I’ve been suffering with pretty painful joint and back issues this week, and I think I’m going to give intermittent fasting another go.

I tried it once before and lost too much weight. This time I’m going to add some raw honey and cherry juice to try and increase the calories.

Weekday

12pm – Overnight oats (200g), raw honey, goji berries, ginger, cinnamon, banana – 750 kcals

3pm – Handful of pecans or a banana – 200 Kcals

5pm – Overnight oats, ground almonds, flax seed, cacao powder – 500 kcals

6.30pm – Main meal with cherry juice – 600 kcals

8pm – Smoothie, organic veg, banana or avocado, peanut butter, coconut milk – 700 kcals

Overnight oats are a great way to get more calories in, they gone down a treat; much easier than standard oats. I add a little apple cider vinegar as this supposedly reduces the acidity.

Tins of coconut milk, or powdered coconut milk are also handy for calories.

Weekends I’m going to go low carb.

Cooked breakfast

Salad with goat’s cheese and egg

Main Meal

Research

Intermittent fasting during Ramadan attenuates proinflammatory cytokines and immune cells in healthy subjects

“Intermittent fasting and caloric restriction have been shown to extend life expectancy and reduce inflammation and cancer promotion in animal models”

“These results indicate that RIF attenuates inflammatory status of the body by suppressing proinflammatory cytokine expression and decreasing body fat and circulating levels of leukocytes”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271531712001820

Role of Intermittent Fasting on Improving Health and Reducing Diseases

Such periods of fasting can limit inflammation, ⁽⁷⁾ attenuates proinflammatory cytokines and immune cells, ⁽⁸⁾ improve circulating glucose ⁽⁹⁾ and lipid levels ⁽¹⁰⁾ and reduce blood pressure. ⁽¹¹⁾ In addition to that, studies undertaken in animals and humans have suggested that fuel selection is altered and efficiency of metabolism is improved while oxidative stress is reduced.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4257368/