It is not wrong to say that intermittent fasting is not popular among different diet plans. Intermittent fasting is an effective way to lose weight and thus, if followed properly, could be beneficial in your weight loss journey. So, what is intermittent fasting and how should it be followed, we tell you here.
What is Intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is not about avoiding or preferring certain food items but it focuses on when you should eat food. It is a term for an eating pattern that falls between periods of fasting and eating. Mostly, it involves fasting for 16 hours or for 24 hours, twice a week.
12/12 Method
This method involves a 12-hour fasting. It means that you are fasting for 12 hours a day and eating within a 12-hour window. To simplify it, let's take an example: If you eat your last meal at 8 p.m. and eat breakfast the next morning at 8 a.m., that means you are already on an intermittent fasting.
16/8 Method
In this method, you fast for 16 hours each day and restrict your eating window to just eight hours. In this duration, you can eat either two meals or three meals. You can have your first meal during midday. Also, you shouldn't have your last meal too late.
20/4 Method
This is a bit intense fasting. Now, you're fasting for 20 hours and allowing yourself one four-hour window to eat. It's likely you might get just one or two meals in each day. You have to check what suits your body.
5:2 Diet
This is also referred to as "alternate-day fasting" (ADF) method. In this, people restrict calories for two days a week or just consume 500 calories on the days you fast. During other 5 days, you could eat whatever you want to.
Eat-Stop-Eat
Just like 5:2, this ADF method doesn't have any steady fasting schedule. This fasting method allows you to choose one or two days in the week to have a full 24-hour fast.
How does it actually work?
To understand how actually intermittent fasting works, it is important to know the difference between the fed state and the fasted state.
The fed state is when our body is digesting food. This state starts when we begin to eat and lasts for 3 to 5 hours, until the body absorbs and digests food. In this state, insulin levels are so high that it's hard for the body to burn fat.
When the body isn't processing any meal, it goes into post-absorptive state, This state lasts until 8-12 hours after our last meal and after that our body enters the fasted state. At this stage, it is quite easy to burn fat as insulin levels are low.
As intermittent fasting has a particular eating window, it allows our body to burn fat during the fasted state. This is the reason that people who are on intermittent fasting begin to lose weight even without changing any diet plan. All you need to know is what suits your body. When we fast, our body tends to burn fat which is not usual in the normal eating schedule.
The results
Before you start any diet program, you must consult your doctor. Intermittent fasting can help you in losing weight as it doesn't involve any crazy diet wherein you don't have to cut calories or increase a particular nutrient in your diet. Intermittent fasting helps in keeping muscle mass while losing weight. But if you are pregnant, you should avoid intermittent fasting or any other diet pattern. Intermittent fasting could also impact your athletic performance. Intermittent fasting cannot be followed in the long run. It is good for people who struggle with their diets and cannot restrict any food group like junk items. People who have digestive issues may also try it as it gives your body enough time to digest and absorb food that you ate.