Nocturnal fasting: Protecting your heart & brain
MIAMI, Fla. (WGEM) – Many diets focus on what people eat, but intermittent fasting focuses on when people eat. There are different ways of doing it, maybe one eats for eight hours during the day, and then fast for the rest. Or one might choose to eat only one meal a day, two days a week. The idea is that when a person’s body is without food for hours, that person’s sugar stores are used up and their body starts burning fat. And now we’re learning nocturnal fasting may have more benefits than just weight loss.
Math teacher Desiree Valdez likes to help other people solve problems.
Valdez said, “Taking a subject most people hate and getting them to love, at least, like it a little bit more.”
But the numbers were not adding up when it came to her own health last year.
“So during that particular time, blood pressure was rising, weight was rising” explained Valdez.
No matter what she tried, nothing worked. She said, “I committed to 16 hour fast, eight hour eating.”
University of Miami’s Hypertension Specialist Maria Delgado recommended Desiree try nocturnal fasting to help naturally reset her body.
Dr. Delgado said, “You eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. And that includes eating before going to bed. So that alone is a big problem because it activates your pancreas. It increases your risk for diabetes, your cholesterol is not well metabolized.”
Nocturnal fasting increases metabolism, prevents late-night blood sugar spikes and reduces inflammation. One study found a fasting window of 14 plus hours actually changed genes linked to longevity, and intermittent fasting for 30 days reduces your risk of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and neuropsychiatric disorders.
“Nighttime is a time where cells rest, but it’s also the time of cell regeneration. So, you get to clean your body during that time when you are not eating,” said Dr. Delgado.
As part of the fast, Desiree commits to only drinking water, green tea, and black coffee during the 16 hours of fasting. During the other eight, she eats whatever she wants. After six months, she was down almost 50 pounds, and her blood pressure was normal.
Desiree said, “Whereas before I was just fit, a fit 50-year-old, a little chubby. But now I feel youthful.”
Another upside to time-restricted eating, it may help people with Alzheimer’s disease. A study out of UC San Diego found that mice that were fed on a time-restricted schedule showed improvements in memory and sleep.
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