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Fasting 101: Increase Your Fasting Success With Minerals
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Read Time 7 min
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Most health advice focuses on a few common minerals: calcium, magnesium, sodium, and so on.
But did you know the human body needs more than 70 different minerals to function?
Intermittent fasting is a great tool for improving your health—and you can make it even better with minerals.
Fasting involves going most of the day without food, then having all your calories within a condensed “eating window.” Research shows that fasting is good for brain function, longevity, inflammation, and even sleep.
Minerals can make fasting both easier and more effective. They reduce common side effects, like fatigue and hunger, and they can boost the benefits of fasting so you reach your health goals more quickly.
Here’s a look at the benefits of intermittent fasting, as well as how minerals can increase your fasting success.
What is Fasting?
Fasting is a simple change to the way you eat. Instead of having three meals a day, spaced out from morning to evening, you go most of the day without eating and consume all your food in a shortened period of time.
You can break your day into your fasting window and your eating window . Typically people choose a fasting window of at least 14 hours, and experienced fasters may go as long as 20 hours. Whatever remains is your eating window: the time in which you can have food.
For example, a 16:8 fast (one of the most popular fasting routines) would be 16 hours without food and 8 hours of eating—which in practice might look like fasting until noon and then eating all your meals between 12-8 p.m.
A more intense fast might be 20:4 fasting, which could be fasting until 4 p.m. and eating until 8 p.m.
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Some people also like OMAD (one meal a day) fasting, which is what its name implies: you eat one big meal each day and fast the rest of the time.
You get to choose your fasting schedule, so you can adapt fasting to whatever feels sustainable for you. Generally speaking, it’s best to start with shorter fasts and work your way up as your body adapts.
Note that you can have coffee, tea, water, and other non-caloric drinks during your fasting window—you just have to save all the calorie-containing food and drinks for your eating window.
3 Benefits of Fasting
Fasting has a lot of different health benefits. Going for an extended period without food causes a variety of positive cellular and metabolic changes.
Here are three research-backed benefits of fasting.
1. Weight Loss
Several large-scale reviews have found that daily fasting is a good strategy for losing weight.
A 2020 review of 27 different studies concluded that fasting is a highly effective weight loss tool . The authors recommended that doctors prescribe fasting as a lifestyle change to treat obesity. [ * ]
A 2023 study found that fasting had an adherence rate of 63%, which means nearly two thirds of people stuck to a fasting weight loss diet . [ * ] In another study, 77% of people were still fasting and losing weight after a year. [ * ] In contrast, only about 20% of standard diets succeed.
A lot of people say fasting is easier than normal dieting because you can front load your hunger during the day, when your willpower is strongest, then eat until you’re satisfied in the evening and go to bed full.
Whatever the cause, the research is clear: fasting is a powerful and effective strategy for weight loss.
2. Brain Function
If you struggle with brain fog, fasting may help. A 2021 review found that fasting is especially good for the brain in several different ways: [ * ]
Mental clarity . Fasting improved people’s performance on complex mental tasks.
Brain anti-aging . Fasting improved brain signaling and connectivity in older adults. It also improved plasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt and repair in response to damage and is especially important for aging. Finally, fasting showed promise in preventing dementia and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
- Mood. A 2021 meta-analysis found that daily fasting decreased both anxiety and depression scores in otherwise healthy adults. [ * ]
3. Stable Blood Sugar
Fasting is especially good at stabilizing blood sugar and insulin levels. Long periods without food lead your blood glucose levels to remain steady and low, which can be excellent for reducing diabetes risk and improving your energy level throughout the day .
A 2022 meta-analysis found that daily fasting reversed insulin resistance and brought overweight people’s blood sugar levels back into normal range. [ * ] It was so effective that the authors recommended fasting as an auxiliary treatment for controlling diabetes .
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How Minerals Can Make Fasting Better
Fasting is great on its own—but adding minerals can make it even more effective.
Your body needs more than a dozen different essential minerals to function, and during a fast, your mineral needs increase even more than usual.
In fact, a lot of the common side effects people report while fasting— fatigue, food cravings, hunger, headaches, and dehydration —can all be fixed by a good mineral supplement .
During fasting you switch from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for energy. This shift in metabolism causes your kidneys to expel more water—and with that water you also lose a lot of potassium and sodium. If you don’t replace these essential minerals you can end up in a deficit, which causes headaches, food cravings, and fatigue. [ * ]
Your mitochondria (the power plants of your cells) produce more energy when you fast, which makes you feel energetic and focused. It also speeds up your metabolism so you burn more fat. But mitochondria use a huge amount of minerals, and their increased activity means your mineral stores deplete especially quickly when you fast. [ * ][ * ]
Fasting pulls minerals out of your muscle tissue, and according to a 2015 study, replenishing those minerals can make fasting easier and reduce common side effects like muscle cramps and fatigue. [ * ]
In short, minerals can make fasting easier. If you’re a fan of intermittent fasting, it’s worth your time to add a high-quality mineral supplement to your daily routine.
Here at BEAM Minerals we make fasting support simple. Our full-spectrum mineral supplement contains every mineral your body needs to fast longer and better, in the right ratios. Our minerals are liquid-based and calorie-free, and they contain no fillers, sweeteners, flavorings, or other additives, which means they won’t disrupt your fast.
Enhancing your fast with minerals is easy: just take a capful of BEAM Minerals in the morning, when you start your daily fast.
BEAM supports smooth, stable energy and mental focus all day, without cravings or muscle cramps. It’s the perfect way to upgrade your intermittent fasting routine. Give it a try today—you’ll feel the difference from your very first fast!
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FAQs
Can I take BEAM Minerals with my other supplements?
Yes, in fact, BEAM Minerals will enhance the bioavailability of all your other supplements.
What is the difference between Micro-BOOST™ and Electrolyze™?
Electrolyze™ is primarily composed of Fulvic Mineral Complexes . Fulvic complexes are small molecules that provide inter-cellular transport for nutritional elements into the cells and carry bio-waste out of the cells. Fulvic complexes are flavonoids , which provide many benefits in the body.
Micro-BOOST™ is primarily composed of the Humic Mineral Complexes . Humic complexes are large molecules that are extra-cellular, meaning they do not enter the cells but stay outside the cells. They are highly-charged molecules that attract, through their electrical charge, bio-waste, free radicals and heavy metals. They ultimately carry bio-waste out of the body. Thus, we call them “Nature’s Janitor”.
How many milligrams (mg) of an electrolyte (Potassium, Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium, etc.) is there in BEAM Minerals?
The quantities of each element in BEAM Minerals products are measured in “parts per million” (ppm), rather than the “milligrams” (mg). Here is the information which usually helps to understand the difference:
Milligrams (mg) vs parts per million (ppm)
In comparing our products to other supplements, people want to know how much of an electrolyte is in our products (like potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium). Usually they are looking for an amount in milligrams (mg).
We have a hard time answering that question, because the electrolytes (and other elements) in BEAM Minerals products are measured in parts per million (ppm). So how can consumers compare?
The answer is a little complex, but here’s the high points.
The electrolytes in BEAM Minerals products are provided in “trace” amounts that are completely dissolved and thus 100% bio-available, immediately introduced into your circulation when you consumed them and will produce and active effect.
When you take a 320mg pill of magnesium, your body is only able utilize about 12-20% of it as it takes some time because your body has to digest it first. Whatever is not dissolved gets processed out of your body.
When you take a capful of liquid Electrolyze™ and/or Micro-BOOST™, you receive approximately 5.22 ppm of magnesium in which 100% of the magnesium is immediately available to your body. In addition, an important to know is that the magnesium in BEAM Minerals products stay in your system much longer building up healthy levels as you continue to take it daily.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. This content should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition or health issue. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.
