THE WISDOM BEHIND INTERMITTENT FASTING
I
ntermittent Fasting or IF is the latest fitness buzzword. Almost everyone with a fitness goal is on it. After following it for over a year and a half, I have slowly transitioned to prolonged fasting inspired by the benefits I now enjoy.
What is IF? It is certainly not a diet. IF is an eating pattern with distinct phases of fasting and eating. There are no specific food items to eat, just a prescribed eating window.
The most common is a 16-hour daily fast which offers an eight-hour window to take meals. In my case, I skip breakfast and I have my lunch at 12 noon. With an eight-hour eating window, my last meal is at 8 p.m. That eating pattern was already my normal so it wasn’t hard to sustain the practice.
I know some people who love breakfast so they take breakfast at 9 a.m. and dinner at 5 pm. The next day, breakfast will again be at 9 a.m. completing a 16hour fast in between (including sleeping time).
As with most fitness trends, Hollywood celebrities inspire the public to try the practice. Halle Berry revealed in an Instagram Story that she practices Intermittent Fasting, and typically skips breakfast. Halle fasts for 16 hours and then eats meals during the remaining eight hours of the day.
Hugh Jackman was also among the first to practice IF. He, too, follows a 16-hour fasting period, allocating eight hours to eat his meals. Nicole Kidman also swears by the eight-hour fasting rule. When she eats, she feasts on lean proteins and veggies.
Those who get used to the above (like myself) transition to a prolonged fast of 24 or 36 hours twice or thrice a week. I have two favorite Western doctors who recommend prolonged fasts. One recommends alternating a 24-hour fast with eight- hour eating windows. The other promotes a two-consecutiveday 24-hour fasts and five days of 8-hour eating windows.
Fasting is a practice embraced by different religions and is a remedy prescribed by ancient doctors. Weight loss is the primary positive effect of IF but here are other reported benefits.
When you fast, your body adjusts hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) levels may increase by as much as five times. Levels of insulin in the body drop also dramatically.
During fasting, your cells initiate cellular repair processes like autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells.
IF increases the release of the fat burning hormone norepinephrine (noradrenaline). In a 2014 study, it was found that IF can cause 3 to 8 percent weight loss over 3 to 24 weeks, which is a significant amount compared to most weight loss studies.
According to the same study, people also lost 4 to 7 percent of their waist circumference. A significant loss of harmful belly fat that builds up around your organs causes disease.
IF can help you lose weight and belly fat, without calorie restriction. IF can also reduce insulin resistance, lowering blood sugar by 3 to 6 percent and fasting insulin levels by 20–31 percent.
IF may reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin resistance — all risk factors for heart disease.
Hunger is of course the main side effect of Intermittent Fasting. You may also feel weak. Most of the time, these will go away once your body adapts to the new eating pattern.
IF allows water, coffee, tea, clear broth and other non-caloric beverages. Coffee and tea should be taken black without sugar or creamer. I can attest that one can still exercise while fasting. In fact, some say the last 30 minutes before your eating window might be the best time to exercise.
To prevent muscle loss, it is important to lift weights and keep your protein intake high. One study revealed that IF causes less muscle loss than regular calorie restriction. Fasting also doesn’t slow down metabolism. In fact, short-term fasts actually boost metabolism. Longer fasts of three or more days can decrease metabolism.
* * *
Intermittent Fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat, without calorie restriction. IF may reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin resistance — all risk factors for heart disease.