By
Rich Carroll
Intermittent fasting, or short-term fasting, has become a rather
hot topic among people interested in nutrition and diet. It is not a
diet per se, but an eating pattern. It means not eating for longer
periods of time than we are used to, then consuming all of our meals
during perhaps an eight hour time period. Does it help people lose
weight? It largely depends on what study you want to believe, and
perhaps your own personal experience.
The first thing to understand is that intermittent fasting is not a panacea for losing weight. In fact, in ranks in importance behind what you eat, how much you eat and how much you exercise. But for some people it can be another valuable weight loss tool. But we are all unique people, and there is no way to know how you will be affected if you try it. Like anything the best advice is to try it and see how things go.
But there are several reasons why it is working for some people:
1. Promotes stronger insulin sensitivity. Perhaps because in our genes we had to go through periods of feast and famine, our metabolisms are now programmed to work best on a feast-famine diet cycle. Tests have shown that periods of fasting caused impressive increases in insulin sensitivity.
2. Increased growth hormone secretion. Somatotropin, the human growth hormone increases when we fast. By doing this somatotropin will stimulate the breakdown of fatty tissue, the very fat that will be used for energy when we aren't feeding the body more food.
3. Could curtail calorie intake. If you cut your number of daily meals, chances are you will cut your total food intake, and as a result total calories. This of course assumes you won't gorge yourself during your designated eating time.
The biggest two issues people have, or think they have when going on an intermittent fasting program are energy issues and hunger issues. If you decide to postpone or cancel your breakfast and have experienced in the past those times when you have, you may remember how that lack of food led to low energy levels. They can only imagine how hungry and miserable they'll be until that first meal of the day. And that may be the case for a while.
But we humans are both stuck in routine, but if we can break those habits we are also very adaptable. This means that if you can get past those painful times when our bodies break from past routines until it can adapt a new routine, there is a good chance you will be greatly rewarded. This short period of time will not cause any harm to a healthy person, but if a person has blood sugar regulation issues, hypoglycemia or diabetic issues they should certainly consult with their dietician or doctor. But for a healthy person it actually takes our bodies about 84 hours of fasting before our glucose levels fall to dangerous levels.
The first thing to understand is that intermittent fasting is not a panacea for losing weight. In fact, in ranks in importance behind what you eat, how much you eat and how much you exercise. But for some people it can be another valuable weight loss tool. But we are all unique people, and there is no way to know how you will be affected if you try it. Like anything the best advice is to try it and see how things go.
But there are several reasons why it is working for some people:
1. Promotes stronger insulin sensitivity. Perhaps because in our genes we had to go through periods of feast and famine, our metabolisms are now programmed to work best on a feast-famine diet cycle. Tests have shown that periods of fasting caused impressive increases in insulin sensitivity.
2. Increased growth hormone secretion. Somatotropin, the human growth hormone increases when we fast. By doing this somatotropin will stimulate the breakdown of fatty tissue, the very fat that will be used for energy when we aren't feeding the body more food.
3. Could curtail calorie intake. If you cut your number of daily meals, chances are you will cut your total food intake, and as a result total calories. This of course assumes you won't gorge yourself during your designated eating time.
The biggest two issues people have, or think they have when going on an intermittent fasting program are energy issues and hunger issues. If you decide to postpone or cancel your breakfast and have experienced in the past those times when you have, you may remember how that lack of food led to low energy levels. They can only imagine how hungry and miserable they'll be until that first meal of the day. And that may be the case for a while.
But we humans are both stuck in routine, but if we can break those habits we are also very adaptable. This means that if you can get past those painful times when our bodies break from past routines until it can adapt a new routine, there is a good chance you will be greatly rewarded. This short period of time will not cause any harm to a healthy person, but if a person has blood sugar regulation issues, hypoglycemia or diabetic issues they should certainly consult with their dietician or doctor. But for a healthy person it actually takes our bodies about 84 hours of fasting before our glucose levels fall to dangerous levels.
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