Want to lose weight without any equipment or going to the Gym? One of the convenient and effort-taking ways is a phenomenon known as intermittent fasting. It is an alternate routine where one switches between fasting and eating. It doesn’t emphasise what you should eat rather when you should eat. The timings are an essential point here. Of course, hunger could be a problem, but when you begin, later on, it eases your craving for food for a specific time. Backed by science, what more does it contain or have to say about the whole process? Dive in the article to know about it.
People already “fast” every day as and when they sleep. Intermittent fasting can be similar but could extend it a little more.
For example, One can do this by skipping lunch and by eating your first meal at breakfast at 10 am with your last meal at 6 pm. Here you’re technically fasting for 16 hours every day and limiting yourself from eating to an 8-hour eating window. It is the most prominent form of intermittent fasting, commonly known as the 16/8 method. One can have fluids like water, coffee, tea and other non-caloric beverages instead of solid food particles.
Generally, intake of supplements is permitted while fasting, as long as there are no calories in them.
Johns Hopkins Neuroscientist Mark Mattson, Ph.D., read and assessed intermittent fasting for 25 years. He states that our bodies have developed to go without food for numerous hours or even several days or longer. Before humans learning farms, they were hunters and gatherers who sustained and thrived for long periods without eating in prehistoric times.
“There were no computers, and T.V. shows turned off at 11 pm; people stopped eating because they went to bed. Portions were much smaller. More people worked and played outside and, in general, got more exercise,” said Johns Hopkins dietitian Christie Williams, M.S., R.D.N., focusing on healthy weight, which was easier to regulate even 50 years ago.
He added, “Nowadays, T.V., the internet and other entertainment are available 24/7. We stay awake for longer hours to catch our favourite shows, play games and chat online. We’re sitting and snacking all day and most of the night.”
Intermittent fasting functions by prolonging the period when your body has burned through the calories undertaken during your last meal and starts burning fat.
Following are some of the benefits of intermittent fasting:
- Thinking and memory: Research studies have shown that intermittent fasting improves working memory in animals and verbal memory in adult humans.
- Heart health: Intermittent fasting enhances blood pressure and resting heart rates, including other heart-related issues.
- Physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours revealed fat loss while regulating muscle mass. Mice who were offered on alternate days presented better endurance in the running.
- Obesity: In animal studies, intermittent fasting avoided an obesity issue, and in six brief studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting.
It is a simple “life hack” that makes one’s life easier while enhancing your health at the same time. The fewer meals one needs to plan for, the simpler your life will be.
The other two ways comprise eat-stop-eat where once or twice a week, one doesn’t eat anything from dinner one day until dinner the next day (a 24-hour-fast) and 5:2 Diet includes two days of the week, consuming only about 500–600 calories. Fasting periods for 24, 48, 72-hours could be risky for your body.
It’s essential to consult with your doctor before beginning intermittent fasting. Once you get his or her nod, the actual practice is suitable.
