What Are the Reported Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?
Most diet plans focus predominantly on counting calories and watching what you eat. However, over the last decade, a growing body of research suggests that when you eat could be just as important as what you eat.
Restricting the time that you eat each day and fasting between meals is proven to be beneficial to the body in a variety of different ways. Known as intermittent fasting, this approach is not only an effective method for weight management, but research suggests that it can have a positive impact on overall health, benefiting both physical and mental well-being, particularly the heart and mind.
Intermittent fasting is a nutritional plan that involves eating only during a specific timeframe each day, with regular periods of eating and fasting. Fasting on either a weekly or daily basis has been shown to help burn fat.
Different Approaches to Intermittent Fasting
- Daily time-restricted eating, which involves limiting consumption to a single daily window, usually lasting between six to eight hours, while the remainder of the day is dedicated to fasting.
- Alternate day fasting, which involves eating normally every other day, with days of restricted eating (usually up to 500 calories) in between.
- The 5:2 approach, with normal food consumption five days per week, but limited consumption (usually between 500 and 600 calories) for two non-consecutive days.
While there are no rigid rules regarding what you can consume during unrestricted eating periods, nutritional experts agree that maintaining a healthy, balanced diet produces the best results. During fasting times, water and zero-calorie drinks are allowed.
What Can Intermittent Fasting Do for the Body?
The reported health benefits of intermittent fasting are numerous, with studies suggesting that it can help reduce inflammation, improve cellular repair processes, and benefit heart health. There is also evidence to suggest that intermittent fasting helps to burn fat by changing hormone levels, encouraging the body to use stored fat for energy.
When an individual abstains from eating for a period, several physiological changes occur within the body. Initially, insulin levels decrease while human growth hormone levels rise, facilitating heightened metabolism and muscle development. At the same time, the body initiates crucial cellular repair mechanisms, eliminating cellular waste materials. Furthermore, intermittent fasting triggers favorable alterations in various longevity-related genes, offering protection against diseases.
Many people turn to intermittent fasting as part of efforts to improve their overall health and maintain a healthy weight. In general, intermittent fasting typically leads to a reduction in the number of meals consumed. Unless individuals compensate by significantly increasing their intake during other meals, they will ultimately consume fewer calories. Moreover, intermittent fasting has demonstrated the ability to improve hormone function, making it easier for adherents to achieve weight loss goals.
Over the past few decades, type 2 diabetes has grown into a significant global health issue. Studies indicate that intermittent fasting can provide substantial benefits by effectively reducing insulin resistance, leading to a significant reduction in blood sugar levels.
What the Studies Show
Researchers from the University of Alabama recently conducted a study involving a group of men who were obese and had prediabetes. They compared a type of intermittent fasting known as early time-restricted feeding, which involves eating meals earlier in the day.
Study participants were divided into two groups. One group restricted their meals to an eight-hour period between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., while the other group ate over a 12-hour period between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Both groups maintained their weight. However, after five weeks, the group who had restricted food consumption to eight hours per day demonstrated dramatically lower insulin levels, with significantly improved insulin sensitivity and lower blood pressure. The results indicate that merely adjusting meal timing, such as prolonging the overnight fasting period and consuming meals earlier in the day, had a notable positive effect on participants’ metabolism. This improvement was observed even among those who did not experience weight loss, as the group following an eight-hour eating window reported a substantial reduction in appetite.
Research suggests that intermittent fasting can not only aid in weight loss but also have a favorable influence on various medical conditions, including asthma, arthritis, stroke, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.
While going for extended periods without eating might appear daunting, it’s important to note that you don’t have to adopt extreme measures to achieve significant results. Certain intermittent fasting diets are both sustainable and effective, especially when complemented with a nutritious, plant-based meal plan, such as a Mediterranean-style diet.
