Graceful #024 — What Fasting Actually Does for Your Skin (and How I Do It)
Fasting, Ageing & Why I Think It's Worth Paying Attention To
Fasting is one of those topics that seems to divide people into two very firm camps. Either it's the answer to everything; longevity, fat loss, glowing skin, boundless energy. Or it's restrictive, unsustainable, and best filed under wellness trends we don't have time for. Both feel like a bit of an overcorrection, if I'm honest.
As a skin specialist, fasting has been on my radar for a while. Not because I think it's a magic fix, but because of the why behind it. What's actually happening biologically during a fasted state, is deeply relevant to so many of the things we talk about in this newsletter. Ageing, skin health, inflammation, cellular repair. It's all connected. And I think, like most things in this space, it deserves a thoughtful look rather than a sweeping opinion in either direction.
So this week: what fasting actually is, why the science around it is interesting (particularly as we age), what I personally do, and a few ways to think about incorporating it if you're curious; without it feeling like another rule to follow.
First, some terminology:
Intermittent fasting (IF) is just an umbrella term for any eating pattern that moves between periods of eating and not eating. It's not a diet; it doesn't tell you what to eat, only when. The most talked-about version for everyday life is called time-restricted eating (TRE), where you compress all your meals into a set window each day.
You'll see it written in ratios: 12:12 means 12 hours eating, 12 hours fasting. 14:10 means a 14-hour fast and a 10-hour eating window. 16:8 is the most well-known: 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating. And before that sounds extreme: if you finish dinner at 7pm and eat breakfast at 7am, that's already a 12-hour fast. Most of us are closer to this than we think.
The other word worth knowing is autophagy, and I first touched on this back in Graceful #002, when we talked about the root causes of ageing. Autophagy literally means 'self-eating' (which sounds a little wild, but isn't). It's your body's built-in cellular clean-up process; ie the mechanism by which your cells break down and recycle damaged or worn-out components. Think of it as your body taking a little time, when it isn't busy digesting, to do its housekeeping. Clearing out what's old, damaged, or dysfunctional. Making space for healthier cell function.
Fasting is one of the most well-researched triggers for autophagy. And as we'll come to, that matters hugely when we're thinking about how we age.
Why this feels so relevant to ageing, and to skin
When we eat constantly, snacking throughout the day, even if it’s very healthily, and even in small amounts, our bodies are perpetually in 'processing mode'. Digestion is active, insulin is higher, and so the repair and regeneration pathways (including autophagy) essentially stay quiet because there's no signal that they're needed. The body is too busy.
Fasting creates a pause. And in that pause, some cool things happen:
Autophagy increases. As I mentioned in issue #002, cellular waste build-up is one of the real drivers of how we age. When autophagy is regularly suppressed (which it is, when we eat from the moment we wake until close to when we sleep) that waste accumulates. Over years, this contributes to dullness, slower skin repair, and the kind of general low-grade cellular fatigue that shows up in how we look and feel. Supporting autophagy through regular fasting windows is one of the more evidence-backed ways to help keep that process functioning.
Insulin sensitivity improves. Consistently elevated insulin (something constant snacking and late-night eating can contribute to) drives glycation (the process where sugar molecules attach to and stiffen collagen fibres, contributing to lines and loss of elasticity). A regular overnight fasting window helps keep insulin steadier, which over time is better for skin structure, inflammation levels, and metabolic health generally.
Inflammation decreases. Chronic low-grade inflammation ('inflammageing' as it's sometimes called) is one of the most documented contributors to biological ageing. Research into time-restricted eating has shown meaningful reductions in inflammatory markers over time, even in fairly gentle protocols.
The gut gets a rest. If you read Graceful #016 on the gut-skin axis, you'll know how much I think the gut underpins everything. Giving the digestive system a proper overnight break has been shown to support microbiome diversity and balance; and the knock-on effects of a healthier gut are things like skin clarity, hormone balance, and even our immunity.
I want to be clear that the research in this area (particularly around longer fasting windows) is still evolving, and some of it is contradictory (as so much nutrition science is). I'm not here to present fasting as a definitive answer. But the foundational logic of giving the body a meaningful overnight break is, I think, strong, and increasingly supported by some really credible work in the longevity space.
It isn't straightforward for everyone;
One thing I’ve read more recently however, is that fasting affects women differently than men, and the research hasn't always reflected that (oh no, we are in fact not, just small men). A lot of the most-cited studies were conducted on male subjects, and the hormonal picture for women (particularly around perimenopause and menopause) adds a layer of nuance that we need to be mindful of.
Mindy Pelz's book Fast Like a Girl is one I'd genuinely recommend if this topic interests you. It's one of the more thoughtful and accessible reads on fasting specifically through a female lens; looking at how our hormonal cycles should inform when and how we fast, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all protocol. The central idea is that fasting isn't something to do regardless of where you are hormonally, and that syncing your approach to your cycle (if you have one) makes a real difference to how your body responds.
If you’re not going to read it, the TLDR is: the follicular phase (the first half of your cycle) is generally when the body is more metabolically flexible and tolerant of longer fasting windows. The luteal phase (the second half, in the run-up to your period) is when the body is working harder, needs more fuel, and tends to be less suited to restriction. For women in perimenopause or postmenopause, where oestrogen is already in a different place, the conversation shifts again, and going too hard too often can place additional stress on an already-changing hormonal system.
This is why I'm cautious about sharing my thoughts on fasting online without considering the full picture and nuance, something that feels almost impossible in a single Instagram caption. What works amazingly for one person can feel genuinely terrible for another, and that has nothing to do with willpower.
What I aim for, and where to start:
I'm a big believer in finding something that works for your real life, not an ideal version of it. My baseline is a natural 12:12 most evenings; finish eating around 7 or 8pm, don't eat again until 7 or 8am. It happens fairly naturally; it's just about being a little more conscious of it. Twice a week I'll extend to 14:10, pushing my first meal to around 9 or 10am — herbal tea in the morning, a proper protein-rich meal mid-morning. And about once a fortnight, I swap one of those for a 16:8, but quite deliberately. Following Mindy Pelz's framework, I'll only do this in my follicular phase, not in the week before my period, and not on a day when I'm already tired or stressed.
It's less complicated than it sounds. I don't count hours obsessively. I just have a loose framework I find genuinely supportive, and I notice the difference when I drift from it both in energy and how well I sleep (and hopefully shall pay dividends over time). If you're starting out, the 12:12 is the place to begin, just a bit more consistency around dinner and breakfast timing, nothing dramatic. From there, a 14:10 once or twice a week is well-supported and very manageable.
I'd also mention, I personally find it much easier to finish eating earlier in the evening than to delay my first meal in the morning, and there's some interesting research to support this being particularly relevant for women.
One last thing I'd emphasise: make sure what you're eating in your window is actually nourishing, particularly focusing on protein. If you're extending your fast and under-eating in the hours you are eating, you'll feel it; flat energy, poor sleep, low mood and it’s then it is more detrimental than helpful. Fasting should feel like it's supporting you, not depleting you. And if you have any history of a complicated relationship with food, please take this one carefully and/or with guidance from a professional, or skip it altogether.
The bottom line:
I think fasting (in its gentler, more consistent forms) is one of the more interesting tools we have access to when it comes to supporting how we age. The cellular biology is compelling, the connection to skin health and inflammation is well documented, and when it's approached with a bit of care and hormonal awareness, it makes as lot of sense.
Is it the the answer to everything; no. It works best as part of a wider picture; alongside sleep, movement, nutrition, stress management, and everything else we talk about in this space. But as a daily habit of simply giving your body a meaningful overnight rest? I think it's worth it. And I say that as someone who's experimented, overcomplicated it, simplified it, and landed somewhere that actually feels good (and manageable).
As always, the best version of any of these things is the one you can actually sustain, not the most impressive one on paper.
From My Desk This Week:
One product I’m loving: Staying on theme this week, if fasting is something you're exploring, what you eat in your window matters just as much as the window itself, and I've become a little obsessed with making my first meal of the day count. I've been starting with a big scoop of collagen in my overnight chia seed breakfast pot; with a kiwi on top for extra digestion and vitamin C support (collagen is best absorbed with the addition of Vit C). I notice a difference in my hair and nails first, when I’m consistent with this.
What I’m reading/listening to: Clearly, Fast Like a Girl by Mindy Pelz has been on my bedside table again this month, and if this issue sparked any curiosity for you, it's the one I'd start with.
And on my morning walks lately I've been listening to The Curve podcast. Their new IOU series unpacks our relationship with money in a way that's more therapy session than finance lecture; the emotional side of how we spend, save, and stress. One of the hosts Vic is actually a client of mine, and she is just as wise and warm in real life as she sounds on mic. Highly recommend.
In the media: I recently read about the the Gen Z shift towards earlier dinner reservations and longer overnight fasts and the reasoning behind it is actually solid. Eating in line with your circadian rhythm rather than social convention is well-supported by research as we’ve already discussed. Interestingly, restaurants in cities like New York and London are already feeling it, with earlier restaurant sittings filling up in a way they never used to. The fashionable 9pm reservation may be having its moment of reckoning.
What I find most interesting is why this generation is paying attention. Social media gets bad press (rightly so, mostly) but it's also meant that more young people are genuinely engaged with their own biology than ever before. They're consuming content about cortisol, circadian rhythms and gut health before they've turned 25… I certainly wasn’t at that age.
Small shift to try this week: Note what time you finish eating tonight. No change required yet, just shine a light on it. Most of us I suspect, are eating later than we think. A 9pm finish with a 7am breakfast is a 10-hour gap. Nudging dinner earlier by even 30–45 minutes is a really easy way to start building a consistent overnight window; and your gut, your sleep, and your skin might thank you for it.
As always, I hope this helps us all navigate some popularised topics around ageing with intention and ease. I’d love to hear your questions or any topics you’d like me to break down in future newsletters, just reply to this email.
With grace,
Charlie x
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