Studies show that fasting has incredible benefits—increasing mood, energy, mental clarity, weight loss, lowering inflammation, and boosting the immune system, helping it better defend against pathogens, viruses and bacteria. 

There are three steps you’ll want to take to create this heightened immune response. 

Step 1: Become Metabolically Flexible

The first step to boosting your immune system is becoming metabolically flexible, this means you can easily go in and out of being a fat-burner and a sugar-burner. Metabolic flexibility has been shown by science as a valid approach to “dampening” the COVID-19 virus. Yet only 12% of American adults are metabolically healthy!

How does metabolic flexibility help defend against viruses? Viruses do not have their own metabolism. This means that viruses need your host metabolism to survive! When you are in a sugar-burning mode, the virus is better able to replicate and thrive. On the other hand, viruses cannot replicate and thus cannot survive in a fat-burning cell. 

How do you know you are in fat-burning mode? You can measure this by the presence of ketones in the body using a device like the KETO MOJO. Watch this to learn how to measure your ketones. Ideally, you will want ketone reading to be above 0.5 mmol/L.

Step 2: Stimulate autophagy

Autophagy is a process that helps your cells “take out the garbage”, removing damaged cells in order to generate newer, healthier cells. It’s something a healthy body does naturally, to promote healing and overall well being, however autophagy can be boosted or activated with fasting. Specifically autophagy fasting is shown by research to prime the immune response system, helping the body defend against viruses such as COVID-19. 

What does autophagy fasting look like? Autophagy fasting entails 17 hours of fasting, then breaking your fast with good fats like avocado or ghee, then waiting at least one hour before opening up your eating window. During your eating window you’ll want to keep daily protein under 20g and carbs under 50g net carbs. 

Step 3: Do a 3 Day (72 hour) water fast

White blood cells, also known as leukocytes, are the cells which the immune system uses to fight against foreign invaders like viruses and bad bacteria.

A key researcher on fasting, Valter Longo found that a 72 hour water fast initiates a regenerative process by producing more white blood cells that reboots the entire immune system. Longo showed that this process removes the damaged and old components of the system and rebuilds the immune system.

A 3 day water fast is not for everyone, however with some practice, any faster can build up to a 3 day water fast! Watch >>> 5 STEPS TO DOING A 72 HOUR WATER FAST!

Also, make sure to join me in my monthly FAST TRAINING WEEKS to practice fasting with my Resetter community!