Nathan Cherry | On August 20, 2018

There’s a very simple “economic stimulus” being overlooked by nearly every American household.

Economic growth is a hot topic today. America is in the midst of one of the largest periods of economic expansion in history. Concerted efforts to keep the expansion going are being discussed in the halls of Congress and in every state house in the country. But what if one of the easiest ways to stimulate the economy doesn’t need the approval of the President or a single politician?

What if I said I could put $200, $300, or even $400 per month back into your pocket right now?

What if there is an “economic stimulus package” that needs no approval, no legislation, and no political votes to start taking effect right now? And, if you begin implementing it, your family could see thousands of dollars in savings every year. Would you be interested?

In order to begin saving money, and improve your health, all you need to do is begin intermittent fasting and a simple diet change.

About 10 years ago I made a change in my diet. I’m not a dietician, not in the medical industry, I’m just a guy that used common sense to make a lifestyle change that I hoped would help. What did I do?

I decided that since I sat at a desk most days, and was not as active as I once was, that I would eat less. I decided that it would be best for me to eat within a certain period of time each day in order to go long stretches of time without eating. The result is that I began “intermittent fasting” on a regular basis.

Intermittent fasting is the practice of not eating for 12, 16, or even 24 hours at a time as a regular part of your diet. The practice contains your eating to a “window” or no more than 12 hours. For instance, if you have your morning coffee at 9 AM, you would eat lunch and dinner and stop eating by 9 PM. You would then go from 9 PM until 9 AM the next day without eating anything.

This is very different than the eating schedule most people currently observe that has them eating breakfast (or drinking coffee) at 7AM and having a snack before bed at 10 PM. And it’s this “normal” American eating schedule, involving multiple meals and snacks, that is causing so many of the physical and health issues Americans are facing.

Last year, Jerry Bowyer interviewed Dr. Jason Fung, a Canadian nephrologist and leading proponent of intermittent fasting as a lifestyle to cure common health issues. Dr. Fung has been spearheading the charge to educate people on how this simple technique of intermittent fasting can be a path forward to curing everything from diabetes to knee problems. Dr. Fung’s book, “The Obesity Code”,has become a guide for many people in transforming their lives.

In the Forbes Magazine interview from 2017, Dr. Fung teaches that if people would use intermittent fasting as a simple, and free method of losing weight, many other medical issues would take care of themselves:

If you could make them lose weight — and we all know this — those patients wouldn’t have these problems. They wouldn’t have the Type 2 diabetes. They wouldn’t have the high blood pressure. They wouldn’t have the cholesterol issues. But the downstream problems of Type 2 diabetes cost a lot of money. So keep in mind that Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of blindness; the leading cause of kidney failure and dialysis, which is very expensive; one of the leading causes of strokes; cancers; heart attacks.

So practically a half of medicine — modern medicine — is related to metabolic syndrome. So therefore, the implication is that you could actually prevent all these diseases along with the human cost, but also the financial cost, simply by spreading the knowledge that people can take care of these problems, really, for free.”

There is plenty of evidence now that diet and weight are closely linked to many of the health issues Americans are facing. So the obvious question is, what if people lost weight? If the extra 50 or 100 pounds people have been carrying for the last decade (or two) were suddenly gone, what benefit would this present?

Not only would the diabetes rates in America plunge, but so would the need for many medications, the need for knee and hip replacements, and the need for ongoing medical treatment. Imagine the amount of money Americans would save every year on pills and doctor’s visits alone.

But, and this is really the point of this article, imagine how much money the average American household could save each week, month, and year by not eating as much. Part of this lifestyle of intermittent fasting is to skip meal regularly. I haven’t eaten breakfast on a regular basis in more than a decade. And while the average American eats 21 meals per week, I average 12. That’s 9 meals not being eaten every week. It’s also 9 meals not being bought.

People often wonder how I am able to feed my entire family on 40% of the average American food budget. The combination of intermittent fasting and no snacking is the answer. On top of it all, my family rarely visits the doctor. I haven’t been to a doctor in more than 15 years.

What is the economic impact of intermittent fasting? It’s incalculable. It has the potential to transform the health and economic position of our entire culture.

Originally published on Townhall Finance.

Nathan Cherry

Nathan Cherry is the son of a preacher. He’s enjoyed a full ministry experience and has had the privilege of leading a praise band for nearly a decade. Nathan went to Liberty University where he earned an Associates degree in Biblical Studies. He then moved to West Virginia to serve at a church with his father and brother. At Trinity Theological Seminary he earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biblical Studies.