Fasting: The Healing Power of Not Eating

0:02Darin Olien:Welcome to Super Life with me, Darin Olien, a podcast where we explore, discover, and share solutions that promote a healthier life and a better world. Together, we'll ignite possibilities, inspire change, and build sovereignty, creating a roadmap towards a super life for you and for all. Get ready to start living your super life.

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2:02Darin Olien:Just type in Darren, D-A-R-I-N, and magically, you get 15 % off. I'm super stoked for Therisage. I love their company. I love what they're doing, and you will too. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the show. This is Darren O 'Lean. This is the Super Life Podcast. Thanks for joining me. We have another solo episode that I'm excited about. That is something that everyone can do. However, there's a disclaimer here that please only do this under medical supervision. I have to say that because this is powerful. What if I told you the key to healing your body and balancing your energy and even living longer wasn't in a supplement necessarily?

2:53And I love supplements and there is a lot of good supplements out there. However, when you don't eat, that can be a missing link. fasting has certainly exploded over the last few years and now even modern science but also through traditional Chinese medicine has a different view on it as well as Ayurveda and these two are well over 10 ,000 years but we're going to tackle it from the science tackle it from their perspectives from traditional Chinese medicine as well as Ayurveda So we're going to bring you a full picture, the Western science, the ancient wisdom, and we're going to welcome you to another powerful tool that you can add to your super life.

3:45I first want to say that during this filming, I am fasting. I am on day three of a water-only fast. And I'm also doing that to get ready for a procedure of inducing stem cells in my back and my knee that are long injuries that I finally have to get underneath them and get to the root cause. I'm preparing my body to produce more autophagy, getting rid of unwanted debris and cellular debris, as well as inducing, through fasting, more of my natural endogenous stem cells. I started fasting probably, it was around 2002, 2001, 2002. And my early exposure back then was from Paul Bragg. Paul Bragg was a pioneer.

4:50He passed away in 1976, but he left a legacy of natural healing. He was born in Indiana in 1895. And his quick story was he suffered tuberculosis. And at that time, no one knew what to do about it. and the traditional medicine gave him this poor diagnosis for the rest of his life. So he turned his focus into the ancient ways, alternative therapies at the time, as well as improving his diet exercise to do what? Heal himself. The body is innately part of the universe and we are geared and dialed in to heal ourselves. Period. Full stop. However, with our modern world and our fatal conveniences and many things that we are doing to make life easier, our bodies are suffering as a result.

5:55You already know this. so he claimed that through the methods of particular fasting he could overcome his illness and he did it he believed that the modern diseases stemmed from poor diet over consumption toxic accumulation in the body he said that back then and it's still true to this day he advocated for regular water-only fasting to detoxify and reset the system. And he also believed in plant-based eating and vigorous physical activity. And he lived a long, strong life. His powerful mantra, which I believe to my core, is, quote, you are what you eat, breathe, drink, think, say, and do. That sums up our life of being healthy or not.

7:00So that body holds energy, it holds emotion, it holds all that stuff. So where we're thinking dictates also. But I'm going to dive into this world of intermittent fasting many, many different times. If you want to dig into actually some of his work, his best known book is The Miracle of Fasting. I suggest everyone check that book out. It stands true to this day. He also authored Bragg, Healthy Lifestyle, and several others. He lectured all over the world, and his daughter-in-law, Patricia Bragg, continued to expand. Obviously, they have the apple cider vinegar company, etc. Fasting isn't just biohacking, man.

7:55It is really bio-returning to our inherent ability to heal. it's returning to how our ancestors lived the cycles of eating, rest, abundance and scarcity so we have to train ourselves in the modern world where we can reach out and eat anything have access to anything and we need to honor and we can honor our body into this new world of hey, maybe I should not eat as much calorie restrict a little bit and let the body naturally start to heal. So from a fasting history perspective, the science now is starting to catch up now to the ancient ways, improving and changing and turning on metabolic switches, improving longevity, reducing inflammation.

8:55This is what the ancients already do. in many religious cultures still to this day fast to reset the mind, body, and certainly the spirit. Ayurveda, which is a very ancient method of overall healing, some say over 20 ,000 years. Some of the things that Ayurveda says about fasting, it can improve the digestive fire. and that's a very important thing. If you're always digesting food all the time and largely over-processed food, it can impair or weaken that digestive fire and one strong way to do that is through fasting. It's also a way to detox the body and bring out balances in the doshas. The doshas are the vata, pitta, and kapha.

9:53It's different ways that the Ayurveda has understood different types of body forms, body structures, and it's been a very powerful tool. Light fasting, herbal teas, warm water, all of these things help these kaphas. And quickly, from the traditional Chinese medicine, fasting can align the principles of the vital energy or the qi, as well as improve organ health. It's used to rest the spleen and the stomach meridians. Traditional Chinese medicine also emphasize moderation with this, not extreme fasting. Unless, again, you have proper medical supervision, then if you're in extreme situation, have a lot of weight to lose, then maybe under supervision you can use fasting in these more extreme ways.

10:54You know, they weren't necessarily counting calories back then. They were tuning into energy. When their body needed and they felt the energy drop, then fasting could be a natural, powerful remedy. So we have to always ask ourselves, what does the body need to do right now? And feel into that. There's different types of fasting, which I'll get into, and I'll get into the science of it. And everything is in the bibliography of all the science that I pulled up with this, as well as touching on the traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda as well. intermittent fasting or time-restricted fasting is eating into a window of time, giving yourself a break.

11:45Volter Longo talks about, hey, from his perspective, 12-hour window is fine. So if you've finished eating at 7 p.m., you're not eating anything until 7 a.m. the next day. Not too difficult. but also you can do 16-8. You can eat all your calories within an 8-hour window and use 16 hours to get that intermittent fasting. Science shows as late as 2024 that it does boost the metabolic health. It reduces insulin, blood pressure, and enhances brain energy.

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15:02Darin Olien:And with a 100-day risk-free trial, free shipping, and returns, you can experience this game-changing cookware with zero risk. Come on, who wouldn't want to do that? From an Ayurveda perspective, just simply, that different body types, the pitta, kapha, could have some stronger adjustments with this. So again, from an Ayurveda perspective, it depends on your body type. The body's natural digestive peak is around 2 p.m. So your digestive fire naturally from a circadian rhythm perspective climbs in the morning and then starts to taper off at 2 p.m. So your digestive fire is lower in the latter part of the day.

15:54So you might want to think about calories in the first part of the day. instead of skipping breakfast eat skip dinner or just cut off your eating window towards the latter part of the day so that's what i like to do typically because i like to eat less and that shows up in the blue zones with dan buechner as well as they eat a big breakfast a lighter lunch and then a popper, a very small dinner. And that seems to go with Ayurveda with the digestive fire. Traditional Chinese medicine insight is you want to sync with your body clock. And again, this is also what we just talked about. Especially avoiding the big part of your calories late in the day.

16:49So you have two traditions. some of the most ancient traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda confirming that don't pack your calories towards the later part of the day. Pack them towards the beginning. There's also alternative day fasting. This is fasting or low-calorie days every other day. So this could be I eat regular on a Monday and on a Tuesday I lower my calories maybe in half or whatever and then that or even not eat. There's also something I'll get into later is I eat one day, fast one day, eat one day, fast one day. So these lower calorie days of fasting reduces inflammation and oxidative stress in the research.

17:44and from an Ayurveda perspective kapha types prone to have sluggish digestion and weight gain and heaviness this is what they're better suited for so they're still eating but it's just less not ideal for the vata types which are they have less body fat and their engines are rolling traditional Chinese medicine fasting every other day may drain actually your chi over time. So drain your life force. So again, you have to know your body type and you have to feel these things out. And again, work with a professional on these things because if you're just following the next trend, you actually may be draining your overall energy.

18:37So it matters what your body is, what your body type, what kind of activity you have going. And there's also a type of fasting that is five days on of regular eating and then restrict calories for the two days. This shows in science, improves cholesterol, weight, and insulin function. It's a great study in 2024. Ayurveda's twist is that you can go with seasonal cycles of fasting, spring and fall. Use detox supportive herbs and this is something, it's a bigger picture. What time of year are you fasting? Is it spring? Is it winter? Etc. Winter you may need more calories. So these kinds of things.

19:28traditional Chinese medicine this rhythm mimics yin and yang balance so rest and action food versus fasting so again different body types I'm not giving you an answer in this whole thing I'm giving you information on fasting because I don't want you to come away going okay I'm going to fast and I'm just going to try that one although you can do that but again do it with knowledge do it with the professional I did my first fasting. I used to do one day only. So I did a 36 hour. So I'd stop eating that night, sleep on it. And the whole next day and into the next morning is when I would fast. So I'd get a 36 hour fast.

20:14This worked for me at the time, but it depends on what you're doing that day. So, prolonged fasting is something like water only or juices, 24 to 72 hours. But the multi-day fasting with water and very minimal food, this boosts the autophagy, the cleaning out of the body. Improves ketone production. So a different energy source, you're going into that ketosis. Again, this is survival mechanism, mechanics of physiology. It lowers the inflammation markers. It promotes longevity. Again, you only want to do this every so often. Once, twice, three times, four times a year, depending on who you are.

21:09If you do it too much, your overall energy may be affected. Fasting mimicking diets, which was really from Dr. Walter Longo. This is, and I encourage you to look up his work, the fasting mimicking diets. This is plant-based. This is low calorie and still getting many of the benefits without completely fasting. And we also have to emphasize, many of these studies are only based on men. Women, it's almost a completely different world. Because you have so many other things going on. You have so many endocrine fluctuations every month. Hormonal changes. Blood sugar fluctuations naturally. So during fasting, this needs to be tailored for your rhythm, where you are in your cycle, and no one should be fasting while they're pregnant.

22:11And postmenopausal women often can get benefits similar to men. So these are things to strongly look into for yourself. So I just want to say that fasting isn't a punishment. It shouldn't be from that point of view. you should look at this as from all sides. When you're fasting, you should be ready to do it mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. This permission that you're giving your body to stop, rest, and reset. And this is remembering deeply in the body that there is a healing power that we have. And although the body isn't a computer, there is certain things that when you do it, the body makes miraculous changes.

23:08And fasting is one of those things. So whether you're inspired by the latest science that is, believe me, I could have found hundreds of studies on supportive mechanism, support of fasting. I just pulled a few. I want to keep this brief and clear. The science of fasting is growing, and it's way beyond biohacking and whatever someone's saying about it. This is very old in our DNA from the beginning. So these ancient sages and the old religions are keeping these things because they're powerful. They're powerful for healing your body. They're powerful for getting in touch with yourself, with that inner knowing, without the distraction of addictive eating cycles.

24:02Because you know what? Sometimes doing nothing is the most powerful thing you can do. Right? Sometimes doing nothing is the most powerful thing you can do. I love fasting I don't do it all the time I intermittent fast fairly regularly probably between 12 and 16 hours but I don't have a hard set rule I am getting ready right now for some stem cell procedures and PRP and some great orthopedic alternatives so I am preparing my body to get ready preemptively to produce more stem cells, to get that healing response initiated, and let my body do its thing. This is powerful, and this is totally possible for almost everybody.

25:05But again, listen to your alternative professional, your functional doctor, but someone that has the credentials to help you through this fast, especially when you're first trying it out. Okay? Remember, men and women are different in these ways and you need to honor where you're at. I love you. I want to support you in every way. Give comments, give suggestions on new topics. I want to provide the best clear evidence to move you forward and inspire you to realize that we have everything inside of us, man. to live a happy and healthy super life. Love you. Peace.