Intermittent Fasting- Heard of it?

Intermittent fasting is a popular topic. Some people use it to regulate their body's functions and others use it for weight loss. This blog post is strictly educational- LiveWell Vermont does not endorse intermittent fasting. You shouldn’t try intermittent fasting if you are pregnant, diabetic or healing from a traumatic event such as surgery. Before deciding whether intermittent fasting is for you, consult a healthcare professional.

So...what is it?

Fasting has been a practice throughout human evolution. Ancient hunter-gatherers didn't have supermarkets, refrigerators or food available year-round. Sometimes they couldn't find anything to eat. Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn’t specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat them. In this respect, it’s not a diet in the conventional sense but more accurately described as an eating pattern. Common intermittent fasting methods involve daily 16-hour fasts or fasting for 24 hours, twice per week.


What are the fasting patterns?
The following are only the most popular:

• 16/8 method: Also called the Lean Gains protocol, it involves skipping breakfast and restricting your daily eating period to 8 hours, such as 1–9 p.m. Then you fast for 16 hours in between.
• Eat-Stop-Eat: This involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.
• 5:2 diet: With this methods, you consume only 500–600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week, but eat normally the other 5 days.

Using for weight loss?There’s no one-size-fits-all diet for weight loss. Intermittent fasting can be helpful, but first consider whether it fits into the lifestyle you want to lead. Intermittent fasting can be effective for weight loss although it’s not necessarily better than other methods, according to a 2015 review of 12 clinical trials. More recently, a 2017 randomized controlled trial of 100 healthy but obese adults found that after one year, weight loss was comparable between intermittent fasting and daily calorie restriction. Choosing intermittent fasting over more traditional calorie restriction comes down to individual preference and biology.


Bottom Line:
Intermittent fasting is not something that anyone needs to do. It’s simply one of many lifestyle strategies that can improve your health. Eating real food (nutrient-dense foods including fruits, veggies, grains, lean proteins and healthy fats), exercising and taking care of your sleep are still the most important factors to focus on. Listen to your body, and pick the plan that works for you!