Rarely do I make the recommendation to a client that they should partake in a “fad” diet or approach that isn’t sustainable long term, but with IF I make the exception.
Intermittent fasting helps you eat fewer calories, while boosting metabolism slightly. It is a very effective tool to lose weight and belly fat. When you fast, insulin levels drop and human growth hormone increases. Your cells also initiate important cellular repair processes and change which genes they express.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting:
· Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance and lower blood sugar levels, at least in men.
· Studies show that intermittent fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in the body. This should have benefits against aging and development of numerous diseases.
· Studies show that intermittent fasting can improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
· Fasting triggers a metabolic pathway called autophagy, which removes waste material from cells.
· Intermittent fasting has been shown to help prevent cancer in animal studies. One paper in humans showed that it can reduce side effects caused by chemotherapy.
· Intermittent fasting may have important benefits for brain health. It may increase growth of new neurons and protect the brain from damage.
Types of Fasts:
16:8 Method
The 16/8 Method involves fasting every day for 14–16 hours, and restricting your daily “eating window” to 8–10 hours. Within the eating window, you can fit in 2, 3 or more meals. It is very important to still eat mostly healthy foods during your eating window. This won’t work if you eat lots of junk food or excessive amounts of calories.
5:2 Diet
The 5:2 diet involves eating normally 5 days of the week, while restricting calories to 500–600 on two days of the week. On the fasting days, it is recommended that women eat 500 calories, and men 600 calories.
Eat-Stop-Eat
This involves a 24-hour fast, either once or twice per week. By fasting from dinner one day, to dinner the next, this amounts to a 24-hour fast. For example, if you finish dinner on Monday at 7 pm, and don’t eat until dinner the next day at 7 pm, then you’ve just done a full 24-hour fast.
The Warrior Diet
It involves eating small amounts of raw fruits and vegetables during the day, then eating one huge meal at night. Basically, you fast all day and feast at night within a 4 hour eating window.
However, you don’t actually need to follow a structured intermittent fasting plan to reap some of the benefits. Another option is to simply skip meals from time to time, when you don’t feel hungry or are too busy to cook and eat. It is a myth that people need to eat every few hours or they will hit starvation mode or lose muscle. The human body is well equipped to handle long periods of famine, let alone missing one or two meals from time to time.
People that should avoid fasting:
· Insulin dependent Diabetics
· Endurance Athletes
· People with a history of Eating Disorders
· Pregnant Women
· People who take medications for blood pressure or heart disease
If you are considering intermittent fasting, make sure to discuss it with your doctor or health professional and if you’d like to look closer at your own health and nutrition, send me an email at info@healthwiseglobal.com
