The Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting & How To Do It

What is intermittent fasting?

Most diets focus on what you eat and the calories your food contains. Intermittent fasting is all about how often you eat and how much time you leave between your meals.

Research shows that intermittent fasting is not only a safe and effective way to lose weight, but it can also help prevent — or even reverse —some chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammatory bowel disease. It can also improve cognition, memory, and physical performance.

The way we live these days, i.e. eating three meals a day, sitting all day at desks and in cars, and snacking in front of TV screens until late at night, is not what our bodies have evolved to do.

Before farming was developed, we were hunters and gatherers who needed to survive for long periods without eating. So, we developed a mechanism whereby once sugar stores that came from food are exhausted, our bodies switched to burning fat for fuel.

When we eat frequently without exercising intensively, this mechanism doesn’t kick in, leading to unwanted weight gain and other conditions such as diabetes Type 2 and cardiovascular disease.

How to do intermittent fasting

There are different ways to do intermittent fasting, but they are all based on choosing regular time periods to eat and fast.

The two that are the easiest to maintain and the safest are:

• 16/8 Fasting, also called Time-restricted feeding: you fast for 16 hours every day and limit the window you eat in to eight hours. The most common approach is to skip breakfast and avoid eating anything after dinner.

• 5:2 Diet: You eat normally five days of the week, and on the other days, you restrict your calorie intake to between 500–600 a day.

Other formats that involve going without food for long periods, such as 24 or more hours, are not necessarily better for you and may even be unsafe or counterproductive. If you go too long without food, your body may think you’re starving and start storing fat instead of burning it.

It usually takes a few weeks for your body to get used to intermittent fasting. You will naturally feel hungry at times when you used to eat something before, and you might also feel irritable because of it. Try and stick it out because the benefits are worth it.

What to eat while intermittent fasting

During your fasting window, only drink water and zero-calorie beverages like black coffee and any kind of tea.

During your eating window, eat normally, but healthily. You’re not likely to lose weight or become healthier if your meals consist of calorific junk food and sweet treats.

The best results are usually achieved by following a Mediterranean diet, which is considered to be the best for overall health. The Mediterranean diet consists of lots of organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, lean protein, and unrefined carbohydrates.

Who should avoid intermittent fasting

The following groups should avoid intermittent fasting:

• Anyone under the age of 18

• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding

• Those with a history of eating disorders.

• People with type 1 diabetes who take insulin because intermittent fasting can result in unsafe levels of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) during the fasting period.

If you’re not in one of these categories, you can make intermittent fasting a permeant lifestyle change, but be vigilant and talk to your doctor if you start experiencing unusual anxiety, headaches, nausea or other symptoms after you start intermittent fasting.