INTERMINENT FASTING

WHAT IS INTERMINENT FASTING:

               Intermittent fasting is an eating style where you eat within a specific time period, and fast the rest of the time. Though intermittent fasting is an effective way to lose weight, it's less a diet and more a lifestyle choice.
            In the past few years, intermittent fasting ,when you don’t eat for anywhere from 16 – 48 hours has gained more attraction for its incredible effects on disease and aging.Intermittent fasting is a diet regimen that cycles between brief periods of fasting, with either no food or significant calorie reduction, and periods of unrestricted eating. It is promoted to change body composition through loss of fat mass and weight, and to improve markers of health that are associated with disease such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Its roots derive from traditional fasting, a universal ritual used for health or spiritual benefit as described in religious groups.

DIFFERENT METHODS:

               There are different intermittent fasting methods. These are:

• 5:2: This method allows you to eat normally five days a week. The other two days are your fasting days, although you do still eat. Just keep it between 500 and 600 calories.
• Eat-stop-eat: With this one, you restrict all food for 24 hours, once or twice a week.
• 16/8: You eat all of your daily calories within a shortened period — typically 6 to 8 hours — and fast for the remaining 14 to 16 hours. You can do this every day, or a few times a week.
• Alternate-day fasting—Alternating between days of no food restriction with days that consist of one meal that provides about 25% of daily calorie needs. Example: Mon-Wed-Fri consists of fasting, while alternate days have no food restrictions.
• Whole-day fasting—1-2 days per week of complete fasting or up to 25% of daily calorie needs, with no food restriction on the other days. Example: The 5:2 diet approach advocates no food restriction five days of the week, cycled with a 400-500 calorie diet the other two days of the week.
• Time restricted feeding—Following a meal plan each day with a designated time frame for fasting. Example: Meals are eaten from 8am-3pm, with fasting during the remaining hours of the day.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF INTERMINENT FASTING:

• Boosts weight loss
• Increases energy
• Promotes cellular repair and autophagy (when your body consumes defective tissue in order to produce new parts)
• Reduces insulin resistance and protects against type 2 diabetes
• Lowers bad cholesterol
• Promotes longevity
• Protects against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
• Improves memory and boosts brain function
• Makes cells more resilient

INTERMINENT FASTING AND WEIGHTLOSS:

             If you want to lose fat, intermittent fasting is the way to go. Fasting drains your body of its glucose reserves, its main energy source from food. Without glucose, you switch over to burning fat for fuel in a process called ketosis.By this way it cut down fat and aids in weight loss.

CONS:

                 This type of dietary pattern would be difficult for someone who eats every few hours. It would also not be appropriate for those with conditions that require food at regular intervals due to metabolic changes caused by their medications, such as with diabetes. Prolonged periods of food deprivation or semi-starvation places one at risk for overeating when food is reintroduced, and may foster unhealthy behaviors such as an increased fixation on food. 

RESTRICTIONS:

             Individuals with the following conditions should abstain from intermittent fasting:

• Diabetes
• Eating disorders that involve unhealthy self-restriction (anorexia or bulimia nervosa)
• Use of medications that require food intake
• Active growth stage, such as in adolescents
• Pregnancy, breastfeeding