Expert advice on exact length of time to fast for to boost weight loss

A diet and weight loss guru has shared the ideal fasting duration to optimise fat shedding.

Dr Mindy Pelz, in a clip on her YouTube channel, tackled questions about achieving peak weight loss. The expert, who has appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast, detailed how individuals strive to trigger ketosis through fasting.

This metabolic condition, where the body utilises fat rather than glucose for energy, is linked with potential perks including shedding pounds, a boost in vitality, and managing long-term health conditions. Intermittent fasting has been acknowledged for its significant impact on insulin resistance and for contributing to lower blood sugar levels, reports the Mirror.

Dr Pelz also delved into autophagy - a cellular process that degrades and recycles old, damaged or abnormal proteins and other materials, which is especially active during times of stress or lack of food. For those looking to enter ketosis, she recommended fasting for 13-15 hours.

She remarked: "So those of you that want to lose weight, that 13 to 15 hours is your first ledge to stimulate ketosis so that you burn fat in that moment. But here, think about this for a moment. That doesn't mean that you are going to kick yourself out of insulin resistance.

"So the name of the game when we're looking at using fasting as a really cool tool for weight loss is how do we not only burn fat but how do we stop you from becoming insulin resistant?"

Insulin resistance is a condition where cells in the muscles, fat, and liver don't respond well to insulin and can't easily absorb glucose from the blood. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin to help glucose enter your cells.

Dr Pelz suggested a way to avoid insulin resistance: "We've got to get you into this place of autophagy. So the second thing that we've got to think about is the longer you fast, the deeper the autophagy and the deeper the autophagy, the more your body gets rid of insulin-resistant cells.

"So that's 17 hours or longer. Now, you're in massive cellular repair. 13 to 15 hours, you're just burning fat from getting energy by burning fat, but you're not in cellular repair as deep. So make sure if you want to lose weight, you're going in longer than 17 hours.

Discussing meal timings, Dr Pelz advised people to only eat during daylight hours. She explained: "So in the summer, this is a little bit easier because you can have dinner a little bit earlier.

"But as long as you're eating in the dark, you are promoting insulin resistance. So that dinner you have at nine o'clock at night when it's dark out or eight o'clock at night... when it's dark out, your cells are going to be more insulin resistant to that because Melatonin has come in."".

Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.