Intermittent fasting is generally helpful for Lyme disease patients. There are several ways to do intermittent fasting. The most common one is called the “16/8 method”, where you would fast for 16 hours and eat for 8 hours in a day. Another method is the “5:2 diet”, where you would eat normally for 5 consecutive days and restrict your calorie intake to about 500-600 calories for 2 days of the week. There’s also the “Eat, Stop, Eat” method which involves eating normally for 5 or 6 days of the week and fasting for 24 hours once or twice a week. Another method of fasting, “Alternate Day Fasting”, is pretty straightforward where it involves fasting every other day. Similar fasting that aligns with a paleo diet is “The Warrior Diet”, it involves eating small amounts of fruits and vegetables throughout your day and you have a large meal in the evening. Lastly, you can spontaneously skip meals and not follow a structured schedule or plan, thus doing so is spontaneous intermittent fasting.
Whichever method you choose, make sure it works for you. Intermittent fasting helps reduce inflammation and stabilizes blood glucose. Additionally, you should eat foods in this order:
- Vegetables
- Protein
- Carbohydrates
This order also helps greatly reduce inflammation and promotes longevity. You should also hydrate well, at least 2 liters of water a day or tea. Coffee is fine in moderate amounts.
Recommended books for Paleo Diet:
- Hyman, Mark. The Pegan Diet. 2021.
- Calimeris, D and Cook, L. The Complete Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Beginners. 2017.
- Buckley, W. Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners. 2020.
- Phenix, A. The Mediterranean Diet for Beginners. 2020.