Intermittent fasting | How The Feel Great System can make it easy like a breeze

Discover ways to simplify intermittent fasting using the Feel Great system

Back in the day...

Intermittent fasting has been a practice since the early days of human existence. In essence, it entails abstaining from food for several consecutive hours daily, with the majority of this period occurring during sleep. Throughout much of history, skipping meals between dinner and breakfast was a common and instinctive behavior.

With the advent of modern technology, our eating habits began to shift. Microwaves allowed for the quick reheating of food at any time of day or night. Processed foods became convenient snacks that we could easily take with us. The availability of electricity freed us from having to synchronize our activities with the sun, enabling us to eat whenever we pleased.

When life changes are significant, unintended consequences are bound to occur. One such consequence is the alteration of our eating habits. While we may allocate less time to food preparation, we find ourselves spending more time actually consuming it than ever before. Increased food intake leads to heightened digestive effort by our bodies and makes it challenging to sustain regular, healthy blood sugar levels.

And here come the rise of modern diseases

Modern diseases such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and heart disease are partly attributed to the shift in our eating patterns. The recent emphasis on intermittent fasting has surfaced as a strategy to mitigate these health concerns and return to a more natural eating routine that aligns with our evolutionary history. This approach typically involves a narrower eating window (8 to 10 hours) compared to the extended periods many individuals have become used to.

While weight loss may be the initial motivation for many individuals to try intermittent fasting, its benefits go beyond just that. Intermittent fasting can enhance metabolism, reduce blood sugar levels, increase energy levels, enhance sleep quality, aid digestion, support brain health, and assist in managing cravings. Progress in any of these aspects significantly impacts our overall quality of life and our daily activities.

Why intermittent fasting is so beneficial?

Intermittent fasting (IF) has received considerable interest in the health and wellness sector due to its ability to enhance different facets of human health. Research indicates that IF can result in enhancements in weight control, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular health markers.

• Weight control and obesity: An umbrella review conducted in 2024, including 23 meta-analyses, revealed that intermittent fasting led to a significant decrease in waist circumference and fat mass. Furthermore, it improved key biochemical indicators like fasting insulin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides in overweight or obese adults (1). Various studies have demonstrated weight reduction, decreased fat mass, and enhanced body composition through intermittent fasting (2-4).

• Insulin sensitivity: A study published in Cell Metabolism in 2018 showed that intermittent fasting can boost insulin sensitivity, regardless of any weight loss (5). Another research indicated that IF can enhance the body's metabolism of post-meal glucose more effectively than just reducing calorie intake (6). Enhanced insulin sensitivity plays a vital role in preventing type 2 diabetes and promoting overall metabolic well-being.

• Cardiovascular well-being: Intermittent fasting may result in decreases in blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and inflammatory markers, all of which are advantageous for the heart's health (7).

In addition to its metabolic advantages, intermittent fasting has been linked to enhancements in brain health and mental wellness.

• Nero-protection: A review article published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2019 compiled research indicating that intermittent fasting (IF) could improve brain health and help prevent neurodegenerative diseases by boosting stress resistance and reducing inflammation (8).

• Mood improvement: A study in The Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging (2013) found that IF can improve mood, possibly through changes in brain chemistry and hormonal balance (9).

Increasing evidence suggests that intermittent fasting has the potential to enhance longevity and boost cellular health by triggering processes such as autophagy, which involves cells clearing out and reusing damaged parts.

Research published in Nature Communications in 2024 showed that following a fasting-mimicking diet leads to biological changes that result in a lower biological age. Furthermore, intermittent fasting was found to induce autophagy in the liver, fat, brain, and muscle, which is linked to extended lifespan and a decrease in age-related and chronic metabolic conditions.

What can The Feel Great system do for you?

The science supporting intermittent fasting is so strong. The challenge lies in maintaining it consistently to experience its advantages. This is how the concept of Feel Great began to develop. By eliminating the need for exceptional willpower to thrive in intermittent fasting — in other words, by making it more manageable and easy like a breeze — a larger number of individuals could access its benefits and enhance their quality of life.

Balance and Unimate work in this way.

• Balance assists in reducing the absorption of carbohydrates and cholesterol in the body, which in turn promotes healthy blood glucose levels.

• Unimate enhances feelings of well-being and aids in sustaining endurance and stamina.

• Both products help us feel full for longer periods, reduce the frequency of hunger, and assist in weight management.

Combining Balance and Unimate with intermittent fasting can further enhance the potential benefits for our health by making certain tasks more efficient and effective. The Feel Great program aims to assist individuals in feeling better than they have in a long time, which is often the main goal when embarking on a new health journey.

Questions asked:

Now that we have set the foundation, some people may ask: is it possible to achieve Feel Great without fasting?

At this point, the answer should be clear: no. If you wish to fully experience all that Feel Great has to provide, omitting intermittent fasting is not recommended. The Feel Great system was specifically created to enhance overall health by facilitating consistent and long-term intermittent fasting. Removing intermittent fasting from the equation means losing the essence of the Feel Great system.

Intermittent fasting improves with time, especially when adopting the Feel Great method to simplify the process from the beginning. As you begin to notice its positive impact on your overall well-being (beyond just weight loss), you will be inclined to incorporate it into your routine consistently.

Please keep in mind:

• It's about consistency, not perfection.

• Intermittent Fasting is not a race. Start with a fasting window you know you can do, and work your way up. You may not be able to do a 16-hour fast each day right away, and that’s perfectly fine. Start with a smaller fasting window, like 12 hours, and once you’re comfortable with that, add another hour, and then another hour a few weeks later, until you’re at a reasonable fasting window you can maintain.

• If you are still not enthusiastic about fasting, try changing your perspective. Set a goal to refrain from snacking after dinner, or begin your day with Unimate instead of a bowl of cereal. Both approaches promote intermittent fasting, but require less effort.

Start to reclaim your health today with the Feel Great approach.

1. Sun, Ming-Li et al. (2024). Intermittent fasting and health outcomes: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. eClinicalMedicine, Volume 70, 102519

2. Wilkinson, M. J., Manoogian, E. N. C., Zadourian, A., Lo, H., Fakhouri, S., Shoghi, A., Wang, X., Fleischer, J. G., Navlakha, S., Panda, S., & Taub, P. R. (2020). Ten-Hour Time-Restricted Eating Reduces Weight, Blood Pressure, and Atherogenic Lipids in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome. Cell metabolism, 31(1), 92–104.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.11.004

3. Varady, K.A., Bhutani, S., Klempel, M.C. et al. Alternate day fasting for weight loss in normal weight and overweight subjects: a randomized controlled trial. Nutr J 12, 146 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-12-146

4. Moro, T., Tinsley, G., Bianco, A. et al. Effects of eight weeks of time-restricted feeding (16/8) on basal metabolism, maximal strength, body composition, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk factors in resistance-trained males. J Transl Med 14, 290 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-016-1044-0

5. Sutton, E. F., Beyl, R., Early, K. S., Cefalu, W. T., Ravussin, E., & Peterson, C. M. (2018). Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Cell metabolism, 27(6), 1212–1221.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2018.04.010

6. Teong, X.T., Liu, K., Vincent, A.D. et al. Intermittent fasting plus early time-restricted eating versus calorie restriction and standard care in adults at risk of type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Nat Med 29, 963–972 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02287-7

7. Malinowski, B., Zalewska, K., Węsierska, A., Sokołowska, M. M., Socha, M., Liczner, G., Pawlak-Osińska, K., & Wiciński, M. (2019). Intermittent Fasting in Cardiovascular Disorders-An Overview. Nutrients, 11(3), 673. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11030673

8. de Cabo, R., & Mattson, M. P. (2019). Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease. The New England journal of medicine, 381(26), 2541–2551. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra1905136

9. Hussin, N. M., Shahar, S., Teng, N. I., Ngah, W. Z., & Das, S. K. (2013). Efficacy of fasting and calorie restriction (FCR) on mood and depression among ageing men. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 17(8), 674–680. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-013-0344-9

10. Brandhorst, S., Levine, M.E., Wei, M. et al. Fasting-mimicking diet causes hepatic and blood markers changes indicating reduced biological age and disease risk. Nat Commun 15, 1309 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45260-9

11. Martinez-Lopez, N., Tarabra, E., Toledo, M., Garcia-Macia, M., Sahu, S., Coletto, L., Batista-Gonzalez, A., Barzilai, N., Pessin, J. E., Schwartz, G. J., Kersten, S., & Singh, R. (2017). System-wide Benefits of Intermeal Fasting by Autophagy. Cell metabolism, 26(6), 856–871.e5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2017.09.020