It seems to go against everything you’ve been taught about your health and weight loss. It seems implausible that so-called “starving yourself” could have any health benefit at all and seems daunting to any one starting a weight loss program. However, research is starting to tell a different tale.
Types of IF
There are many different types of IF. The one thing they all have in common is their relative simplicity and flexibility. For example:
- Skipping meals
- Condensing meals – This technique involves eating all of your daily calories in a short time frame or eating one meal in the morning and one at night.
- Alternate-day method – There several ways to follow an alternate-day method with one popular option being to eat your normal days worth of calories in one day followed by a day of severely lowered caloric intake.
As you can see, none of the methods require an extended period of “starving” that may result in loss of muscle mass and/or slowing of metabolism. While following an IF, like any diet, it is important to eat a wide variety of healthy foods to ensure proper nutrient consumption.
Why Intermittent-Fast?
There may be several health and weight loss benefits to following an IF diet. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition the following benefits may include:
- Weight loss –Participants who followed an alternate-day fasting diet reported weight loss ranging from 10 to 30 pounds.
- The same study showed that blood pressure and heart rate were also lowered, along with total cholesterol and circulating fat levels.
- Decreases in blood pressure.
- Reduction in oxidative damage to lipids, protein and DNA.
- Improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake.
- Decreases in fat mass.
Is IF Right For You?
With those types of health benefits it’s easy to see why one would want to intermittently-fast, however, many may find it a difficult plan to stay with in the long run. As always, consult your doctor if you are interested in implementing any sort of fast into your diet.
