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What is intermittent fasting and how does it affect the body? The benefits and harms of the technique.
Intermittent fasting is a well-known trend in the world of nutrition, which has many supporters and opponents. This is a special diet in which the day is divided into periods when a person abstains from food (“windows of hunger”) and takes food (“food windows”). The duration of these time periods may vary depending on the chosen scheme.
Before resorting to intermittent fasting, it is important to weigh all the pros and cons of this technique.
Schemes and principles of intermittent fasting
The duration of food refusal with this diet can be different. The most common is the 16/8 scheme – when a person fasts for 16 hours, and takes food in the remaining 8 hours of the day. Adhering to such a system is relatively easy, because about half of the “hungry” time falls on sleep.
- For example, you can have dinner in the evening at 21:00, skip breakfast the next day and start lunch at 13:00.
- Or, as an option, refuse dinner by eating an afternoon snack at 16:00. But the next morning you can have breakfast at 8:00.
There are other intermittent fasting schemes:
- 20/4 – 20 hours of fasting and 4 hours of eating;
- 23/1 – only 1 hour is allocated for food;
- 24/24 – you need to fast the whole day, day after day.
- Method 5:2 – 5 days a week should eat normally, and 2 days (not in a row) eat food once a day, limiting calories to 600 kcal.
In the “hungry window” you need to drink enough water. Herbal decoctions, mineral water, tea, coffee without sugar are allowed. During the hours when you can eat, you should not abuse high-calorie and low-health foods.
It is better to give preference to fish, lean meat, vegetables, cereals, fruits, dairy products, bran.
What is intermittent fasting for?
Abstinence from food for a certain period of time in a day helps to improve physical fitness, relieves the effects of overeating, gives the body lightness and increases stress resistance.
But most often intermittent fasting is used as a method of losing weight. In the absence of food, the level of insulin in the blood drops, the body uses the accumulated glucose to get energy.
- As a result, fat deposits are burned. Intermittent fasting also allows the digestive organs to rest and recover.
- As a method of losing weight, this diet also works, because if you refuse food for a long time, a person then eats a smaller portion than usual.
A number of studies confirm that intermittent fasting lowers the concentration of cholesterol in the blood, blood pressure and even slows down the aging process. There is an assumption that such a diet prevents the development of diabetes and oncology. However, the opinions of doctors on this issue differ, there is not enough evidence of the effectiveness of intermittent fasting for health.
Important! Nutritionists do not recommend intermittent fasting for more than 2 months in a row. The opposite effect may occur, and the body, instead of burning fat, will begin to store it, being in a stressful state.
The benefits and harms of intermittent fasting
Although intermittent fasting is relatively new to the mainstream and little research has been done on its long-term effects on the body, there are several proven benefits of intermittent fasting:
- streamlining the diet;
- improving food discipline;
- elimination of insulin resistance.
The harm of intermittent fasting is manifested in the following:
- depletion of glycogen stores in the liver;
- the possibility of overeating during the hours allowed for eating;
- stress due to sudden changes in diet.
In the first days of intermittent fasting, dizziness, pain and discomfort in the stomach sometimes appear. To eliminate these symptoms, nutritionists recommend drinking more mineral water.
For some people, intermittent fasting is contraindicated. These include persons suffering from gastrointestinal diseases, heart failure, tuberculosis, as well as pregnant and lactating women.
But even in the absence of contraindications and good health, before trying out such a method of losing weight on yourself, it is advisable to consult a doctor.