Intermittent Fasting - For better or for worse?

When the word “fasting” is associated with a person, the first thought that pops into someone’s mind is: “She’s trying to lose weight.” Although that could be the reason, time-restricted feeding has various benefits that impact one’s health in a positive way. First of all, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern in which repeated cycles of fasting and eating are observed. This pattern mainly focuses on when you eat, not specifically what you eat. Studies, done by top universities such as University of Copenhagen and Australian Catholic University, have shown that intermittent fasting effectively improves health without the alternate of the body’s “core clock.”

Within intermittent fasting, there are a variety of methods that can be followed. In other words, there is no set way to fast since these intervals can be split differently. For example, some of the popular methods followed are:

• The 16/8 Method (or Leangains Protocol): Popularized by fitness expert Martin Berkhan, this technique revolves around the idea of a 8-hour eating period followed by a 16-hour fasting period. This eating period can be set at any time, but the 16-hour fasting period must be followed immediately after the eating period.

• Eat-Stop-Eat: This technique is the concept of a 24-hour fast, performed once or twice a week. This fast can be started from any meal; for example, not eating anything from breakfast one day till breakfast the next day.

• The 5:2 diet: This technique involves two non-consecutive “diet” days in which one consumes a minimal amount of calories while eating normally the other days. According to health experts, women should eat 500 calories on their “diet” days while men should eat 600 calories.

Intermittent fasting majorly impacts the endocrine system, which is the organ system that deals with body metabolism as well as growth and development. As one starts to observe frequent fasting, hormone levels (directed by the pituitary and hypothalamus mainly) within the body adjust to the change in diet. Some of these changes include the skyrocketing of the Growth hormone (which increases weight loss and muscle gain), improvement of insulin levels, initiation of cell repair, alteration of gene function relating to disease protection, etc. These changes result in the following health benefits: weight loss, reduction in inflammation, heart health, blood stability, anti-aging, a reduced chance of diabetes, etc.

Overall, intermittent fasting is an excellent approach to achieve weight loss and tackle obesity while improving long-term health. However, it’s important to recognize if you should be fasting. Those with medical conditions, eating disorders, or pregnant should not follow such fasts as it can be more harmful than helpful. Another key point is to remember that eating junk food within the eating period and fasting for hours won’t make a difference. It’s important to incorporate this eating pattern in a balanced and healthy manner. So, is intermittent fasting just for weight loss? Definitely not!

Citations

- https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156

- https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide#who-shouldnt

- https://scitechdaily.com/intermittent-fasting-improves-health-without-altering-the-bodys-core-clock/

- https://drjockers.com/intermittent-fasting-improves-heart-health/