Intermittent fasting is more than just a weight-loss strategy. Subscribe to the Perfect Keto weekly newsletter to get easy & insanely delicious keto recipes, keto guides & the latest keto trends right in your inbox. The health benefits extend far beyond simple weight loss. However, not all fasts provide the same benefits. There are multiple stages of fasting, and the benefits you get from fasting depend on the length of your fast. Here’s a look at the five main stages of fasting, the specific benefits that come with each one, and a brief look at how to incorporate fasting into your life. Fasting begins about eight hours after your last meal. This stage is characterized by changes in your GlycoMode blood glucose support sugar levels. After about eight hours without food, your blood glucose begins to dip. You may experience hunger, fatigue, food cravings, and trouble concentrating. However, if you can make it over this initial hurdle, these symptoms pass pretty quickly. Your liver begins converting your fat stores into ketone bodies - bundles of fuel that power your muscles, heart, and brain.

Paradoxically, fasting begins to get easier as you fast for a longer time. After the first stage of fasting, appetite generally declines. Stage 2 fasting is ideal if you want to lose weight. Your body switches fully into fat-burning mode, and because you don’t have any food in your system, you begin to burn through body fat quickly. These factors work together to prevent overeating. If you can do intermittent fasting for 16-18 hours a day, GlycoMode Blood Sugar support you’ll burn through body fat and fill up quickly when you break your fast, which makes it easy to stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. At this stage of fasting, you may also enjoy a boost in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is a protein that your brain makes to protect existing brain cells. BDNF also encourages the growth of new brain pathways. After a full-day fast, your body goes into repair mode. It begins recycling old or damaged cells and reducing inflammation.

If you’re looking for anti-aging or anti-inflammatory benefits, a 24-hour fast may help. When your body is under mild stress (such as exercise or an extended fast), your cells respond by becoming more efficient. Subscribe to the Perfect Keto weekly newsletter to get easy & insanely delicious keto recipes, keto guides & the latest keto trends right in your inbox. One thing they do is turn on autophagy. The term is Greek for "self-eating," and that’s exactly what happens. During autophagy, your cells check all their internal parts, find anything that’s old, damaged, or functioning poorly, and replace them with shiny new versions. The old parts are either recycled into new materials or destroyed. Studies show that fasting-induced autophagy comes with a variety of benefits. Autophagy declines naturally as you age, which is connected to a variety of diseases. At stage 4, you’re leaving intermittent fasting territory and entering a longer fast. As you undertake multiple days of fasting, your growth hormone levels begin to shift, which provides you with a new set of benefits.

HGH is so effective that taking it externally is banned in professional sports and is considered doping. It seems counterintuitive, but occasionally going without food for two days may actually help you build muscle, not lose it. The final stage of fasting begins after a full three days without food. Before you read about the benefits, note that a 72-hour fast is a serious undertaking. If you’re going to try it, make sure you drink plenty of water, get plenty of electrolytes like sodium, magnesium, and potassium, and stop fasting if you feel lightheaded or otherwise unwell. A 2014 study found that 72-hour fasting led to a near-complete rejuvenation of the immune system. The same study also had cancer patients fast throughout chemotherapy treatment. Normally, chemotherapy devastates the immune system, increasing the risk of infection and illness for cancer patients. But when patients fasted during chemo, their immune system stayed strong throughout the process.