Is Fasting & High Intensity Training Causing Your Leaky Gut?

Cortisol…. Bum bum bum.

No just kidding, it is not always bad! Cortisol plays a very important role as a messenger to tell the body it is not time for rest & digest, it's time to fight & survive. Small amounts can be anti-inflammatory. 👏

Why cortisol has such a bad rap is because most of us in today's crazy world are producing way too much!

Why?

Because we are stressed the **** out! 😫

Our bodies don’t know the difference between a life and death situation and us running late to work, or having a big exam, or our children having a tantrum in the line for the coffee we so desperately need! ☕️🆘

The body's language is in hormones. Unfortunately, it's not the most advanced language because the only word cortisol knows is STRESS, no expression of the subtle nuances or not-so-subtle nuances of the situation at hand. 🙄

Hormones, like cortisol, inform our bodies of how it thinks it should react to our external and internal environment to better survive. Cortisol says "I'M STRESSED", which could be from an externally perceived stress like deadlines or an internal stress like inflammation from excessive workouts or hunger.

Cortisol shuts down your digestion, promotes an immune inflammatory response & stimulates a rush of energy through carbohydrates & fat metabolism. This is helpful when you are exercising hard, starving, fighting a large animal or fighting an infection.

We all know we should try our best to take some deep breaths and think happy, calm thoughts when we are perceiving external stress. Easier said than done…I know, but I want to talk about some internal stress factors that we can control today. 🥳🎉

If you are intermittent fasting or high-intensity exercising most days, then your body is using muscle glycogen stores for energy, which can cause blood glucose spikes, systemic inflammation & leaky gut. 🫣

Today's world seems to be all about fasting and high-intensity exercise. I'm not against these things, but too much of anything is going to end up causing issues in the long run. Long-term leaky gut can lead to IBS, autoimmune conditions, food allergies and intolerance, brain fog, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, the list goes on and on.

If you are interested in fasting for cellular apoptosis, then do a big fast twice a year or smaller intermittent fasting once a week (for female please only in your follicular phase- more info in next blog post). Please stay away from daily intermittent fasting.

Exercising 3-6 days a week is great for you, but make sure every day is NOT high intensity and have a protein-dense meal straight after. Oh and please don’t skip breakfast!

Big Love,

Shelby