Most people overcomplicate fasting.

They chase extreme protocols and miss the one that actually works.

Intermittent fasting isn’t about willpower.

It’s about giving your body enough time without calories to trigger the process that makes fasting worth doing in the first place: autophagy.

The core reason to fast is autophagy.

When you stop eating for long enough, your body switches from constant intake to cleanup mode. Damaged cells are broken down, recycled, and replaced more efficiently.

This is basic maintenance your body can’t fully perform when food is always coming in.

Intermittent fasting also comes with other benefits, but they all sit downstream of that central mechanism.

The mistake is thinking you need to suffer to access it. You don’t.

The most effective fast for most people is also the simplest: a 12-hour fast.

No calories for 12 hours.

Water is fine. Herbal tea is fine. Black coffee is fine.

Practically, this means finishing dinner by 8 p.m. and not eating again until 8 a.m. the next morning.

No late-night snacking. No complicated rules.

Just a clean break between your last meal of the day and your first meal the next day.

This is achievable for almost everyone, and everyone should be doing it.

It creates a daily window where your body isn’t digesting and can start shifting toward repair.

If you want to push a bit further, the next step is the 16:8 approach. This is the one I personally use.

It sounds harder than it is. All you’re really doing is skipping breakfast.

You stop eating around 8 p.m., then wait until noon the next day to eat again. No food in between.

The fasting window extends, autophagy increases, and the structure stays simple enough to maintain long term.

If you’re pregnant, diabetic, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor before doing a longer fast like 16:8.

The best fast isn’t the longest one. It’s the one you’ll actually do.

Start with 12 hours. Lock it in. Make it automatic.

That single habit creates more health leverage than most people realize, and it costs you almost nothing to implement.