SHOULD FEMALES BE INTERMITTENT FASTING?

21 / SEPTEMBER / 2022
SHEREE'S HEALTH DIARIES

This is definitely one of my most commonly asked questions, is fasting healthy for women, should I be fasting as a female, what kind of fasting is okay for females?

You get the picture…

Well, I have a pretty direct opinion on this, and the research to back it.

HOW FASTING EFFECTS WOMEN

You may not know this, but females run COMPLETELY differently than males in terms of biology (particularly hormones)

Aaaaand… this has a MASSIVE impact on what ‘diets’ work (or don’t work for your body)

As a female, your sex hormones progesterone and estrogen play a major role in your metabolism and your ability to shift weight.

However these are greatly influenced by your stress hormone cortisol, and your blood sugar balancing hormone insulin, which play an even bigger role in weight loss.

If you fast on a daily basis as a female, you are communicating to the body that there isn’t enough food left in the world (hello survival response).

This then increases your cortisol levels, throws your blood sugar out of balance in order to try to preserve energy (in this case store FAT)

It ALSO communicates to your body that it is not safe to reproduce at this time and so it shuts down or reduces production of your reproductive hormones (estrogen and progesterone)

So, not only are you storing more fat, but you are now more likely to skip ovulation leading to PMS, mood swings, anxiety, period pain, tender breasts and other hormonal imbalances to name a few!

This is why I DO NOT RECOMMEND INTERMITTENT FASTING for FEMALES!!

WHY DON'T WE KNOW ABOUT THIS?

The unfortunate thing is, in most scientific research in the health and wellness field, especially around weight loss is done on MEN, then a small part on post-menopausal women

Which means that menstruating females (aka if you get a period) are left out of studies!

In fact it has been said that females of reproductive age make up only around 4% of the literature when it comes to health, wellness and weight loss!

Which is just crazy if you ask me! The only time a female should be doing IF is when she is post-menopausal because then you no longer have a cycle that is changing your hormones day to day!

If you want to know how to REALLY boost your metabolism, shift stubborn weight AND balance your hormones, my 12 week program will teach you how to do exactly that.

I have had a number of women actually go through my program who couldn’t believe how much better they felt ditching the fasting and eating more (and shifting weight as a result).

I dunno about you, but I definitely enjoy my food, so getting to eat more has always appealed to me, the key is to know how to eat for your body, and this is exactly what I teach you in Reclaim Your Radiance!

I hope this has helped and if you have any questions at all feel free to comment below, I am here to support!

Yours in Health & Happiness,
Sheree xo