Intermittent Fasting Diet – Beginner's Guide

Intermittent fasting has become the buzzy diet of the moment among celebrities and only swears by him. Jenna Jameson loves it, Vanessa Hudgens says it makes her feel "healthier" and Halle Berry says she usually only takes two meals a day with her fasting diet intermittently.

But intermittent fasting is not suitable for everyone. After all, it's about fasting (yup, not eating) for a given period. Clearly, it's not going to be good for everyone.

Although you probably understand the basics of fasting, you might be a bit vague about the details of what it means to be on a diet without an intermittent meal. Here's how it works, as well as what you can actually eat when you're on it.

So … what is intermittent fasting, exactly?

Intermittent fasting articulates around a series of periods of meals and fasts, that is, periods when you are not eating. "Intermittent fasting is when you allow yourself to eat each day at a specific time," says Alissa Rumsey, dietician, dietician in New York and owner of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition and Wellness. It's usually a matter of fasting for a certain number of hours or even days spaced during the week, and there is no "right" way to do it, says Sonya Angelone, RD, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

"There are so many kinds of fasts now," says Rumsey. The 5: 2 diet is one of them. In this diet, women consume less than 500 calories (less than 600 calories for men) two days a week, not consecutive. So you could have a 500 calorie day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then eat normally on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. With the 5: 2 diet, you do not need to eat certain foods, you simply limit the amount you eat during certain periods.

The 16: 8 diet is another type of popular intermittent fasting. With this diet, you only eat eight hours a day. You can technically choose when you want your eight-hour period to be up, but most people tend to stop eating at some evening time, such as at 6 pm, and then wait to eat at again until 16 hours later (in this case, would be at 10 o'clock). In this way, you sleep part of your fast instead of sitting down to think about the food you eat. do not eat for a good part of the day.

There is also what is called 24-hour fasting (or full fasting on a spare day). "It requires eating all foods for 24 hours, once or twice a week," says Angelone.

BTW: We do not expect you to survive only in the air during fasting periods. People will usually drink water, tea, coffee and other high calorie or non-caloric drinks during this time.

Why have intermittent fasting diets become so popular?

In 2012, BBC reporter Michael Mosley published a television documentary titled Eat fast, live longer, followed by a book, The fast dietwhich brought the idea of ​​intermittent fasting to the forefront of culture. In 2013, journalist Kate Harrison published her book The diet 5: 2 and in 2016, Jason Fung, MD, had a bestseller with The code of obesity, a book that explains how to use intermittent fasting to fight insulin resistance and achieve a healthy weight.

With the books, celebrities approved the diet, which certainly did not hurt the tendency to intermittent fasting. (I mean, do you have seen Halle Berry?) "Many influential people have talked about their intermittent fasting experience, which has earned them an important place on social media platforms," ​​says Rumsey.

People also like intermittent fasting because it does not require much thought. "It's not necessary to count calories, macros or measure ketones," says Angelone. "You can eat almost anything you want between a given period, although most programs recommend eating healthy when you eat."

Can you lose weight with intermittent fasting?

Research has linked intermittent fasting with weight loss, but few studies have shown that intermittent fasting is a better method of weight loss than other diets. For example: a meta-badysis published in the JBI database on systematic reviews and implementation reports in 2018, revealed that intermittent fasting had similar weight loss results to those of a traditional calorie restricted diet.

In some cases, even when intermittent fasting resulted in weight loss, it was not the most durable diet. A randomized clinical trial of 100 metabolically healthy obese adults (published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2017) found that people who fasted every other day for a year lost only slightly more weight than those who ate a low-calorie diet daily. The difference in weight loss was so small that it was not considered clinically significant and 38% of those in the fasting group every other day had trouble sticking to the diet. Whomp whomp.

Research has shown that you can lose weight with an intermittent fasting diet, but you can also lose weight by monitoring what you eat. It should also be emphasized that weight loss due to intermittent fasting is not guaranteed. "Some people can lose weight in the short term, but many end up gaining weight," says Rumsey.

And most of the research on intermittent fasting was done only on obese people. "There is virtually no credible research showing that intermittent fasting is beneficial for people with healthy weights," says Scott Keatley, RD, of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. If you are interested in intermittent fasting but do not have much weight to lose, it may not be the best diet for you.

Does Intermittent Fasting Have Long-Term Health Benefits?

More and more research suggests that intermittent fasting has health benefits besides weight loss. A study published in Cell metabolism in 2018, intermittent fasts, insulin levels and blood pressure are lower. The researchers followed a small group of obese men with prediabetes – some were subjected to an intermittent fasting 16/8 diet, while others ate for a period of 12 hours. Both groups did not gain or lose weight. But after five weeks, men in the 16: 8 group had much lower insulin levels and improved sensitivity to insulin. They also significantly reduced their blood pressure and reported having a loss of appetite. They were not as hungry as before, even though they were fasting.

This may seem counterintuitive, but appetite control is a big advantage of fasting. A recent study in the journal Obesity showed that people who ate only six hours, compared to a normal schedule, were less hungry than the control group, even though both groups consumed the same amount of calories. Intermittent fasting has also been badociated with increased neuroplasticity or the brain's ability to establish new synaptic connections and fight injuries.

Unfortunately, there has not been a ton of human research tracking the effects of intermittent fasting over the long term. Although some studies have followed participants for a year, it is about as long as most of them go away. The story is slightly different as far as rats are concerned. "In rodents, intermittent fasting has been proven to prevent age-related diseases, including tumors, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and even prolongs life," says Keatley. But, he adds, "there is a big difference between rats and humans and the research does not show these benefits enough to actually recommend them as a fountain of youth".

Should I avoid foods that follow an intermittent fasting diet?

This is a huge advantage of intermittent fasting: technically, you do not have to change what you eat, you just have to eat in a given amount of time.

That said, many people have badociated intermittent fasting with another type of diet, such as keto. (Jenna, Halle and Vanessa all said they do.) Again, this is not a requirement, but intermittent fasting while changing your diet could help you get results faster.

Does Intermittent Fasting Have Side Effects?

There are some things that can happen when you follow an intermittent fasting diet. One thing to note is that fasting can interfere with your hunger signals. "Since people only allow themselves to eat in a certain amount of time, they completely ignore their internal hunger signals," says Rumsey. "This encourages people to ignore the hunger signals, which means that once they are allowed to eat, they are hungry and it can be difficult to stop eating. . " This could lead to an unhealthy obsession with food for some people, says Rumsey.

Some fasting people find that their diet makes them sharper and more alert, but alternatively, fasting for long periods of time can also lead to mental confusion, disturbed sleep, and decreased alertness, says Rumsey. And, she adds, fasting for long periods of time "strikes your blood sugar," forcing you to switch between low blood sugar and a peak when you eat again.

Should I try intermittent fasting?

It really depends. If you feel that you have a healthy relationship with food and that you're doing well with the settings, it may be fine for you. This is certainly not an easy diet if you hate the feeling of being hungry, but fasting periods become easier and easier with time, Angelone explains.

Although everyone can try intermittent fasting, in the end, people who are overweight and / or suffering from high blood pressure or high cholesterol (but who are in good health) are considered the best fit for the diet. food, said Angelone.

How do I start?

There is really no magic plan to follow with this, but you can try to find a form of intermittent fasting that makes the most sense to you. The 5: 2 diet can be tricky because it involves caloric restriction one day at a time. So it would be best to start with a diet like the 16: 8 diet and move on from there if you feel good.

You also want to define what you hope to remove from intermittent fasting. You can also consult an expert, such as your doctor or dietician, before diving. "Work with a professional who understands your goals and can help you determine what you need to eat to achieve such a diet," says Keatley. He then recommends targeting "small changes and small gains because they are the least likely to hurt and provide the most sustainable benefits".

Above all, listen to your body. If you feel hungry all the time and are a bit miserable on an intermittent fasting diet, this is probably not the solution for you. If you like simplicity and you notice the weight loss or the results you want for health, do it fast.