At TEDxGreenville, nurse practitioner and functional nutritionist Cynthia Thurlow shared new views on health, aging, and nutrition. Her talk put intermittent fasting at the center. This simple plan may change how we treat wellness, especially for women in midlife.
Challenging Nutritional Dogma: More Than Just What You Eat
Thurlow began by questioning the old idea that breakfast must be the key meal. She asked if it may be not just what we eat but when we eat. Over many years of work, she saw rises in weight problems, diabetes, and heart disease. These issues connect to long-held eating ways.
Old advice tells us to exercise more and eat less while snacking all day. This advice puts stress on the pancreas and gut. It weakens digestion and makes energy management hard.
Sugar Burners vs. Fat Burners: The Metabolic Divide
Thurlow spoke of two energy types. Some people use sugar from food and face constant hunger, tiredness, and weight gain. High sugar use pushes the body to store fat because insulin keeps rising.
Others tap into fat stored in the body for energy. This group enjoys steadier energy, clearer thought, easier weight loss, better sleep, and slower aging. A pattern of fasting can help the body move from using sugar to using fat.
The Intermittent Fasting Solution: Free, Flexible, and Simple
Thurlow sees intermittent fasting as a useful lifestyle change. She defines it as a set time with no food and then a set time to eat. This plan cuts calories—by roughly 20 to 40 percent when breakfast is skipped—and helps lose fat around organs. She suggests a 16:8 pattern: sixteen hours without food and eight hours to eat. Though it may seem hard at first, starting small can ease the change.
Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
Intermittent fasting gives more than lower weight. Lower insulin can clear the mind and boost thinking. Fasting also sets off a release of growth hormone that keeps muscle strong. It starts a process that cleans cells by removing worn parts. This cleaning helps cells work well.
Fasting may also help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and cut risks of serious illness like cancer and Alzheimer’s. These gains help support healthy aging, especially for women facing more hormone shifts.
Who Should Approach Intermittent Fasting with Caution?
Thurlow warned that fasting is not for everyone. People with hard-to-control diabetes, children, teenagers, seniors over 70, pregnant women, and those with heart or kidney problems may need to avoid it. She noted that those with a history of eating troubles may see fasting bring unwanted habits. Also, people who are frail, weigh little, or are healing from a serious illness should be careful.
Practical Tips: What to Consume During and After Fasting
During the fast, water, plain coffee, or tea work well to keep you hydrated. When the fast ends, focus on whole foods.
- Proteins: Pick high-quality meats from trusted sources or wild-caught fish.
- Fats: Use food like avocado, coconut oil, butter from grass-fed sources, and nuts.
- Carbohydrates: Choose low-glycemic options such as berries, greens, squash, quinoa, and sweet potatoes to keep blood sugar calm.
Cutting down on sugar and alcohol may help keep the benefits of fasting alive.
Reframing Wellness for Women and Aging
Thurlow shared numbers that show many women between 40 and 50 face weight challenges. Women may gain about 1.5 pounds per year in their 50s and 60s, partly due to hormone shifts, reduced muscle, sleep loss, and mood changes. Instead of quick fixes or pills, she asks women to try new lifestyles with intermittent fasting as a guide.
Final Thoughts: Empowerment Through Intermittent Fasting
Cynthia Thurlow’s TEDxGreenville talk brings a fresh view on food and aging. Intermittent fasting stands as a cost-free, flexible, and clear method that works with real food to help shape body energy. Her words ask all of us—especially women—to reassess old habits and try plans that fit the body’s own clock. When we set our eating times well, it counts just as much as what we eat.
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