For most of our history, intermittent fasting was not a voluntary option. Due to the scarcity of food and the difficulty of storing it, it was common for people to spend hours or even days without eating. But moving on to the present day, we find that most people never turn away from a quick snack.
This sharp contrast in eating habits made people wonder whether those food-free periods were beneficial. If so, should we reintroduce it into our lives?
To be clear, intermittent fasting usually refers to an eating plan in which you restrict food intake to specific times or days. For example, eating only during an eight-hour window within a 24-hour period (often referred to as a 16:8 diet), or restricting your calorie intake to two out of every seven days (known as a 5:2 diet) According to sciencefocus.com.
Pros
First, yes: fasting can help you lose weight, especially fat. “When you eat fewer times a day, you generally eat less overall,” says Dr. Jason Fung, author of The Complete Guide to Fasting. “Fasting creates structure for your eating day. It’s simple, flexible, and intuitive.”
Read also… Intermittent fasting, including: 8 tips that improve memory
Often, when we try to follow traditional calorie-restricted diets, several things happen that try to maintain the same weight: we feel hungry all the time, we move a little less, and we use less energy.
Fasting appears to alleviate some of these problems: In a small but controlled study, volunteers who restricted their food intake to a six-hour window each day were able to consume the same amount of energy as usual, with lower levels of the hunger hormone (ghrelin) and less desire to eat.
There is also evidence that fasting helps your body burn fat. “When you eat constantly, you are constantly pumping insulin into the blood, which directs the body to store fat,” says gut health expert Dr. Darryl Giuffre. “Fasting helps produce ketones, a chemical the liver produces when breaking down fat, which the body can use as an energy source.”
Intermittent fasting also reduces the time the body spends in a digestive state, during which blood sugar and fat levels are high. Therefore, intermittent fasting appears to be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, and may improve vascular health, although some of these benefits may come from weight loss and calorie restriction.
“There is strong evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting is beneficial for heart and metabolic health,” says Brady Holmer, an Examine.com researcher who conducts doctoral research on cardiovascular physiology.
He adds, “It is difficult to determine long-term effects because most studies on this topic range from only 6 to 12 months in duration. But the research I read indicates that intermittent fasting improves risk factors for heart health in the long term, such as weight, body fat percentage, and blood lipids.” “And blood pressure. If intermittent fasting is good for these results up to about a year, I have a hard time believing that doing it for longer could lead to negative health outcomes.”
Finally, there is some evidence that fasting may protect against other aging problems, such as improving autophagy, which is the body’s way of cleaning up damaged or non-functional cellular material.
Read also… How does intermittent fasting support sleep quality?
Cons
So, are there any downsides to intermittent fasting? Recently, research presented to the American Heart Association has drawn attention with claims linking restricting food intake for fewer than eight hours a day to a 91% increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, with researchers suggesting that a lack of muscle mass may be the cause.
It is important to note that this study was neither peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal, but rather a scientific abstract.
First, the data came from an observational study that relied on people recalling their eating habits over two 24-hour periods, meaning that the people studied were not necessarily deliberately fasting, but rather only remembered eating in an eight-hour window for several days.
There was also a problem with sample size: “Although the total number of study exceeded 20,000 people, the group studied was only about 2% of the total, with about 30 cases associated with heart disease recorded,” noted nutritionist Drew Price.
“This is a problem because it means there is a greater chance that your sample is not representative of the general population. In fact, the eight-hour group appears to have had a higher proportion of smokers, who are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than the general population.”
What about researchers’ concerns about muscle mass? Body composition may be more difficult to study over the long term than other outcomes, but short-term studies favor fasting.
“With traditional calorie-restricted diets, about three-quarters of the weight lost is from fat mass, and another quarter is from lean mass,” Price says. [العضلات]. However, some data shows that intermittent fasting may be better for fat loss.”
The biggest problem with fasting may be the same problem that hinders other types of diets: some people may not find this method suitable for them.
Some reviews suggest that people may have difficulty getting adequate amounts of protein during intermittent fasting. As for people who have a history of eating disorders or who overeat when they feel hungry, they should consult a specialist before starting fasting (as well as anyone who suffers from health problems that require eating regular meals).
Read also… Drinks allowed to be consumed during the intermittent fasting diet
So what if you’re thinking about trying intermittent fasting?
“My view, as a nutritionist and former strength and fitness coach, is that research suggests you should do the same things you would on a traditional calorie-restricted diet,” Price says.
“Make sure you’re getting enough protein to mitigate any issues with muscle loss. Also, a small amount of resistance exercise can be very helpful – one or two 20-30 minute sessions a week can really help.”
If you’re concerned about the lack of long-term evidence about fasting, it’s helpful to approach it in the same way you would a regular diet: as something you do every now and then, rather than always. As with any diet, what you eat still matters and needs careful considerations – especially when you’re ready to break your fast.
#Intermittent #fasting #ideal #solution #weight #loss