The Coronavirusdiabetes Connection

Lastly, if you are under high levels of stress or in intense athletic training, consider steering clear. Especially avoid extreme 36:12 fasting, which calls for 12 hours of unlimited eating followed by 36 hours of zero calories.

“When you do any type of fast, part of the benefit comes from mildly stressing your body; just like when you lift weights, you damage the muscle to make it stronger,” says

Robin Foroutan, RD, an integrative medicine dietitian in New York City and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “With fasting, you are stressing out the body, but it gets stronger in response.” And, if you stick to the program, it can get thinner too.