your baby receives all the nutrients from you (the mom) through your breast milk. If you start doing fasting and you don’t get the proper nutrients and minerals inside you, guess what? Your baby won’t receive it either. Once again, you’re risking irreversible damage here if you fast while you’re breastfeeding. It’s just not worth it.
It’s okay to miss a meal here and there. But you shouldn’t do a 48 hour fast or a 7-day fast when you’re breastfeeding. The good thing is breastfeeding is only temporary. You’re only doing it for a few months. Unless you’re one of those people who breast feeds their child until it’s a toddler.
Listen, I know you want to get rid of your pregnancy weight but just wait until you’re done breastfeeding. After that, you can start fasting again.
3.You shouldn’t fast if you’re underweight
To piggyback off of your body requiring adequate nutrients and minerals. If you’re already malnourished or you’re underweight, then you shouldn’t fast.
This is kind of on the extreme side of things but it’s worth mentioning anyway. Anybody under 4 percent body fat should not even attempt fasting. There’s absolutely no point.
You’re barely carrying any body fat at this point. The last thing you want to do is keep losing weight. If you’re malnourished or you’re underweight and you start fasting, you then start forcing your body to use protein for energy.
That is literally the point when you start withering away. It’s the only time where your body is forced to use your own muscles for energy so you shouldn’t do it.
Fortunately, we have the complete opposite of that problem especially in North America where we have a full-blown obesity epidemic. The average body fat percentage for men is 25 percent and 35 percent for women. So we have plenty of body fat to burn for energy.
Personally, even at my leanest, I was still carrying some excess body fat. It would take a lot of effort to get down to 4% body fat. The average person carries about a 100,000 calories worth of body fat for energy. Again, if you’re not malnourished or under weight you should be perfectly fine to fast.
4. You shouldn’t fast if you’re a teenager
This falls within the same reasons as pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Adequate nutrition is required for proper growth. This is especially true for kids going through a growth spurt. You should not even be thinking about fasting at this point.
Again, missing a meal here and there isn’t a bad thing. Let’s say you sleep in on weekends and you miss breakfast. That’s totally fine.
If you’re a teenager who’s reading this or you’re a parent with a teenager, I know how important body image is to someone at that age. You don’t want to be the chubby kid in school. I think it’s more important to teach your kids on how to make proper food choices instead of thinking about fasting to lose weight.
If you want to get rid of excess body fat, it’s as simple as not drinking liquid calories, making sure you’re sticking to whole foods, and you’re avoiding any processed carbs or added sugar.
5. You shouldn’t fast if you have an eating disorder
Listen if you’re suffering from an eating disorder then you should not fast at all. You should be doing the complete opposite of fasting. You should eat.
The reason is pretty simple. Food is the medicine for anorexia nervosa.
Now, fasting isn’t completely off the table for these next two types of people. But you should definitely consult your doctor first if you want to try it.
6. Consult with your doctor if you’re taking any sort of medication
If you’re taking any sort of medication, then you should definitely consult your doctor first if you want to start fasting.
For the most part, you can still do intermittent fasting if you’re taking any medication that needs to be taken with food. Especially if you’re only doing a short-term fast like a 16, 20, or 24 hour fast because you’re technically not going a whole day without food.
7. Consult with your doctor if you have Diabetes
Now, things gets more serious if you’re taking blood sugar medication.
You need to consult with a medical professional if you have diabetes and you want to do intermittent fasting. This is serious life threatening stuff.
And the reason is pretty simple.
As mentioned earlier, one of the benefits of intermittent fasting is it lowers your blood sugar levels. That’s a good thing. But if you take blood sugar lowering medication like Metformin on top of fasting, then you’re risking your body going into a state called hypoglycemia.
Hypoglycemia is when your blood sugar gets too low and that condition can be life-threatening. Symptoms include shaking, sweating, feeling faint, hunger, and nausea. If you start feeling that way, you need to ingest some sugar right away to reverse this life-threatening situation.
Listen, combining intermittent fasting with a low carb diet is probably one of the best ways to reverse type 2 diabetes. But again, you need to work with a professional. Don’t play God and attempt to do this yourself.
You also need to be checking your blood sugar levels at least twice a day if you have type 2 Diabetes and you start fasting. Just to make sure that your bloody sugar levels stay at a normal range.
Is intermittent fasting bad for you?
At the end of the day, fasting is generally safe for most people other than the seven that I just mentioned.
Is intermittent fasting bad for you? No. There’s nothing wrong with missing a meal here and there. Your body is well designed to handle it. Just make sure you do your own research to make sure that intermittent fasting is safe for you.
As always, if this was helpful, share it with a friend who could benefit from it as well!
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