Rice harvesting is happening nearly every day now. It happens more on weekends since most farmers are part-time farmers, but when it is sunny, a lot of people like to take the opportunity. And yet, nobody does it at night, so I was very surprised when Jeremy Clarkson harvested his crops at night with the light on in the TV series Clarkson’s Farm. Well, he and his team had to continue working all day and all night to meet the deadline.
This week, I have been trying out alternate day fasting. I did 24 hours fasting on Monday, meaning I skipped breakfast and lunch, ate three meals on Tuesday, did 24 hours fasting on Wednesday, ate three meals yesterday, and today I am skipping breakfast and lunch again. I’ll take a break tomorrow and Sunday just like my usual Hare and Ke Intermittent Fasting. So, basically, this alternate day fasting is practicing 24 hours fasting just three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I wanted to see which is better doing 17 hours fasting five days a week or doing this three-day alternate day fasting.
I can see the effect of 24 hours fasting. Autophagy is activated much further than 17 hours fasting and recycling more cells.
Dr. Mindy Pelz says 17 hours fasting has the following benefits
cellular detoxification,
cellular repair,
improved immune function,
and cancer prevention
And, 24 hours fasting has the following benefits.
reboot intestinal stem cells,
reduces trimethylamine n oxide,
and increase longevity and survival.
She recommends that you usually fast for 17 hours, and once or twice a week fast for 24 hours.
My regular schedule is Mon 17 hours fasting Tue 17 hours fasting Wed 24 hours fasting Thur 17 hours fasting, Fri 17 hours fasting Sat three meals Sun three meals. So I have been doing 24 hours fasting once a week anyway.
This alternate day fasting is doing 24 hours fasting three times a week. I haven’t completed today yet but so far this alternate day fasting is more effective. I do feel the hunger a lot more and feel my gut is cleaned a lot. Having three meals on Tuesday and Thursday was good, too. I enjoyed my breakfast. From the viewpoint of switching from autophagy to mTOR, switching every day seemed to be good. This is the way Naomi Whittel recommends. She recommends 16 to 17 hours fasting every other day. But my way is more powerful since it is 24 hours fasting.
On the other hand, I find the alternate-day fasting a lot harder. I was so hungry on Wednesday. From around 3 pm, I felt the hunger so strongly that I almost gave up. I managed to complete it because I have a strong will, but for most people, it may be unbearable. Once a week is manageable, but three times a week is a little too many. The other thing is even though I enjoyed my breakfast on Tuesday and Thursday, I wasn’t hungry in the morning that much. I didn’t need to have breakfast. So maybe I prefer my regular Hare and Ke Intermittent Fasting.
Well, I’ll let you know how I feel on Monday after completing the entire week including the weekend rest.
The Ikigai Diet: The Secret Japanese Diet to Health and Longevity
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