Santé
Intermittent fasting strengthens your health, immune system and defenses. In times of the Coronavirus and Covid-19 this is an important message! Many things are still unclear, but one thing is certain: In addition to proper hygiene and other immediate measures, a strong immune system can help to protect against infection or to mitigate its course.
In this article we want to show you how to use intermittent fasting properly to strengthen your immune system. First of all, a few questions need to be answered.
Is intermittent fasting safe now?
These are crazy times right now… Maybe you’re wondering if fasting really makes sense at this point. Well, it’s all about making healthy choices now. Intermittent fasting is definitely one of these!
The most important message up front: Intermittent fasting does NOT harm your health! On the contrary, long-term studies on humans have proven: Intermittent fasting strengthens your immune system!
There is evidence that the coronavirus is particularly dangerous for the elderly and chronically ill people. A growing number of studies show that intermittent fasting effectively improves important blood values such as inflammation markers, blood sugar and cholesterol levels or blood pressure, and can therefore prevent many chronic diseases and slow down the aging process.
How exactly does intermittent fasting strengthen my immune system?
Intermittent fasting works effectively on many different levels to strengthen your health, immune system and body’s defenses in the long term:
Intermittent fasting makes the cells more resilient to stress and thus more resistant to “invaders” such as viruses, bacteria and other pathogens.
Intermittent fasting can act like a restart for the immune system. Broken immune cells are broken down during fasting, intact ones retreat into the nutrient-rich bone marrow and are protected there. With the energy from the food intake, the stem cells are then stimulated to form even more effective immune cells.
Intermittent fasting increases autophagy. This is a kind of endogenous waste disposal, which breaks down broken and diseased cells, pathogens and other harmful substances, detoxifies the body and additionally activates the immune system.
By taking a break from eating you make your digestive system even more efficient. They can better absorb the nutrients from the food and thus supply the body with the energy it needs. A strong intestine is so important: That’ where about two thirds of your immune system is located!
Recent studies show that intermittent fasting strengthens the immune system, thus protecting it from infections and effectively fighting off pathogens.
What do I have to bear in mind now when fasting?
The clear answer to the question “Do I have to stop fasting now?” is: No! It only depends on doing it properly. These are our recommendations:
Prefer shorter fasting periods (<24h) to avoid exposing your body to too much stress.
Make sure you eat a healthy diet with little sugar and processed food. Read more about this topic in our blog.
Make sure you have enough time to relax from all the panic and stress.
If you are ill and don’t feel well, suspend fasting temporarily! Fasting can support the healing process of bacterial infections, but with a virus it is more important to eat the right food. Always follow the advice of your doctor, your health comes first in any case!
To summarize: With intermittent fasting you do something good for your health in the long term! You strengthen your immune system and develop new, healthy habits step by step. This can only benefit you and your health especially during these times!
