Weight loss can be difficult, but could intermittent fasting help? This eating pattern, which features cycles of fasting and eating, is making headlines as research confirms it’s not only what you eat, but when you eat.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that includes hours or days of no or minimal food consumption without deprivation of essential nutrients. [mfn] https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/calorie-restriction-and-fasting-diets-what-do-we-know [/mfn] Commonly regimens include alternate day fasting, 5:2 intermittent fasting (fasting two days each week), and daily time-restricted feeding (such as eating only during a 6 to 8-hour window).

Moreover, when you fast intermittently, you eat within a shortened time window that is usually for 8-10 hours. Here’s what it may look like:

1. Skip breakfast.
2. Around noon, break your fast and have your first meal.
3. Eat dinner. Maybe treat yourself to dessert.
4. Stop eating by 8 p.m.
5. Repeat this schedule the next day.

Consequently, you might want to drink water during your fast. But it’s totally fine if you want to drink black coffee or tea too, just keep the milk and sugar away.

Why Do People Fast?

Although intermittent fasting often results in reduced calorie consumption, weight loss is not its primary health benefit as observed in preclinical and clinical studies. Rather, the key mechanism is metabolic switching, in which fasting triggers the body to switch its source of energy from glucose stored in the liver to ketones, which are stored in fat thereby regulating your insulin levels and protecting against disease. [mfn] https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/research-intermittent-fasting-shows-health-benefits [/mfn]

According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating in a 6-hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy, with increased stress resistance, increased longevity, and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity. [mfn] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136 [/mfn]

In addition, a Harvard research study also reveals how intermittent fasting may slow the aging process through weight loss, lower blood pressure and reduced cholesterol. [mfn] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/11/intermittent-fasting-may-be-center-of-increasing-lifespan/ [/mfn]

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Common Intermittent Fasting Methods

• Twice-A-Week (5:2) Method – Also know as the twice-a-week method where you eat normally for 5 days a week, then fast on the other 2 days by eating only 500 to 600 calories.
• Alternate Day Fasting – This variation involves “modified” fasting every other day. For instance, limit your calories on fasting days to 500 or about 25% of your normal intake. On non-fasting days, resume your regular, healthy diet. (There are also strict variations to this approach that include consuming 0 calories on alternate days instead of 500.)
• One Meal A Day (OMAD) – Also known as eating once a day. You eat all of your daily calories in just one meal each day, and fast the rest of the day.
• Time-restricted eating (16:8 or 14:10) method – You eat all of your daily calories within a shortened period (typically for 8 – 10 hours) and fast the rest of the time.
  16/8 method: “Eating window” between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. OR noon and 8 p.m.
  14/10 method: “Eating window” between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
• 24-Hour Fast – This method involves fasting completely for a full 24 hours. Often times, it’s only done once or twice a week. Most people fast from breakfast to breakfast or lunch to lunch.

Skipping a meal won’t send your body into “starvation mode.” And although there’s nothing wrong with eating breakfast, there are major benefits to giving your body an extended break between meals.

As with any diet or exercise plan, consult your healthcare provider to determine what’s best for you.

So, is intermittent fasting actually healthy? Before deciding if it’s right for you, read on to get all your need-to-know questions answered.

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Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

1. Helps With Weight Loss

One of the reasons fasting can lead to weight loss is because you’re eating during daytime hours, when your body naturally wants to consume calories.

Some research has shown no real difference in weight loss between intermittent fasting and typical calorie-restricted diets. But newer studies are suggesting that earlier eating windows (like from 7a.m. to 3p.m.) can assist with weight loss.

Consequently, your body preferentially uses glucose (carbs) for energy. When you fast, your body uses up available glucose, and then transitions to burning fat for fuel. This puts you in a fat-burning state called ketosis.

2. Boosts Your Energy

Intermittent fasting has been shown to boost mitochondrial biogenesis, the creation of new mitochondria. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3883043/ [/mfn] Mitochondria are like the “batteries” of your cells. Each one of your cells is filled with hundreds of them that signals your cells to do their job. Their job is to take the food you eat and turn it into energy. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2562606/ [/mfn]

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3. Improves Skin

We’ve known for a long time that what you eat can affect your skin health. But right now, the evidence on how intermittent fasting can improve your skin is mostly anecdotal. Considering different factors such as inflammation, high levels of insulin and lack of restorative and quality sleep, fasting may help with some of these root causes and it could be a solution to common skin issues. However, more research for this is required.

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4. Supports Healthy Ageing

According to a 2019 study in Cell Metabolism, composed of a small sample of healthy, non-obese people, it has been found that alternate day fasting, specifically, did improve some of the common markers of ageing such as cardio health and fat-to-lean ratio. [mfn] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550413119304292?via%3Dihub [/mfn] It even helps promote feelings of tranquility and alertness.

Similarly, the National Institute on Aging has reported that male mice that ate less frequent meals lived longer compared to mice that ate more frequently, with fewer liver diseases and metabolic disorders. [mfn] https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/longer-daily-fasting-times-improve-health-and-longevity-mice [/mfn]

5. May Help Maintain Muscles

Whenever you restrict calories and lose weight, it usually comes with a reduction in muscle mass. That goes for intermittent fasting as well as traditional calorie-restriction diets.

Furthermore, a study conducted by the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois suggests that intermittent fasting is effective in trimming body weight and fat mass and thereby reducing muscle loss. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410865 [/mfn]

6. Creates More Brain Cells

Fasting has been shown to increase rates of neurogenesis in the brain. Neurogenesis is the growth and development of new brain cells and nerve tissues. Higher rates of neurogenesis are linked to increase brain performance, memory, mood, and focus.

One particular study showed that intermittent fasting (the researchers used a 16:8 schedule in the study) stimulated the production of new brain cells. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013772/ [/mfn]

Additionally, another study in 2018 published in Experimental Biology and Medicine suggests that fasting may protect against Alzheimer’s disease by reducing the incidence of memory loss. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29307281 [/mfn]

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7. May Reduce Belly Fat

To prove this, a study was conducted in the journal Cell Metabolism wehere overweight people were asked to choose any 10-hour timeframe to eat as long as they refrain from eating during the other 14 hours of the day. As a result, the researches concluded a reduction in waist circumference and visceral abdominal fat after 12 weeks. [mfn] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550413119306114?via%3Dihub [/mfn]

8. Helps Lower Cholesterol

When we eat according to our “circadian rhythm” (or when we consume energy during our active hours of the day when the sun is up and eat less in the evening), we metabolise our food better and see improvements in blood sugar and lipids including cholesterol and triglycerides.

Likewise, 5:2 fasting, in particular, may improve cholesterol levels, as a 2018 study showed that people who followed a 5:2 diet had a lower risk of heart disease than people who dieted by counting calories.

9. Improves Insulin Sensitivity and Reduces Diabetes Risk

In a 2018 study published in Cell Metabolism, researchers found that even without weight loss, early time-restricted fasting increased insulin sensitivity in men with prediabetes. [mfn] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413118302535 [/mfn]

A similar study in the journal Translational Research found that alternate-day fasting, in which participants restricted calories by 75% on a “fast day,” followed by a “feed day” without calorie restriction, resulted in clinically significant reductions in blood sugar and insulin resistance. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24993615 [/mfn]

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10. May Help Lower Blood Pressure

A study published in Nutrition and Healthy Aging demonstrated that participants who practiced 16:8 intermittent fasting without calorie counting, significantly reduced their systolic blood pressure compared to a control group after 12 weeks. [mfn] https://content.iospress.com/articles/nutrition-and-healthy-aging/nha170036 [/mfn]

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11. Helps Fight Inflammation

Inflammation is your body’s natural way of fighting off infection, illness, and injury. However, a chronic inflammation can silently trigger heart disease and diabetes.

Smoking, mental stress, and a regular diet of fatty, fried, or sugary foods are the common causes. Several studies have shown that intermittent fasting may induce an anti-inflammatory effect that reduces risk of these metabolic diseases as well as improve pulmonary function in people with asthma. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17291990/ [/mfn]

In addition, intermittent fasting has been shown to promote a process called autophagy, which is what happens when your body clears out its cellular wastes or junk so that it can function better.

Likewise, during fasting, the body uses up all of it’s sugar stores and has to turn to fat for fuel. When fats get broken down it creates ketones that blocks some part of the immune system responsible for regulating inflammatory disorders like arthritis and Alzheimer’s Disease. [mfn] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150216131146.htm [/mfn]

12. Improves Immune System

In the last two years, proponents of fasting have claimed that restricting caloric intake for even a short period of time can “reset” your immune system, giving it a much needed power boost.

This theory was formulated by a study conducted by The University of Southern California on both mice and humans. Researchers on this study suggested that fasting for 72 hours could allow your body to flush out damaged immune cells and regenerate new, healthier cells to help the body fight toxins. [mfn] https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/ [/mfn]

At this point, the connection hasn’t been well-studied. But a little fasting probably can’t hurt your immune system, either.

13. Reduces Oxidative Stress

Even when you don’t lose weight while on an intermittent fasting routine, your cells may benefit from extra protection, according to a study in Cell Metabolism. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5990470/ [/mfn]

In this study, the researchers found that those on time-restricted fast improved their blood pressure and insulin sensitivity, but also improved resistance to oxidative stress, where unstable molecules called free radicals can damage proteins and DNA.

14. Promotes Better Quality Sleep

The science here is still emerging, but researchers have been studying the effects of food intake on sleep for years. Some research has shown that eating late at night can disrupt sleep or cause sleep disturbances. [mfn] http://jcsm.aasm.org/viewabstract.aspx?pid=28375 [/mfn] While another found that a week of fasting resulted in less sleep arousals. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12748412 [/mfn] However, these studies were conducted on a small group of people therefore further investigations are needed.

15. Boosts Human Growth Hormone

Human growth hormone (HGH) can improve cognition, provide neuroprotection, and increase neurogenesis. It also has neuroprotective properties preserving your brain health and brain performance. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10751442 [/mfn]

Intermittent fasting has been shown to naturally boost HGH levels to provide healthy anti-aging and longevity benefits. [mfn] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16432628 [/mfn]

16. Mindful Eating Habits

Most of us do mindless eating to some extent. For example, have you ever reach for a chocolate or bag of chips out of habit without even realizing what you’re doing? Some of us eat emotionally, particularly at night when it’s easy to sit in front of the TV and mindlessly consume extra calories. Intermittent fasting on the other hand, which force you to establish clear eating windows, eliminate this unconscious noshing and can help you consume lesser calories.

17. May Help You Live Longer

A study in rodents suggests that intermittent fasting may boost lifespan by comparing rats who were given unrestricted access to food, to rats who were fed every other day, the rats who fasted lived 83% longer than those who over-satiated themselves. [mfn] https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/212538 [/mfn]

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Side Effects And Possible Risks

Intermittent fasting is not safe for some people, including pregnant women, children, people at risk for hypoglycemia, people with certain chronic diseases, and those with eating disorders.

If you’re interested with intermittent fasting, you should also be aware of some not-so-pretty side effects such as irritability, low energy, persistent hunger, temperature sensitivity and poor work and activity performance.

Health Tips!

There are 4 ways to use this information for better health: [mfn] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156 [/mfn]

1. Avoid sugars and refined grains. Instead, eat fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats (a sensible, plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet).
2. Let your body burn fat between meals. Don’t snack. Be active throughout your day. Build muscle tone.
3. Consider a simple form of intermittent fasting. Limit the hours of the day when you eat, and for best effect, make it earlier in the day (between 7 am to 3 pm, or even 10 am to 6 pm, but definitely not in the evening before bed).
4. Avoid snacking or eating at nighttime, all the time.

While intermittent fasting has many proven benefits, it’s still controversial. A potential danger regards medications, especially for diabetes, where doses often need to be adapted. Always discuss any changes in medication and relevant lifestyle changes with your doctor.

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Author’s Notes

One of the best parts of intermittent fasting is that it’s really easy to adapt to your daily schedule.

Personally, I have been doing intermittent fasting for almost 2 years now. I do it by skipping breakfast every day only during the weekdays. I leave the remaining 2 days as my ‘cheat days’ and to reward myself with my favorite ‘comfort’ foods. As a result, I have lost more than 10 pounds during the first few months and maintained this weight until now.

Intermittent fasting made me feel better and healthier physically and mentally. It also helped me perform better at the gym and even at work.

You can also do it every day, or you can do it just a few times a week just like what I did. You can even customize your “eating window” which is great if you have a variable schedule. What matters is that it works for YOU!

Ready to get started? We would love to hear your experiences too!
Leave it in the comment section below!

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