Intermittent fasting
Fasting has been part of human life since history and it is referred to as metabolic state when person is not eating or drinking for long period of hour. Intermittent fasting is when you eat for specific amount of food or have certain amount of meal per day on a certain time. This can also help to keep digestion health, lower the risk of health complication and also help to manage or lose weight. Intermittent fasting is not recommended for everyone, this diet is only recommended to person suffering from diabetic type 1 who is on daily dose of insulin.
What Is Intermittent Fasting (IF)?
Depending our lifestyle and goals; diet approaches into a different level which helps to lose or gain weight, maintain health and increase life. Intermittent fasting can be great for weight loss. Intermittent fast is when you do not eat meal for course of time. There are 3 main fasting pattern you can choose and follow for your diet.
- Daily time restricted fasting
- Alternative day fasting
- 5:2 fasting
Intermittent Fasting patterns
When you fast, you consume little or minor portion of meal through out of your diet. Above mention diet pattern are some of the popular pattern you can follow. Each of them different eating patterns and time with its own health benefits.
Daily time restricted fasting is followed by 8 hours of meal gap or eight hours of window. People restrain themselves to eat out-side of those hour and only eat on those specific hours. People eat on those 8 hours of window and fast for rest 16 hours of gap in whole 24 hours of cycle. In intermittent fasting you can see the results in your health, such as: maintaining body weight, maintaining of blood pressure, low LDL and increase of restful sleep.
Alternative day fasting the primary idea of this fasting is depending upon ‘fast for one day & eat on other day’. This fasting method is an effective way to lose weight for many people. This diet is not recommended for people who have eating disorder and specially childrens.
5:2 fasting this diet include eating for 5 days and limiting calories for rest 2 days. Even though in this fasting person is allowed to eat for 5 days but person has to measure consuming calories of daily meal. It is suggested to consume only 500-600 calories for rest 2 days of 5:2 days of fasting.
By cutting down on your calorie intake, all of these strategies can result in weight loss, until long as you don’t over consume more food during eating time. Alternative days fasting is the most effective way for weight loss. You can also read about our other articles related to health and other topics.
Intermittent fasting and body
There are several health benefits from intermittent fasting, some are:
- Protective against neurodegenerative disease: After hours of fasting brain release a hormone called High Growth Hormone (HGH) which help to metabolize fats present inside the body rather than protein metabolism. Because protein helps in repair of brain cells and their function.
- Insulin and hormone level maintain: Fasting for more than 8 hour or fasting for 16 hours will help to drop down sugar level and maintain hormone level inside the body. This will lower the risk of pre-diabetic, diabetic or other complication.
- Improve heart health: Limiting food and beverages will control your calorie intake and increases the protein level of body which help in controlling heart inflammation and protect heart.
- Decrease blood pressure and LDL cholesterol: Intermittent fasting will reduce blood pressure, lower LDL level and manage weight along with pother health benefits. Gut dysbiosis promote blood pressure; fasting will reshape the composition of gut ad lower the risk of blood pressure.
- Clean cell: During fasting there are repair changes in gene expression, cells function and hormones.
The variations in hormones and cell function, as well as gene expression, are the reason for the health benefits associated with intermittent fasting.
Health Benefits
This article has shown that it can provide significant effects on weight loss as well as the overall health of your body as well as your brain. It can even aid in prolonging your life.
Here are the most important benefits to health that come from fasting intermittently:
- Loss of weight: as noted in the previous paragraph, intermittent fasting can aid in losing belly fat and weight without having to be conscious about limiting calories.
- Inflammation: A few studies show decreases in inflammation markers which is a major cause of a variety of chronic diseases.
- Health: Fasting intermittently can lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides and inflammatory indicators, blood sugar, and the resistance to insulin — which are all of which are risk factors for heart disease.
- Cancer: Studies on animals suggest that intermittent fasting could be able to stop cancer.
- Brain health: Fasting intermittently increases the hormone that regulates brain function BDNF and could aid in the development of new nerve cells. It can also help assist in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
- Anti-aging: Intermittent fasting may prolong the life span.
For diabetic people intermittent fasting is more beneficial to them when they have prescribed medicine for their diseases. Diabetic person can use daily time restricted fasting. Fasting for long hours can reduce insulin level and increase insulin sensitivity. Rising of inflammation and cardiac problem are associated with insulin level of body
