When I first started fasting, I was REALLY hard on myself. Apple cider vinegar in the morning with a Centrum Men's One-a-day - and that was it. I endured through that with moderate success, but I still had my gut health issues and underlying food sensitivities, and it would eventually all unravel.

Then in June of 2022 I did a 7-Day digestive cleanse and everything changed. I did the first day on an empty stomach and I could feel the supplementation working almost in real time. I wasn't punishing myself, or restricting myself. I was RESTORING myself.

I have always seen food as an inflammatory action. I liken it to an administrative professional, showing up to work their shift with all of the "to do" list in front of them, only to immediately have the phone ring or inbox fill up, or have a file of work dumped on their desk. I started to realize that THIS is what I was doing to my body when I ate. In a fasted state, I could allow my body the time to actually focus on fixing itself? And even better - what if I simultaneously gave it the tools to IMPROVE myself? From that, restorative fasting was born.

Now some of these products are not "zero sugar" or they may have a few calories. They likely would "break" a fast. But looking at their overall benefit vs their glycemic impact, it seems worth it if I can accelerate my progress and also preempt other bad food choices. Here are my top supplements that I incorporate during my fasting spells to get the most from "going without and going within":

Daily Essentials - I start my "food" with supplementation. I could eat a meal and still be very malnourished, and yet if I take my vitamins I could actually prolong my fasting because my body wasn't "starving" for nutrition. I replaced my Men's One-a-day vitamin with Daily Essentials, primarily for its delivery system. Being able to absorb my complete nutritional need really helped me not only make it through my hectic work day, but also to keep that fasting burn going because it could buy me another day of not consuming food. Consisting of a complete multivitamin, activated B complex, Calcium Plus, and OPC-3 (a powerful anti-oxidant) I began noticing an onslaught of benefits. Allergies, sciatica and knee pain, and so many other issues have fallen by the wayside. HIGHLY recommend you replacing your current multivitamin with this instead.

Resveratrol - many know of the benefits of red wine for health, heart, and aging, but I wasn't ever much of a drinker. But the benefits of Resveratrol cannot be understated. Resveratrol works to maintain cell health, promote normal cell cycle activity, promote apoptosis (programmed cell death) in unhealthy cells, support the normal activity of the SIRT-1 gene, and promote cardiovascular health. In keeping with the "restorative" nature of this fasting approach, it is allow my body to not only abstain from food, but giving it the building blocks to purge the dead cells and toxins to get me into a better regenerative capacity for my overall health. My go-to bio hack has been to mix Resveratrol with my Daily Essentials to super charge my afternoons.

Anti-Aging - I can't lie, when I first tried Anti-Aging, my first thought was about how great it tasted. I actually look forward to having it more than breaking my fast sometimes. But I then became a fan because it was formulated to help older men as a more complete multivitamin supplement. However the inclusion of more Pycnogenol and Vitamin D3 made it a winner for my new night time regimen. Being fasted + having this in my system while I sleep and allow my body to fully work 3rd shift in restocking my health led to better sleep, more alertness upon waking up, and overall quality of health. Dare I say it also helped me to break through some weight loss plateaus since my body was 24/7 working for my benefit.

Astaxanthin - this one is a lesser known supplement, but one that has assisted me in a few areas. Firstly, it is great for eye health and eye sight. I was getting to a point where while on the subway platform I couldn't make out the letters on the train until it was really close to me. I used to be able to read it before it had even emerged from the tunnel. This has allowed me to get back to the great eye sight of my twenties. Also, almost accidentally, I give a ton of credit to this supplement for assisting with my heightened testosterone levels and muscle mass. It is how even while losing 85 pounds in 2022 I like also put on about 15 pounds of muscle in the process, ALL while fasting 4 times a week.

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