Intermittent fasting has become a great health trend lately. And devotees claim that besides helping in weight loss, it also helps people with metabolic disorders and even extends the life span.
Intermittent fasting is a type of eating that alternates between eating and fasting intervals. There are a few different methods and intermittent fasting benefits, and there are many apps that can help you in that journey, such as DoFasting. Besides the fact that there are various methods, the two most common are 16:8, which involves cramming all of the day’s meals into an eight-hour window and fasting for the other 16 hours, and 5:2, which involves regularly eating five days a week and fasting for two (usually defined as eating only 500 to 600 calories per day).
The two major intermittent fasting benefits are improved health and a fit body, but of course, there are others, so let’s dive a bit deeper into the top 5 and explain them better.
Top 5 Intermittent Fasting benefits:
1. Healthy Diet for Losing Weight
The majority of people begin intermittent fasting to lose weight. And, at least in the short run, that claim appears to be true. According to a report published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in August 2015, any variant of IF could help you lose weight. The researchers analyzed data from 13 trials and discovered that the average weight reduction for a two-week study ranged from 1.3 percent to 8% for an eight-week experiment.
That’s good news if you’re trying to lose weight through fasting, but because those trials were short-term, it’s uncertain whether IF is sustainable and can help you lose weight in the long run. The amount of weight loss doesn’t appear to be any more than you’d anticipate from another calorie-restricted diet, and you could even gain weight depending on how many calories you eat each day. After all, the diet does not prohibit the consumption of high-calorie items.
According to Dr. Lowden: Intermittent fasting can be just as effective as a traditional caloric restriction when done correctly. Some people, particularly busy people who don’t have time to plan meals, may find a time-restricted diet simpler to follow than the keto or paleo diets, she claims.
2. Improves Brain Function
According to Dr. Gottfried, IF can help with mental sharpness and attention. And there’s some preliminary evidence to back it up: It may help guard against memory loss as people age, according to a rat study published in Experimental Biology and Medicine in February 2018.
According to the Johns Hopkins Health Review, Intermittent fasting can strengthen hippocampal connections and protect against amyloid plaques, prevalent in Alzheimer’s sufferers. However, because this study was conducted on animals only, it is unknown whether the benefit applies to humans.
3. It’s Possible That It’ll Help Your Heart.
One of the numerous intermittent fasting benefits is that it boosts your heart’s health.
Heart disease is currently the leading cause of death worldwide.
Various health markers (also known as “risk factors”) have been linked to an increased or decreased risk of heart disease.
Fasting for short periods has been found to benefit a variety of risk factors, including:
- total and LDL (bad) cholesterol
- inflammatory markers
- blood pressure
- blood sugar levels
- blood triglycerides
4. May Help You Live Longer by Extending Your Lifespan.
One of the most intriguing applications of intermittent fasting is its potential to prolong life span.
Intermittent fasting extends lifespan in rodents in the same manner that chronic calorie restriction does (41, 42).
Fruit flies have also been found to live longer thanks to the intermittent fasting benefits they were served with.
5. Lowering the Blood Pressure
In the near future, IF may help lower high blood pressure. 16:8 significantly reduced systolic blood pressure among the 23 study participants, according to a study published in June 2018 in Nutrition and Healthy Aging. According to a review published in March 2019 in Nutrients, the link has been demonstrated in both animal and human research. In addition, according to a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition in October 2019, IF led to even larger systolic blood pressure reductions than a diet that didn’t feature set eating periods.
Selecting an Intermittent Fasting Diet
Intermittent fasting can be done in a variety of ways. Although the most popular intermittent fasting ways are:
- the 16:8 method
- the 5:2 diet
- the Warrior diet
- Eat Stop Eat
- alternate-day fasting (ADF)
The 16/8 Method
Food and calorie-containing beverages are limited to an 8-hour window per day under the diet. It involves fasting for the remaining 16 hours of the day. While other diets may have stringent restrictions and regulations, the 16/8 technique is more flexible and is based on a time-restricted feeding (TRF) concept.
The 5:2 Diet
You eat regularly five days a week and don’t count calories. Then you cut your calorie consumption to one-quarter of your daily requirements on the other two days of the week. For someone who consumes 2,000 calories per day on a daily basis, this would entail cutting their calorie consumption to 500 calories two days per week.
Eat Stop Eat
This intermittent fasting method entails deciding on one or two non-consecutive days every week when you will go without eating for a 24-hour period. You can eat as much as you like the rest of the week, but it’s best to eat a well-balanced diet and avoid overindulging.
The Warrior Diet
The Warrior Diet is an intermittent fasting strategy inspired by ancient warriors’ eating habits. It entails eating relatively little throughout the day for 20 hours and then eating as much as wanted during a 4-hour window at night. During the 20-hour fast, the Warrior Diet encourages dieters to consume small amounts of dairy products, hard-boiled eggs, raw fruits, and vegetables, as well as non-calorie drinks.
In Conclusion:
Intermittent fasting benefits your health in the long run. 16/8 intermittent fasting entails just eating for eight hours and fasting for the remaining sixteen. It may help with weight loss, improved brain functions, better heart health, and reduced blood pressure. Consume a nutritious diet and drink calorie-free liquids such as water, unsweetened teas, and coffee during your eating period. Before attempting intermittent fasting, speak with your doctor, especially if you have any underlying health issues.
