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Intermittent fasting (IF) is where you eat normally for certain periods and then fast, or refrain from eating, at other times.
It’s no secret that eating less leads to weight loss. However, there more than this to intermittent fasting.
The theory is to bring your insulin levels down low enough, and for long enough, so that the fat cells in your body will release the excess sugar they are storing. Insulin is the key to bringing sugar into the fat cells and a lack of insulin helps them to release it.
This type of “fasting” does not mean starvation though. Generally, you will be able to take a limited number of calories while fasting, ranging from 500 for women and 600 for men (compared with a normal daily intake of 2 000 and 2 500 calories respectively).
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There are different ways to do this, and a few of the more popular are:
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- 16:8 intermittent fasting, where you abstain from eating for 16 hours in a 24-hour cycle;
- 5:2 intermittent fasting, where you eat for five days and fast for two.
- Whole day
- Overnight
- The Keto Diet
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16:8 Fasting
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You can choose the window of fasting that suits you. You only will eat for 16 hours, and this would be your normal diet. Then, you may only drink water, or calorie-free liquids for the remaining eight hours.
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5:2 Fasting
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In this way of eating, you fast on whichever two days of the week you like, but not for two days in a row. It’s common to choose to fast on Monday and Thursday, then eat your normal diet for the other days. Typically, you would have a strict “diet” day when you fast. In other words, still drink lots of water but reduce your food intake to around 500 calories. Bring on the lettuce leaves!
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Whole day fasting
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This is way of eating where you eat only once a day, then fast for the remaining 23-or-so hours. However, it can be a challenge to eat enough calories in one meal to tide your body over the rest of the 24-hour period. You can eat anything you like in this one meal although the idea is still to stick to a healthy diet.
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| Overnight Fasting |
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This is the format most people find the easiest, as it simply means not eating for 12 hours at a time. If you have supper at 7pm, for example, then you would not eat breakfast until after 7am the next morning.
The jury is out on whether this “fast” is as effective as the other options outlined above, however.
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The Keto Diet
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The Keto diet is similar to but not, strictly speaking, an intermittent fast. In the keto diet, you cut back radically on carbohydrates and replace this with fat and a certain amount of protein. The idea is that your body thinks it is fasting, or being “starved”, and so raids your fat stores to release energy.
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Health benefits
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Dietitians and nutritionists tend to agree that intermittent fasting has benefits.
For starters, it has clear benefits for weight control which helps to fight obesity-related illnesses which are in themselves a major health risk.
However, recent studies also highlight that intermittent fasting may lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. It also may be protective against heart disease and help to control glucose levels.
And, of course, if you stick to it you will lose weight – fast!
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Whichever way you choose to tackle an intermittent fast, there are several issues to look at.
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You also are encouraged to take lots of liquids and hot drinks such as unsweetened green or rooibos tea. And, on the non-fasting days, you still eat as much as you want.
It’s important to give your body the chance to burn fat between meals, hence the advice not to snack. Along with that, exercise so that you remain toned and firm up as you lose weight.
Most fasting plans also recommend eating only at certain times, generally earlier in the day and preferably before 6pm. After all, our bodies have evolved to sleep at night and work in the day – and work includes digesting food quicker.
However, if you have any health concerns or a medical history of eating disorders or diabetes, you should speak to your doctor before you start.
If you are not having any success with asking “WHAT can’t I eat?”, you may like to try this diet where the question instead is “WHEN can’t I eat?”
If your body is literally “fed-up” with the junk you have been pouring into it, it may be time to give it a break with an intermittent fast!
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