This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Fast This Way" by Dave Asprey. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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What are the most important intermittent fasting supplements? Can supplements help you fast more healthily?
Intermittent fasting supplements include activated charcoal, proteolytic enzymes, and adaptogens (such as herbs ashwagandha and ginseng). Each of these serves a different purpose, and having this understanding can support a healthier fast.
Keep reading to learn what each of these supplements does and how it supports your health.
Take Supplements to Upgrade Your Fast
Intermittent fasting supplements provide your body with the nutrients it needs during your fast. Modern foods aren’t as healthful as those our ancestors ate, and we therefore can’t rely on food alone to meet our nutritional needs: Today’s foods contain toxins, chemicals, and stressors that weren’t present years ago, and they contain more calories and fewer nutrients.
(Shortform note: Although it’s true that the nutritional content and toxin levels of individual foods may have changed since ancient times, some argue that a bigger shift, that’s had a more significant effect on modern nutrition, is the change in the breadth of foods we eat today as compared to our ancestors. Ancient foragers ate a wide variety of foods from diverse sources (the mummified body of an Iron Age man, for example, revealed his last meal of porridge consisted of 40 different grains and seeds). Today, agricultural practices have narrowed our food choices down to a handful of staples (sugar, corn, wheat, and rice) and eliminated much variety within vegetables and fruits, resulting in a more limited range of nutrients available to us.)
Here are several supplements that can provide you with nutritional support and improve your fasting results:
1. Activated charcoal: This type of charcoal traps toxins in your gut and prevents your body from absorbing them. It can help you avoid gut pain while fasting, and it also reduces your hunger cravings.
(Shortform note: Activated charcoal is more commonly used as an emergency treatment for poisoning under medical supervision. However, there isn’t much research to support the efficacy of activated charcoal for your gut health. While mostly safe, activated charcoal can cause side effects like vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, black stools, and sometimes intestinal blockages.)
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Here's what you'll find in our full Fast This Way summary:
- Why intermittent fasting is more than just a way to lose weight
- How our modern eating habits differ from our bodies' natural eating patterns
- An intermittent fasting method that makes it easier and more enjoyable
