POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE MICROBIOME

Intermittent fasting could favourably influence the balance of beneficial gut bacteria... and as you have learned here in Phase 2, that's a really good thing!

We are just starting to understand how intermittent fasting may impact our microbiome.

One study showed that a particular bacteria called Akkermansia increases significantly with intermittent fasting. This is a good thing because this bacteria is associated with improved metabolism and reduced inflammation.

Fasting can also increase the diversity of your gut bacteria—important for your immune system and overall health—and boost your body’s resistance to bad gut bacteria.

STIMULATES THE MIGRATING MOTOR COMPLEX (MMC)

If you have SIBO, you might recall that we talked about the MMC in the SIBO section. In fact, the most common cause of SIBO is believed to be a dysfunction of the MMC which causes bacteria to overgrow in the small intestine.

To make a long story short, the MMC is responsible to clean up the small intestine between meals. It is usually activated when you haven’t had anything to eat for at least 4 hours. So if you fast for longer periods, you get a much better clean up job. This will reduce the number of bacteria in your small intestine, and hence reduce fermentation, bloating, and all of the other unpleasant symptoms that goes with it!

IMPROVES IMMUNE RESPONSE

One 2014 study found that intermittent fasting (alternate day fasting for 12 weeks) helped Salmonella-infected mice clear the pathogenic bacteria more quickly through a heightened immune response, prevented the bacteria from crossing out of the gut and resulted in elevated levels of IgA, an antibody or protein that boosts the integrity and immune function of mucous membranes like those lining the intestines.

RESTORES GUT INTEGRITY

Some early research studies indicate that an extended fasting period can let our guts rest and restore the integrity of our intestinal walls, or epithelium. This may be especially important to protect us against leaky gut.

Researchers have linked daily fasting to activation of the gene that strengthens the gut barrier to protect us from harmful microbes, toxins, and other substances that can trigger immune reactions.

Fasting for longer periods can also stimulate autophagy (triggered after about 18 hours of fasting) and stem cell regeneration (triggered after 4 to 5 days of fasting), 2 more mechanisms that could help heal a damaged gut.

GIVES YOUR GUT A BREAK

Many people don’t realise that the process of digestion is very demanding on the body. Fasting is a great way to give your overworked gut a break from this energy-intensive task, so it can focus on healing! 

We can compare fasting to rebooting the hard drive in a computer. You know when you reboot your computer and it works better and faster after, just like magic... well, the same thing happens in the human body. We develop issues, and when you turn the system down with fasting and allow it to reboot, a lot of things—from gut flora to chronic inflammatory conditions—tend to sort themselves out.

And because your stomach and digestive glands are not overworked - you produce optimal amounts of enzymes and gastric secretions when you actually do eat food.

Go to the next sections to learn other benefits of fasting, and get some tips and tricks to get started.