Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss
The diet approach is growing in popularity as a way to possibly lose weight, stave off disease, and boost longevity. But there are several different ways to do it, depending on your lifestyle and goals. One strategy that has become popular in recent years is called intermittent fasting, Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves regular, short-term fasts — or periods of minimal or no food consumption.
Most people understand intermittent fasting as a weight-loss intervention. Fasting for short periods of time helps people eat fewer calories, which may result in weight loss over time.
What Is Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a diet regimen that cycles between brief periods of fasting, with either no food or significant calorie reduction and periods of unrestricted eating. It is promoted to change body composition through loss of fat mass and weight and to improve markers of health that are associated with diseases such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Its roots derive from traditional fasting, a universal ritual used for health or spiritual benefit as described in early texts by Socrates, Plato, and religious groups.
How It Works
The most common methods are fasting on alternate days, for whole days with a specific frequency per week, or during a set time frame.
Alternate-day fasting—Alternating between days of no food restriction with days that consist of one meal that provides about 25% of daily calorie needs. Example: Mon-Wed-Fri consists of fasting, while alternate days have no food restrictions.
Whole-day fasting—1-2 days per week of complete fasting or up to 25% of daily calorie needs, with no food restriction on the other days. Example: The 5:2 diet approach advocates no food restriction five days of the week, cycled with a 400-500 calorie diet the other two days of the week.
Time-restricted feeding—Following a meal plan each day with a designated time frame for fasting. Example: Meals are eaten from 8 am-3 pm, with fasting during the remaining hours of the day.
Also read: Best Healthy Foods to Gain Weight Fast: Health Trends
Does It Follow Restrictions/Preferences?
You choose what food you eat, so you can make it work with food restrictions — whether you’re vegetarian or vegan, high- or low-carb, avoiding fat, etc. But it’s worth noting that you could have side effects like fatigue, weakness, and headaches.
1. 5:2 Fasting
This is one of the most popular IF methods. Five days per week, you eat normally and don’t restrict calories. Then, on the other two days of the week, you reduce your calorie intake to one-quarter of your daily needs. and then on the other two eat 500 or 600 calories a day for women and men, respectively. The fasting days are any days of your choosing. The 5:2 diet is just as effective as daily calorie restriction for weight loss and blood glucose control among those with type 2 diabetes.
2. Overnight Fasting
This approach is the simplest of the bunch and involves fasting for a 12-hour period every day. For example: Choose to stop eating after dinner by 7 p.m. and resume eating at 7 a.m. with breakfast the next morning. Autophagy does still happen at the 12-hour mark, though you’ll get more mild cellular benefits, says Shemek. This is the minimum number of fasting hours she recommends.
3. 16/8 Fasting
The plan restricts food consumption and calorie-containing beverages to a set window of 8 hours per day. It requires abstaining from food for the remaining 16 hours of the day. While other diets can set strict rules and regulations, the 16/8 method is based on a time-restricted feeding (TRF) model and more flexible.
You can choose any 8-hour window to consume calories. Some people opt to skip breakfast and fast from noon to 8 p.m., while others avoid eating late and stick to a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. Limiting the number of hours that you can eat during the day may help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure.
4.Eat Stop Eat
This approach was developed by author Brad Pilon in his book Eat Stop Eat: The Shocking Truth That Makes Weight Loss Simple AgainThis intermittent fasting plan involves identifying one or two non-consecutive days per week during which you abstain from eating, or fast, for a 24-hour period.
During the remaining days of the week, you can eat freely, but it’s recommended to eat a well-rounded diet and avoid overconsumption. The rationale behind a weekly 24-hour fast is that consuming fewer calories will lead to weight loss. Fasting for up to 24 hours can lead to a metabolic shift that causes your body to use fat as an energy source instead of glucose. But avoiding food for 24 hours at a time requires a lot of willpower and may lead to binging and overconsumption later on. It may also lead to disordered eating patterns.
5. Alternate-Day Fasting
It is an unconventional approach to intermittent fasting popularized by Krista Varady, Ph.D., a nutrition professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago, People might fast every other day, with a fast consisting of 25 percent of their calorie needs (about 500 calories) and nonfasting days being normal eating days.
Alternate-day fasting has proven weight loss benefits. A randomized pilot study comparing alternate-day fasting to a daily caloric restriction in adults with obesity found both methods to be equally effective for weight loss. Another study found that participants consumed 35% fewer calories and lost an average of 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg) after alternating between 36 hours of fasting and 12 hours of unlimited eating over 4 weeks.If you really want to maximize weight loss, adding an exercise regime to your life can help.
6. Choose-Your-Day Fasting
This is more of a choose-your-own adventure. You might do the time-restricted fasting (fast for 16 hours, eat for eight, for instance) every other day or once or twice a week, says Shemek. What that means is Sunday might be a normal day of eating and you’d stop eating by 8 p.m.; then you’d resume eating again on Monday at noon. Essentially, it’s like skipping breakfast a few days a week.
Benefits Of Fasting
1. It can help you lose weight
2. Fasting keeps blood sugar nice and steady
3. Fasting might promote brain health
4. It could help protect against depression
Is Fasting Safe..?
Science suggests that fasting can have a number of big health benefits, including helping you lose weight, regulating your blood sugar, and keeping your body in better shape overall.
In short, there are lots of good reasons to give it a try. Just talk with your doctor first. Fasting can take different forms and can sometimes have negative side effects, so it’s worth figuring out what type of fasting plan will work best for you and how to avoid or minimize any possible downsides.
Also read: How To Lose Weight Fast Without Exercise: Health Trends