If you suffer from obesity, or even if you have an extra 10-20 pounds around the waistline, then that's an indication that your body is struggling with inflammation.
Inflammation is often caused by eating foods that the body recognizes as foreign such as GMOs, trans fats, refined processed flours and sugars, processed meats, mercury laden fish. The body triggers an immune response to attack the toxic foods, resulting in inflammation.
Inflammation can also be caused by most antibiotics and medications.
Inflammation in the intestines is quite common, and is often the cause of stomach bloat and water retention as well as those stubborn blubbery pounds around the waistline that won't come off.
A healthy body should be able to maintain a healthy weight.
So how can we prevent or reverse inflammation and thus lose weight?
Inflammation from toxic food causes weight gain
intermittent fasting gives your body a chance to stop digesting and start detoxing
Intermittent Fasting is a simple yet effective way to lose weight. Research has shown that Intermittent fasting, when all meals are consumed within a 10 hour window, results in weight loss. And the good news is that you don't have to restrict your food or calorie intake to reap the benefits!
Researchers also discovered that these mini-fasts reduce the growth of harmful bacteria.
What's the connection between gut bacteria and weight gain?
It seems that bad bacteria in the gut may be responsible for stubborn pounds that refuse to budge.
The reason is that our metabolism is set by our body clock.
The body clock is not only set by light and dark but also by gut bacteria. When pathogenic bacteria take root in the gut they send messages to our internal clock interfering with metabolism which drives fat accumulation. When we eat at all hours of the night we are in effect feeding our bad bacteria. Beneficial bacteria thrive during the fasting window. These good bugs communicate with our internal body clock and reboot our metabolism.
And you don't have to restrict your food or calorie intake to reap the benefits.
Personally, I have been practicing my own version of intermittent fasting for over two years now and couldn't be happier. I eat 2 1/2 slices of stone ground kamut bread from Joseph's Organic Bakery for breakfast at around 11am.
This is called Morning Bread (Pat Shacharit) as recommended by the Talmud (Bava Metzia 107). (More about Morning Bread coming up).
For lunch I'll eat cooked vegetable soup with kamut bread and green salads. I eat as much as I want, I just try to end my last meal by 8 pm.
After 8 pm if I'm very hungry I'll eat a light salad or vegetable soup with perhaps 1-2 tablespoons of rice or buckwheat. The key for me is to keep food intake to a minimum at night.
I also drink a minimum of 4 cups of green tea and cistus tea combined (link below) which really helped boost my immune system and aids in weight loss.
In combination with the kamut bread, intermittent fasting, high vegetable intake, and walking at least 3 times a week for 1/2 hour each time, this has all combined to result in lasting weight loss.
Two Years ago I was 135 pounds. Within the last year and a half I've lost 20 pounds, my weigh in last week was at 113 pounds- which is the maximum I want to lose and I actually have to increase my food intake now.
I have seen amazing results with intermittent fasting and Morning Bread.
The stubborn pounds just fell off after I started doing intermittent fasting combined with morning bread. I also lost a few inches off my waist.
WHAT IS MORNING BREAD?
A big part of my weight loss transformation was eating Pat Shacharit (morning Bread) based on teachings in the Talmud (Gemara).
The stone ground bread kamut bread is the only bread I eat in the morning, as it is literally the healthiest bread you can find. It helps my digestion, gives me energy throughout the day, and greatly aided my weight loss.
Intermittent fasting is all about giving the body a chance to heal and reboot. It may seem hard at first, but it becomes easier with time. If you're like me and cannot fast completely, then a light salad or vegetable soup will carry you through the night.