The latest trend in eating – intermittent fasting – has been around since paleo times. Ancient humans didn’t have pantries full of food. They had to hunt and gather every day, and eat whenever they could. So they often went long stretches without eating at all... and that’s still what our bodies expect.
That’s why intermittent fasting is packed with proven health benefits. Along with its impressive effects on weight, blood sugar, and body compositions, this mindful way of eating can also help improve your gut health.
So let’s take a deep dive into exactly how intermittent fasting works… and how adding key supplements can boost the healthy gut benefits even further.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Unlike diets that center on what you eat, intermittent fasting focuses on when you eat. Like the name suggests, you spend pre-planned blocks of time fasting.
The most common intermittent fasting patterns include:
- 5:2 Fasting, where you eat normally five days and fast for two non-consecutive days during a week. On the fast days, you consume no more than 500 calories.
- Alternate Day Fasting, where you fast every other day and eat your normal healthy diet on non-fast days
- Time-Restriction Fasting, where you fast for 12 to 20 hours every day or most days
Whichever interval you choose, as long as you consume enough calories and nutrients to sustain your body, intermittent fasting can help you achieve better health.
Intermittent Fasting Delivers Many Health Benefits
When you introduce periods of fasting into your routine, your body undergoes changes all the way down to the cellular level. Hormone patterns shift. Cellular repair processes kick in. And all of those things can positively affect your health.
Scientists are still looking into the ways intermittent fasting can impact our health, but they’ve already learned a lot. Practicing intermittent fasting offers health benefits including:
- Weight loss
- Fat loss
- Improved insulin sensitivity
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced inflammation markers
- Improved cholesterol levels
- Reduced cancer risk
- Optimized brain function
- Extended healthy lifespan
And it seems that nearly all the above benefits are tied to a single health enhancement intermittent fasting offers: better gut health.
5 Ways Intermittent Fasting Improves Gut Health
Your gut – and more specifically your gut microbiome – has an enormous influence on your overall health.
Your gut microbiome contains trillions of bacteria, including beneficial probiotics and harmful pathogens. In a healthy gut, probiotics vastly outnumber pathogens – and your body needs that balance to function properly. Intermittent fasting helps keep your gut healthy in five important ways:
Should You Try Intermittent Fasting?
While intermittent fasting works well for many, there are some people who should not attempt it. This eating pattern can be harmful if you currently have conditions such as:
- Hormone imbalances
- Thyroid issues
- Adrenal fatigue
- Diabetes
- Low blood pressure
It’s also not recommended for women who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or nursing, or for anyone with a history of eating disorders. Check with your doctor to make sure intermittent fasting is a safe choice for you.
Boost the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting with Just Thrive
If you’d like to give intermittent fasting a go to experience the many health benefits it offers… And you can take those benefits even further… Consider adding Just Thrive Probiotic and Ultimate IgG to your daily routine.
Just Thrive Probiotic contains four clinically studied spore probiotics that support a well-balanced, diverse gut microbiome.
Just Thrive Ultimate IgG supports optimal gut barrier function, efficient detoxification, and a healthy immune response.
Take intermittent fasting to the next level with Just Thrive.
