Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term for a dieting technique that cycles between periods of fasting and non-fasting. Unlike traditional diets, it does not focus on food restrictions. Instead, it manages the timing of meals to change the way that the body responds to food, and teach it to burn fuel more efficiently. It forces the body to burn fats, rather than carbohydrates, as fuel. It has been shown to help with weight loss without feeling hunger, help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, help to alleviate epilepsy and rheumatoid arthritis, and if done correctly, intermittent fasting can also lead to better sleep and improved energy.
Intermittent fasting also provides a number of other health benefits, including:
• Promoting insulin sensitivity: Optimal insulin sensitivity is crucial for health, while poor insulin sensitivity contributes to nearly all chronic diseases
• Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as the “hunger hormone”
• Increasing the rate of HGH production, which has an important role in health, fitness, and slowing the aging process
• Lowering triglyceride levels
• Counteracting muscle aging and wasting, and boosting fat-burning
• Heightening cognitive and motor ability
While there are advantages to intermittent fasting, it’s not for everyone. The biggest risk factors that people should watch for are hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and low blood pressure, which can cause dizziness and possibly fainting. Certain individuals with diabetes, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, poor diets, those who have unsupported thyroid dysfunction and/or are pregnant/breastfeeding should seek the advice of a doctor before undertaking any kind of fasting. Additionally, individuals who live in chronic stress would be best served to avoid fasting all together.
There are no hard and fast rules to intermittent fasting, and there are many different, accepted methods for managing meal periods.
Popular methods include:
• The 16:8 Method: The 16:8 Method divides fasting by hours. This involves fasting for 16 hours at a time, and then eating 100 percent of all caloric needs within an 8-hour window a day.
• The 5:2 Method: The 5:2 Method spreads out fasting across days of the week, and also specifies caloric restrictions. With the 5:2 Method, fasting is scheduled for two days out of the week (typically Mondays and Thursdays). During this time, women are restricted to eating no more than 500 calories per fasting day, and 600 per fasting day for men. On the non-fasting days, both men and women may eat regularly with no restrictions.
• The “Eat-Stop-Eat” Method: Initially, this may seem to be a more difficult method of intermittent fasting for beginners. With this method, participants do not eat any meals or snacks for a period of 24 hours one to two times a week, not to exceed 36 hours of fasting at a time.One of the easiest ways to get started is to fast 3 hours before bed. Assuming the person sleeps for about 8 hours, they will quickly reach 11 hours of fasting or longer by the time they wake up.
Because intermittent fasting automatically reduces your weekly or daily calorie consumption, it’s important to be in an environment that supports a healthy diet. If your daily diet is normally filled with processed foods, additives, chemicals, and refined sugars or grains, it’s important to begin moving away from these foods before beginning. Intermittent fasting should be done for short periods of time, on a healthy diet, in an environment that is as free of chemicals as possible.
If you’re thinking of trying intermittent fasting, it’s important to remember that it is not a form of extreme calorie restriction. You and your body should be feeling better than before. If this isn’t happening, it might be a sign that your strategy needs re-evaluating. Like many diets or workouts, the effectiveness of intermittent fasting is directly related to your ability to stick with it, so it’s careful to consider your lifestyle and needs before moving forward with any of the methods. Meet with a registered dietitian and expert on intermittent fasting to discuss your goals, needs and progress.