Is intermittent fasting truly a magic bullet for health?

Apart from weight loss, time-restricted eating offers significant benefits, especially in our current epidemic of metabolic disease. What - however - do you need to know? Functional medicine health coach Anita Hamilton-Williams explains why men and women should approach intermittent fasting differently, take into account autoimmune conditions or cortisol dysregulation, and how to get intermittent fasting under way.

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In ep. 147 of the weekly podcast series Calm, Clear and Helpful, functional medicine health coach Anita Hamilton-Williams touches on

• what intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating, e.g. 16-8, entails

• the benefits of shifting the way your body manages and responds to your metabolism

• the epidemic of metabolic disease

• whether dysregulated blood sugar, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or obesity forms part of the normal ageing process

• 2 ways in which our body manages our fuel system: through blood glucose and through fat

• ketosis (when your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose) and its advantages

• the process of autophagy and its benefits, including detoxification

• when women should avoid autophagy

• how repair of your mitochondria (energy-producing factories) can serve you

• forms of fasting: intermittent fasting (12-16 hours), autophagy (starting at 17 hours), gut reset (starting at 24 hours), dopamine pathway reset (48 hours), and immune system reset (72 hours)

• how fasting can reduce the reoccurrence of cancer, specifically breast cancer

• 2 groups of microbes: bacteroidetes and firmicutes

• hormones, the reason why men and women should approach intermittent fasting differently

• exactly how women who are menstruating - and postmenopausal women - should approach intermittent fasting and when NOT to fast

• taking into account higher cortisol levels during a woman’s cycle, and the calming role of oxytocin

• Anita’s 3 recommendations for kicking off intermittent fasting.

  In this episode Anita mentions the blood glucose monitoring level HbA1c; the neurotransmitter GABBA; Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2016; glycogen; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Dr Valter Longo; the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein; oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone and collagen; and a continuous glucose monitor.

  Scroll down for Anita’s qualifications and contact details.

Here Anita clarifies functional medicine and its focus on genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, lifestyle and behaviour changes.

Anita alerts individuals with autoimmune disease to the benefits of tending to their gut health and the influence of environmental factors - help is at hand!

Anita tells us how poor detox pathways may be linked to cancer and excess weight, and how to support our bodies.

Anita outlines the support menopausal and perimenopausal women need to overcome fatigue, low mood and weight gain.

Anita explains how applying some of the "secrets" behind the healthy centenarians of the Blue Zone areas can help you age better.

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About Anita and contact details

Anita Hamilton-Williams is a functional medicine health coach from Johannesburg who focuses on root causes and drivers of chronic disease. She is a graduate of the School of Applied Functional Medicine, a Culinary Nutrition Expert through the Academy of Culinary Nutrition and an Accredited 3x4 Nutrigenomics Practitioner.

Her practice focuses on women in midlife 40+ and other individuals. She uses a combination of diet, lifestyle and nutrigenomics (nutrient interactions with genetics) to provide personalised health care to her clients.

Anita works online and offers complimentary 20-minute discovery calls to interested individuals.

Contact details:

Website: www.myhealingspace.co.za

Email: anita@myhealingspace.co.za

Facebook: My Healing Space

Instagram: anitahamiltonwilliams

LinkedIn: Anita Hamilton-Williams

The free podcast series Calm, Clear & Helpful is available on iTunes, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Player FM and Iono.fm - I hope you’ll subscribe!

Original music by Mart-Marie Snyman

Thumbnail image: Unsplash

Photograph of Anita Hamilton-Williams: supplied