Why Fasting is Sabotaging Your Health
- Nika Alexandra
- Nov 14
- 6 min read
Fasting is ancient healing wisdom backed by modern science. For thousands of years, fasting has been central to spiritual and healing practices across cultures.
Ramadan in Islam involves a month-long daily fasting as a spiritual discipline. Yom Kippur in Judaism calls for a 25-hour fast for atonement and reflection. Lent in Christianity involves fasting periods leading up to Easter. Buddhism and Hinduism incorporate strategic fasting into spiritual practice and ceremonial observation. Even Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed fasting as a healing intervention. Indigenous cultures across continents recognized fasting's physiological and spiritual power.
This wasn't a coincidence. Thousands of years of human experience have recognized something that science is now confirming: strategic fasting offers genuine physiological benefits.
You've probably heard about GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic for weight loss. They work by decreasing hunger signals. Well, guess what fasting does? It naturally increases your GLP-1 levels—without the long list of negative side effects. And fasting is free. Your body produces GLP-1 naturally when you fast, triggering appetite suppression and improved metabolic function. No muscle loss. No nausea. No dependency. Just your body's own biology working as designed.
Researchers like Dr. Valter Longo have demonstrated fasting's role in cancer prevention and treatment. Dr. Satchin Panda's research shows fasting supports circadian rhythm health and metabolic function. Studies show improvements in ADHD, cognitive function, and neurological health. Dr. Mark Mattson's research reveals that fasting triggers autophagy and supports brain health.
The evidence is compelling. Fasting works.
So, how is fasting sabotaging millions of people's health?
Because fasting—like any powerful tool—can heal or harm depending on how it's used.
Rigid, one-size-fits-all fasting protocols are sabotaging millions, particularly women. During holiday season and overindulgence periods, strategic fasting is valuable: it gives your body metabolic recovery and regulates hunger hormones. But only if aligned with your physiology.
Rigid 16-hour fasts without hormonal awareness create stress your body cannot handle.
Women implementing unchanging 16-hour fasts regardless of cycle phase, menopausal status, or stress levels report: disrupted cycles, hormonal chaos, fatigue, and metabolic dysfunction. This isn't fasting failing—this is fasting without hormonal intelligence.
Dr. Mindy Pelz's "Fast Like a Girl" framework restores fasting's core principle: working WITH your body's hormonal intelligence. This is how you heal instead of sabotage.
What Intermittent Fasting Is
Intermittent fasting (IF) reorganizes your eating schedule, not what you eat. You consume the same nutrients—just in strategic windows that allow a metabolic reset.
Common protocols:
16:8 - Fast 16 hours, eat within 8 hours (e.g., noon to 8pm)
14:10 - Gentler: 14 hours fasting, 10 hours eating
Cyclical fasting - Vary intensity based on menstrual cycle: longer fasts during the follicular phase, shorter during the luteal phase
Why Your Body Responds to Fasting
Strategic fasting creates measurable metabolic shifts:
12-16 hours: Insulin normalizes, enabling fat mobilization.
16-18 hours: Autophagy activates—cellular cleanup and regeneration. Gut stem cells regenerate. Brain healing begins.
18+ hours: Neuroplasticity increases. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) rises, supporting cognitive function.
Throughout fasting, Growth hormone increases. The digestive system rests. Mitochondrial function improves.
Critical for women: Your body responds to fasting through hormonal cycles. Fasting aligned with these cycles produces superior results.
Fasting Protocols: Personalization Matters
Cyclical fasting for reproductive-age women: Longer fasts (16-18 hours) during follicular phase. Days 19 through menstruation: NO extended fasting. Your body requires calories and nutrients for progesterone. Extended fasting depletes it, creating hormonal disruption and fatigue.
Perimenopausal and menopausal women: Shorter fasts (12-14 hours). Extended fasting destabilizes fluctuating hormones.
Individuals with adrenal fatigue: Shorter fasts (12 hours) support recovery, not additional cortisol stress.
For others: Consistent 16:8 or 14:10 protocols typically work well.
Extended Fasting: 24, 36, and 48-Hour Protocols. Some individuals benefit from extended fasting protocols like 24-hour fasts (dinner to dinner, deeper autophagy), 36-hour fasts (more challenging, requires prior experience), or 48-hour fasts (full two-day protocol for experienced practitioners). These require careful planning and are not appropriate for everyone. They demand robust baseline health, prior experience with shorter protocols, proper preparation, medical supervision if you have health conditions, particular caution for women (menstrual cycle phase matters significantly), and should be absolutely avoided during high stress, adrenal fatigue, or toxic burden states.
Critical warning: Women implementing rigid 16-hour fasts regardless of cycle phase frequently experience disrupted cycles and metabolic dysfunction. Personalized protocols produce dramatically different results.
Strategic Fasting During Holiday Season: Your Metabolic Reset Tool
Paradoxically, fasting becomes particularly powerful during periods of overindulgence.
The holiday season involves substantial meals, celebration foods, and disrupted eating patterns. Your metabolism experiences significant stress. Yet strategic fasting between celebrations gives your body exactly what it needs: metabolic recovery and hormonal reset.
How to use fasting strategically during holidays:
Before celebrations: Fast the day before. Eat a good break-fast. You arrive at gatherings nourished, with stable blood sugar and regulated hunger hormones. This transforms your choices. You eat celebration foods intentionally, not desperately.
After celebrations: Strategic fasting the following day allows your digestive system to recover and your blood sugar to normalize. You're not restricting or "compensating"—you're simply giving your body the metabolic break it needs.
Between gatherings: Space your celebrations with fasting days. This regulates hunger hormones and prevents the metabolic chaos that accumulates from continuous eating.
Plan your fasts around events: If you know Thanksgiving is Thursday, fast Wednesday afternoon and Friday. If holiday parties cluster on weekends, fast strategically on weekdays. Intentional timing transforms fasting from restriction into recovery.
The result: You can genuinely enjoy celebrations without metabolic devastation. Holiday eating becomes strategic nutrition interrupted by recovery periods—not guilt-inducing excess followed by restrictive compensation.
This only works if your fasting protocol aligns with your physiology. Rigid approaches still create harm. But strategic, personalized fasting during holidays? This is where fasting shines.
During fasting windows, consume only:
Water
Black coffee
Herbal/ Black tea
Water with Celtic Salt
If you're struggling with hunger cravings:
Organic Bone broth (provides minerals and collagen while maintaining a fasting state)
Small amounts of quality fats: extra virgin olive oil, half an avocado, unrefined coconut oil
Avoid caloric beverages —they undermine the benefits of fasting.
Breaking Your Fast: Quality First
How you break your fast determines whether fasting benefits your metabolism or disrupts it.
Optimal approach:
Probiotic foods first: Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut, kimchi) or cultured dairy (kefir, yogurt) support gut healing and nutrient absorption.
Quality fats: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, or grass-fed butter stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings.
Good quality organic protein: Grilled chicken, wild-caught fish, or organic tofu.
Vegetables: Substantial portions of cooked or raw vegetables.
Sample breaking-fast meal:
Fermented vegetables
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
High quality organic protein
Large salad or cooked vegetables
A Critical Warning: When Fasting Makes You Sicker
Some people feel worse when fasting: dizziness, nausea, fatigue, or illness.
Fasting releases toxins stored in fat tissue. For people carrying a significant toxic burden—from environmental chemicals, accumulated heavy metals, processed foods, or chronic stress—this toxin mobilization can overwhelm your detoxification pathways.
The result? Your body experiences more harm than benefit.
If you experience dizziness, severe fatigue, or illness while fasting, stop immediately. This is your body signaling it needs support, not additional stress.
Before implementing fasting, support your detoxification pathways:
Adequate hydration
Liver support
Lymphatic support
Reduced toxin exposure
Real food nutrition
Stress management
Quality sleep
Once detoxification capacity improves, fasting becomes supportive. Pause fasting. Address the underlying toxic burden. Then return from a place of strength.
Getting Started
Select one modification this week: stop snacking between meals, delay breakfast by one hour, or begin a 14:10 protocol. One small change, implemented consistently, creates compound metabolic benefits.
Important: If you have a history of disordered eating, approach with professional guidance. Fasting is not for pregnant women, if breastfeeding, or taking medications, discuss timing with your healthcare provider.
Personalized Guidance: Your Fasting Protocol Matters
As a certified "Fast Like a Girl" coach trained in Dr. Mindy Pelz's protocols, I specialize in identifying which fasting approach aligns with your unique circumstances.
For women: Understanding your menstrual cycle and adjusting fasting intensity across different phases for optimal results.
For men: Identifying which consistent protocol (16:8, 14:10, or other) produces the best outcomes for your specific metabolic situation.
These conversations focus on your current fasting experience, energy levels, hormonal health, and specific goals. Together, we can identify whether intermittent fasting aligns with your needs and, if so, which protocol creates the best results for your body.
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