Intermittent Fasting dos and don’ts

MANILA, Philippines — This summer, while people are talking about hangouts and getaways, The Farm at San Benito doctor Michelle Domalaon reminded one to also not forget giving the digestive system a vacation.

“Just like in people, after a vacation, we feel recharged to return to work… If our digestive system has more rest, the more that it can do its job,” Domalaon told Philstar.com in an exclusive interview last week.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is one way to rest the digestive system, instead of putting more and more food into the system. 

The proper way to do IF, said Dr. Domalaon is 12 hours of no eating, then after eating, waiting for 12 hours again before eating again. 

“Just make sure that if you’re into IF, you’re eating a low-carbohydrate diet. Because if you go on a low-carb diet, during the first eight hours of your fasting, all the sugar in the blood will be used up. Then after 14 hours, it would go to the liver. After 18 hours of not eating, our body starts to use the trash stored in our body, these are transformed into energy, so this detoxifies the body,” she explained.

Domalaon’s first rule in practicing IF is “Don’t give up!”

“’Pag nagstastart kayo ng IF, actually, hindi po s’ya masaya – napapagod ka, masakit ‘yung ulo, parang marami kang mafifeel kasi nga hindi ka sanay. Pero ideally, it can be done. If hindi kaya, hindi ako mamimilit, pero kung kaya, I suggest i-try n’yo ‘yun kasi makikita n’yo ‘yung benefit na you’ll feel lighter. Your body needs to get used to using what’s only available. There will come a point na masasanay din ‘yung katawan mo,” she assured.

She recommended doing it once a month at least to relax the digestive system.

Another “don’t” is eating too much hard-to-digest food like junk food.

“Ang meat kasi hard to digest. Chicken, pork, beef, hard seafood, these are hard to digest. But fish and plants – fruits, vegetables – these are easy to digest,” she explained.

Besides IF, another way to relieve the body from digestive stress is through detoxification. 

“Our colon is 30 feet long. Even if we defecate once a day, if our food is not digested very well, the food builds up in the colon, so we really need to clean it up,” Dr.