Jason Steed Certified Primal Health Coach
Daily Intermittent Fasting for Immune Benefits
Nature is one my healing places. And once I was released from home isolation, I headed for the hills! Taking it easy, though, as I respect the fact that my body is still finding its bearings...and getting back into shape.
Still no sense of taste and smell, but grateful for 2 weeks of very mild symptoms from COVID-19. Here's a report on the family, and my thoughts on fasting for immunity boosts.
Healing is personal. I'm learning to take great advice, then decide what applies to me.
July 15, 2020
COVID, Day 13: Intermittent Fasting (3:33)
Two meals a day for immune benefits
It's a bit maddening and scary, isn't it—no cure in sight for COVID-19. Heck, there's not even a good treatment! Heather asked me just last night if I've felt scared during these last 2 weeks. I think I've felt a good deal of stress and some anxiety about having this dreaded virus in my body. But I've not felt particularly scared about those things. I told her I've felt scared at times about becoming an undue burden to her and our kids if I were to become quite sick. As a business owner I've worried a bit about not pulling my weight with uncertain symptoms, but I have a stellar staff who has gone above and beyond these last 2 weeks. I've had the energy to be involved each day on projects, but their hard work has provided me with opportunities for afternoon naps, daily blog reports, and extra rest. And for that I'm very grateful. Thanks, Taleen, Maddie and Rachel!
My July Experiment with 2 Meals Per Day
I'm down 4 pounds since my earliest COVID-19 symptoms. I'm sure it's partly to do with my lower activity level as I rest and recover. But it dawned on me this week that it's also tied to my two-meals-a-day protocol. I coincidentally decided on trying a month-long tighter eating window before I even tested for COVID-19. Knowing what I knew about the immunity benefits of intermittent fasting, I decided to stick with it. Most importantly, though, I vowed to pay attention to my body, and if I ever felt hungry or weak, I would absolutely commit to eat.
Fasting: It's Not Overrated.
First off, I'm not suggesting everybody would benefit from shifting to 2 meals a day. Daily fasts can tax your adrenals if you're not in a fat-adapted state and able to go longer between meals without being hungry.
In our church we're invited to fast one day a month. Before I understood the physiological benefits of fasting, I would go into a religious fasting day with the intent of sneaking some calories from time to time. There's my confession! I was taught about the religious perks from fasting for heightened spirituality, so yes, my monthly fasts always came with a bit of guilt. After a little research into the biology and physiology, I'm now a believer! Once I became fat-adapted through my real foods lifestyle, I've personally found great physical benefits from a variety of fasting, from daily intermittent fasts all the way up to multi-day water fasts. Yes, spiritual benefits as well. So, let's talk a little about fasting.
There's a correlation between low blood sugar and elevated immunity. It probably goes without saying that sugar is not an effective immunity booster. It's probably as important as ever right now to give our immune systems frequent and sustained boosts. Yes, fasting lowers blood sugar—but that's just the beginning.
Meet Authophagy
Fasting is essentially a way to send a signal to your cells to clean up. This process is known as autophagy. Cellular cleanup includes expediting the death of unhealthy cells, as well as boosting the strength and function of healthy cells. I think it's fascinating to thing about: although this cell-optimizing process is always happening at a rate of millions of cells per second, I love the notion of boosting and fine-tuning the process from time to time through fasting.
Types of Fasting, and Their Different Benefits
Autophagy kicks in at around 16-18 hours to clean the cells up. I imagine a bell curve that sharpens at those target hours. A 24-hour fast not only boosts autophagy into action, but you can also reboot intestinal stem cells (source). I can get micro-focused on gut repair, one of our body's most delicate and most important organs. The majority of your lymphatic system is in your gut. Lymphatics in your gut can push viruses out. Over time you collect mucus and other unwanted "baggage." It's just a byproduct of living. Hooray for clean-up and immune boosts!
Why I'm Avoiding Longer Fasts During the Pandemic
Yes, I've done a few multi-day fasts in the last year. But there are claims that the longer your blood sugar drops or hovers at a low baseline, the more you activate bacterial cleansing, while dialing back viral immune system activity. There are only a few studies, and actually only on mice, but I think it's at least interesting to note. For this reason I have not personally done any fasts during the COVID-19 pandemic longer than 24 hours. Useful resources listed below.
More sources:
Effects of Intermittent Fasting: New England Journal of Medicine
Alternate-day Fasting for Cardioprotection, JAMA Internal Medicine
Today's Immune Boosters
Today I went easy on the supplement pills. Instead I opted for sunshine, conservative cardio, morning meditation, and blue light blocking glasses in the evening to get sleep-ready melatonin pumping through my veins.
Today's Symptoms
Doing well today, though I'm slowing down a little this evening, following an easy 6-mile trail run/walk. I promise to respect the time it takes to condition and return back to full energy. It's all about the long game!
What does Oura think?
Sleep is the topic of the day! My Oura Ring reported better sleep today, though often what feels like a good night's sleep will show as a meager score in my Oura app. Still working on cracking the "deep sleep" code.
