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Recent years have brought a significant increase in interest in a healthy lifestyle, including, above all, healthy eating. It turned out, however, that how many people, there are so many ways to eat healthy. From year to year, the market is flooded with newer and newer diets, which are based on a variety of food products, eating time, way of eating and many other elements. One of the diets that is becoming more and more popular is the IF diet. What is it about? What foods can you eat while on this diet? What are its main advantages and disadvantages? In the article below, we will try to tell you everything about this still little-known diet.
What is the IF diet?
IF stands for “intermittent fasting” which can be simply translated as intermittent fasting. On this basis alone, you can guess that the diet is based primarily on the periodic use of fasting. In this way of eating, the main point is to extend the time when we do not eat any meals. This diet is used primarily by people who want to reduce body fat.
What are the basic principles of the IF diet?
The IF diet can be carried out in two different ways, depending on how and how long the food intake intervals are. The most commonly used option of this diet is ADF or ADMF, which involves the introduction of fasting days every other day with an unlimited calorie diet. On fasting days, only 25% of your daily calories can be consumed in just one meal. It is also possible to eat normal meals five days a week and fast for two days.
The second method of carrying out the IF diet is based on extending the daily fasting time. This means that the so-called the eating window, i.e. the time when we eat meals, is maximally reduced and usually lasts about 6 hours, although for some it is only 4 hours.
The menu in the IF diet is somewhat controversial and not all people using this type of diet have the same approach to it. While some people strongly advise you to avoid highly processed foods, others proudly admit that this type of diet allows them to eat without hesitation even those foods that most are referred to as foods that harm our body.
When using the IF diet, it is worth remembering to include whole grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as seeds, nuts and good-quality cold-pressed vegetable oils in your diet.
What are the most important advantages and disadvantages of the IF diet?
Like many other types of nutrition, the IF diet has its advantages and disadvantages. People who have been eating on the basis of such principles for many years or months like to talk about the benefits. One of the main advantages is the stimulation of metabolism, thanks to which you can reduce body fat faster. The IF diet also allows you to completely eliminate the habit of snacking, which is a very common cause of obesity. When it comes to the disadvantages of this diet, specialists emphasize, among other things, that the short time in which meals are allowed may overload the digestive system and thus cause various digestive problems. It is also worth noting that the use of this diet can also be very harmful, when we include highly processed products, fast food and other foods that definitely harm our health.
Not all diets are healthy and safe for our body. It is recommended that you consult your doctor before starting any diet, even if you do not have any health concerns.
When choosing a diet, never follow the current fashion. Remember that some diets, incl. low in particular nutrients or strongly limiting calories, and mono-diets can be debilitating for the body, carry a risk of eating disorders, and can also increase appetite, contributing to a quick return to the former weight.
- Also read: Oxy diet – what is it? Sample menu
What are the side effects of IF diet?
Due to the above-mentioned disadvantages of the IF diet, its use may cause some side effects. If the diet is carried out in a balanced manner and consuming only healthy, wholesome foods, it is possible that no side effects will appear. However, serious problems can happen when the diet is improperly used. It must be added that the IF diet is definitely not a diet for everyone. It can be reached by healthy people with high self-denial and strong will, but it is strongly discouraged from using it in pregnant women and children. If, while using the IF diet, we decide to take all food products, including highly processed ones, which are considered dangerous to human health, we cannot count on the fact that fasting periods will help eliminate the negative effects of taking this type of product.