Intermittent Fasting: But At What Cost?! with Dr Raskin – your SV Ayurveda Newsletter Jan 17, 2026, #1, Vol 16

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Happy New Year! 

Your inbox is probably already full of detox programs and fasting challenges this time of year? Intermittent fasting always shows up in January… But here’s what I want to talk about: you might not call it intermittent fasting, you might just call it “I’m not hungry in the morning” or “I don’t have time for breakfast.” But if you’re going 14, 16, 18 hours without eating, that’s what you’re doing. And I see women doing this all the time – not because they’re following some biohacker protocol, but just because they skip breakfast. And they come to me anxious. Scattered. Brain fog that won’t lift. Hormones a mess.They don’t connect it to the fasting. But I do. Because I understand what happens when your digestive fire has nothing to work on in the morning.

Here’s what Vaidya Mishra taught me: your digestive fire – Agni – follows the sun. Strongest at midday, gentlest in the morning, lowest at night. When you skip breakfast entirely, that early-morning fire has nothing to metabolize. It’s like an empty pot on a stovetop – the flames are on, ready to cook your meal, but the pot is empty…. Can you guess what happens? It turns “inward” and burns the pot, and starts digesting the very nourishment that stabilizes your brain and nervous system.

Vaidya Mishra would check the pulses of meditators/yogic practitioners who skipped morning nourishment. Their energy was often scattered, ungrounded, moving upward instead of settling.The result? Anxiety. Brain fog. Irritability. That spaced-out feeling by mid-morning.

 Your body doesn’t distinguish between “I’m skipping breakfast” and “There’s no food and I’m not safe.” If your nervous system is already taxed, your adrenals are already stressed, or your hormones are already struggling, long fasting windows read as threat. Cortisol rises. Blood sugar swings. Your body shifts into survival mode.And women’s hormones – especially during perimenopause, thyroid imbalance, or high-stress years – are incredibly sensitive to this.

This is where I always come back to the question: at what cost?

Yes, intermittent fasting might offer benefits for some people. But if the cost is increased anxiety, hormone disruption, and a nervous system pushed past its capacity – is that really helping you heal?

Who intermittent fasting tends to work for:

Men with robust constitutions; people with strong digestion and minimal stress; bodies that aren’t already in depletion.

Who it tends to backfire for:

Women with anxiety or nervous system reactivity; thyroid issues; irregular cycles or perimenopause; adrenal fatigue; high-stress lifestyles; digestive weakness; or past disordered eating patterns.

 If skipping breakfast leaves you shaky, anxious, irritable, or desperately hungry – that’s not failure. That’s feedback.

A gentler way…

Eat something small within an hour of waking.Not a big breakfast. Just something warm, light, and nourishing to give your digestive fire a direction – instead of letting it turn inward. Such as: a few almonds soaked overnight; a warm stewed apple with a couple of cloves. Anything simple and easy to digest.Then, when you’re truly hungry, have your real breakfast.The stewed apple protocol was Vaidya Mishra’s way of bringing the body back into rhythm.

Instead of long fasting windows, try this:

Light nourishment within an hour of waking. Your biggest meal at midday. An early, light dinner – before 6:30pm if possible.This works with your circadian rhythm, not against it.

As we step into 2026:

Trust what your body tells you more than what the trends tell you!

 If skipping breakfast leaves you feeling worse – anxious, foggy, scattered – your body is asking for what it needs.The loudest voices in wellness aren’t always the right ones for you.

 If you’d like the morning stewed apple recipe, connect with me here or go to somaradiantwellness.com/services– I’m happy to send it. 

If this resonates and you want to talk about your specific situation, I offer free 20-minute consultations.

Book here.

I also share regularly on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and on my blog. If you’re not seeing my posts on social media, you can find more information here.

Wishing you a year of more listening and more ease!

Lisa Raskin (DC)

www.SomaRadiantWellness.com

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