after you eat a meal food is broken down into simpler molecules and used as fuel so your body can function properly an organ in the abdomen known as the pancreas produces insulin which is a hormone that helps your cells absorb the glucose found in the bloodstream after a meal dietary fat on the other hand is broken down into fatty acids which are then used by the body for energy as well as many other biological processes like testosterone production for example excess fatty acids are converted back to triglycerides and then most of those triglycerides are stored
in Addis post tissue otherwise known as body fat meanwhile excess carbohydrates from that meal will first get converted into glycogen which is a string of glucose molecules that can be stored and used later on glycogen is mostly stored in the liver and your muscles since there's a biological limit to how much glycogen a person can store once that limit is reached the rest of the energy is converted into triglycerides and once again stored as Addis post tissue this is the routine process that our bodies go through when we eat throughout the day but but what
would happen if you were to totally stop eating for three days well after about six to ten hours of fasting most of the leftover glucose that's still circulating in your bloodstream will be used for fuel since your body isn't receiving any new nutrients it has to start using its own glycogen reserves to fuel itself it's at that point that the pancreas secretes glucagon glucagon is not the same as glycogen or glucose it's actually a hormone and one of its jobs is to Signal your body to release glycogen and fatty acids also if your last meal
was low in carbohydrates your body may start producing ketones as an energy source within this early stage of fasting ketones are chemicals produced by the liver when fat cells are converted into fatty acids so in general during those first six hours your blood glucose levels will start to elevate and then they'll gradually decline Meanwhile your Ketone levels will do pretty much the opposite they'll gradually rise especially after approximately the 10th hour of fasting now before you ever hit that 10th hour mark if you're accustomed to eating three Square meals a day or you regularly eat
a high carb diet you'll probably experience hunger and low energy levels the hunger you feel isn't only due to being low in calories in fact it's largely tied to your carcadian Rhythm your body has gotten into a pattern and now expects food at certain times of the day that you normally eat this is due to the hunger hormone ghrelin which has the effect of stimulating your appetite when it's released so if you stop eating studies show that ghrelin will Spike automatically around the times of the day that you typically have your meals which usually would
be breakfast lunch and dinner and that Spike will make you feel hungry if you continue fasting these hunger pangs will subside after about two hours and your body will naturally adapt to a new meal frequency over time after fasting for at least 10 hours your body will also start to increase the levels of a hormone produced by the pituitary gland called human growth hormone otherwise known as HGH fasting can actually increase HGH just as much as exercise stress or hypoglycemia HGH plays in important role in the fasting process because it's associated with enhanced muscle repair
exercise performance stronger immunity and faster recovery from injuries although HGH is unlikely to lead to muscle growth in the absence of nutrients while you're fasting it's believed to be responsible for delaying the breakdown of muscle while fasting it does this by stimulating metabolic processes such as protein synthesis and muscle tissue repair according to research the longer you fast the more HGH you'll produce for example a study found that fasting just two days increased HGH production by 5x now at around 12 to 16 hours in your body will continue to deplete its glycogen stores while also
increasing its Reliance on Ketone bodies around this time you may start to feel cold since your body temperature will be lower from not digesting food the benefits of this initial period of fasting have been well documented because multiple Studies have been designed to observe people fasting for Ramadan which is a Muslim holiday where people stop eating food from dawn to Sunset every day for 1 month the studies on this topic all provide an excellent overview of the benefits that fasting for 10 to 17 hours daily has on the human body according to the findings there's
great Improvement in weight management digestion and cholesterol levels also studies show a significant decrease in inflammation markers associated with a number of diseases such as homocysteine C-reactive protein or CRP and total cholesterol to HDL ratio in general inflammation is something that most of us want to lower throughout our bodies and relatively short-term fasting can actually help us accomplish just that as time goes on at about 18 hours your body becomes more reliant on fatty acids and Ketone production accelerates since blood sugar levels are low and there's very little glycogen to borrow from your liver or
muscles because those glycogen reserves are rapidly depleting this is when inflammation decreases exponentially and there's a huge spike in HGH as well as a molecule known as brain derived neurotropic factor or ensure bdnf HGH and especially bdnf F promote the growth of new neurons and synapses in the brain helping your nerves sensory organs and brain communicate more efficiently bdnf also helps existing brain neurons survive for longer all of which ends up enhancing learning and memory capacity usually after 16 to 18 hours of fasting and auto recycling process known as autophagy will also kick in during
this process your body starts recycling any junk it finds this junk can range from damaged proteins to bacteria to dysfunctional cells your body will essentially take all this garbage clunking up your system and use it for energy so basically this is a cleaning mechanism for your body there are a couple factors that are also known to increase the rate of autophagy these include caloric restriction starvation as well as increased levels of HDH and bdnf fasting happens to incorporate all three of these conditions so fasting is a very effective method for initiating the autophagy process not
only is this process one of the rare forms of detoxing that isn't a scam and actually works but autophagy G also has therapeutic benefits for both your lifespan and the aging process short-term fasting can even make your white blood cells better at fighting off diseases and overall should improve your immunity on the other hand when you fast for a very long time period like a week or longer for example you can actually harm your immune system due to malnutrition but after fasting for just 24 to 32 hours your body should most likely be out of
glycogen and entirely rely on its own fat stores for energy so it should come as no surprise that there will be a significant increase in free fatty acid concentration circulating in your bloodstream at this time this is especially true for men who will experience a four-fold greater increase than women in plasma-free fatty acid concentration certain organs like your brain will still need some glucose to function so your body will begin to find crafty ways to make that happen primarily this is accomplished by separating triglycerides that come from your fat stores into glycerol and free fatty
acids while the free fatty acids can be used immediately for energy the glycerol can be sent to the liver where it can be converted into glucose through a process known as gluconeogenesis and that can temporarily Supply the brain with the glucose it needs without breaking muscle tissue down just yet contrary to popular belief your body will actually reduce its protein breakdown rate substantially after just 24 hours of fasting to try to preserve muscle don't get me wrong you can definitely lose some muscle mass as you fast for long periods of time especially if you're already
relatively lean if you already don't have a lot of fat your body is more likely to convert protein into glucose through that same process of gluconeogenesis however you don't have to worry too much about muscle loss until after approximately the first three days of fasting this is because your body will be able to get the energy and glucose it needs mostly from body fat the Boost in human growth hormone production as an anti-starvation response will also help during this process not only will it assist with the fat loss but it'll also help spare amino acids
and preserve muscle mass during the first couple days that you're not eating after the first 24 to 32 hours your scale will also most likely show some weight loss which is primarily due to water loss from depleting carbohydrates as well as some fat loss this fat loss is by no means permanent if you overindulge in food in your next meal you can quickly regain all the weight you lost But continuing to fast for 48 hours has been shown to provide additional benefits for your mood mental Clarity and focus numerous clinical Studies have shown that fasting
for two to even seven days can help treat depression with patients reporting improvements in mood alertness and Tranquility keep in mind if you're not used to fasting it's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows you can definitely experience some negative drawbacks if you're new to fasting examples include headaches low energy levels aches and pains throughout your body and digestive issues all of these things are likely to improve over time as you adapt to fasting once you get to about three days of fasting the processes of enhanced immunity autophagy and reduction in inflammation continue adding
even deeper level there's also evidence that the body starts creating hematopoietic stem cells which can help regenerate many other types of cells throughout the body but of course at some point the cons really start to outweigh the pros even though studies show that humans can survive several months without eating these observations are mostly seen in studies on hunger strikes and in very controlled clinical settings that being said without medical supervision fasting for three complete days is extremely hard for most people after 72 hours not only will the body be much more likely to start breaking
down muscle tissue but it might also start leading to vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as digestive issues research observing a 41 year old man fasting for 40 days gives amazing insights into how a three-day fast can be better than fasting for a longer time period in this study we can see that ketones are produced in Greater quantities during the first few days of fasting and after the fifth day the levels are more or less neutralized researchers also observed a maximum of 0.9 kilograms lost per day in the first few days of fasting after that
the rate of weight loss slowed down so it seems that you get the most out of ketosis during the first few days of fasting this also guarantees that most of the weight loss will come from stored fat rather than muscle mass up until the third day your body attempts to avoid protein catabolism and muscle breakdown and instead tries using ketones to take over as the primary energy source after three days however we have three indicators that show us that the body might have to resort to breaking down muscle tissue to fuel itself first we have
a study that demonstrates that by the third day of fasting the glutamine concentration in skeletal muscles Falls by 34 percent glutamine plays a major role in maintaining and fueling lean muscle mass its role is to stimulate the absorption of other amino acids by the muscles and increase the rate of protein synthesis so when glutamine levels drop it means the rate of muscle breakdown will increase in its relation to muscle protein synthesis this is a recipe for muscle loss the other two indicators are negative potassium and nitrogen balances which worsen after the third day first potassium
is Paramount to maintaining muscle mass and when it's low it leads to muscle weakness and cramping to avoid this you can supplement your fasting with potassium which has been shown to have amazing effects on muscle maintenance meanwhile nitrogen imbalance is another indicator of protein loss or in other words your body has already started breaking down muscle tissue all in all anywhere between 16 hours to three days is a reasonable fasting duration to strive for the exact amount highly depends on your experience with prior fasts think about it as the ideal sweet spot that ensures that
you get the advantages of fasting and that they outweigh the drawbacks in just three days of abstaining from food the body can cleanse itself while losing some body fat improving your body composition and your overall health for these reasons fasting for extended periods has drawn a lot of interest in the form of scientific research surrounding disease reversal cancer risk and human neurological disorders most Studies have been conducted on animals and it remains to be seen whether all the benefits would be the same in humans what we can say with certainty based on scientific evidence is
that Beyond weight management and Improvement in body composition fasting helps maintain a healthy brain and it can significantly decrease inflammation markers throughout the body associated with many diseases so that about wraps it up I really hope this video has helped you learn something new about fasting if you're interested in trying to set up your own intermittent fasting protocol I'll include a link for a video that'll help guide you on how to do just that or if you'd rather get it done for you plan you can head on over to my website and start my free
six-week shred you'll get a customizable meal plan based on your preferences a recipe book a 42-day workout plan and a coach to help guide you through the entire process to find out more click the link in the description below or you can head straight on over to my website at gravitytransformation.com I'll see you guys soon [Music] foreign [Music]
