Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting. A diet strategy called intermittent fasting alternates between periods of fasting and regular meals. This indicates that it is an eating pattern when periods of eating and fasting alternate. According to research, you can control your weight and prevent or even reverse several ailments by observing intermittent fasting. You may have tried intermittent fasting or heard of a friend who has. For those trying to lose weight, this weight-loss trend is still receiving much attention.

But many questions originate here, like how we perform intermittent fasting and whether it is secure for us to do it. What will be its impact on our health? 

You must first understand the questions to receive the solutions.

Where did fasting begin?

Fasting has its roots in the past when it was a popular practice to do so to aid in physical healing. It also has religious roots because it is thought to strengthen religious ties. In the holy month of Ramadan, for instance, fasting is encouraged from dawn until sunset.

Before humans learned how to cultivate crops, they were primarily hunters and gatherers who had adapted to go longer periods without eating. They mostly survived on hunger, thus they would hunt or gather food like nuts or fruits, etc.

After those primitive times, even after thousands of years passed, it was also easier for people to maintain a healthy weight as there were no computers, cell phones, or televisions, and they stopped eating because they went to bed early and slept. Portions were much smaller. More people worked hard and played outside, in this way their overall weight and health were maintained. Their bodies got the natural exercises.

What is meant by Intermittent Fasting?

Contrary to many regimens, intermittent fasting is all about when you eat.

The theory behind intermittent fasting is that by limiting our intake, our bodies will more quickly and effectively use their fat reserves as energy sources. Although glucose from carbs is our most direct fuel source, when glucose isn't available, we turn to fat for energy. When there is a lack of food, this occurs even more frequently. We have a limitless capacity for fat storage.

For 25 years, Mark Mattson, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins, has researched intermittent fasting. According to him, our bodies have developed to be able to go for long periods—up to days—without eating.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting 

Intermittent fasting offers numerous important benefits for your body.

You only eat at certain times with intermittent fasting. Fasting for a set number of hours each day or eating only one meal a few days a week can help your body burn fat. Numerous studies demonstrate that it can have significant benefits for your body and brain. Among the several advantages are:

• Intermittent fasting (IF) allows you to consume fewer calories while slightly increasing your metabolism. It is a compelling strategy for losing weight and visceral fat (the harmful fat in the abdominal cavity that causes disease). It may help overweight or obese people lose weight.

• Intermittent fasting improved blood pressure, resting heart rate, and other heart-related parameters in the short term.

• Intermittent fasting also lowers inflammation levels in the body, releasing helpful hormones that reduce inflammation and help the body function properly.

• Intermittent fasting has been demonstrated to have significant benefits for insulin resistance, lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes and resulting in a significant decrease in blood sugar levels.

• According to certain research, some patients who practised intermittent fasting under the guidance of their doctors were able to eliminate their requirement for insulin medication.

• Triglycerides are reduced in the body by IF. Alternatively, it significantly aids in the reduction of LDL cholesterol, which stands for BAD cholesterol.

• Lower blood pressure and healthier cholesterol levels (both maintained by IF) are important in not just lowering your risk of stroke but also providing a protective mechanism for the brain and enhancing recovery from a stroke.

• Intermittent fasting can also help the body lower oxidative stress. One of the first steps toward ageing and many chronic diseases is oxidative stress.

• CANCERS in the body are another area that intermittent fasting can help with, thus more research is needed in this area. Fasting has also been shown to lessen certain negative effects of chemotherapy in people.

• According to research, intermittent fasting improves working memory in animals and verbal ability in adults.

• Intermittent fasting can also aid in sleep maintenance. Some IF adherents claim to be able to sleep better as a result of their eating habits.

• One of the most intriguing applications of intermittent fasting may be its ability to increase one's longevity. Many studies on animals such as rodents, mice, fruit flies, and others have revealed that they have longer lifespans. As a result, it is regarded as one of the diets that may help you live longer, therefore boosting your overall health. The research is currently ongoing.

Intermittent Fasting Schedule

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern in which you alternate between eating and fasting intervals.

An eating habit is known as intermittent fasting cycles between eating and fasting times.

Intermittent fasting comes in numerous forms, including the 16/8 and 5:2 techniques.

Alternate-day fasting, periodic fasting, and time-restricted meals every day are all examples of intermittent fasting techniques.

Once you have been permitted by the doctor, move forward. You can choose a daily strategy that limits daily meals to one six- to eight-hour window each day. The 16:8 method of intermittent fasting is limiting your daily eating window to eight hours and fasting every day for 16 hours. During this fast, people often finish their evening meal by 8 p.m. then skip breakfast the following morning and go without food

Another technique is to fast every day for a predetermined period, typically 12 hours or longer. Each night, the typical person sleeps for roughly 7 hours, which counts toward the required fasting period. You might easily establish a daily fast to boost your body's ability to burn fat if you don't eat after dinner. For novices, this kind of intermittent fasting regimen might be a decent choice. This is due to how brief the fasting window is. The simplest approach to completing the 12-hour fast is to include the time spent sleeping.

Another, referred to as the 5:2 method, calls for eating consistently five days a week. You only eat one 500–600 calorie meal on the remaining two days. Men typically ingest 600 calories during the two fasting days, but women typically only consume 500 calories. In this case, you can eat anything you want 5 to 6 days per week and choose to fast for 1 or 2 days each week. It is advised to drink water and broth during those fasting days to prevent dehydration. Someone with a job that may be extremely busy some days and prevent them from regularly eating may find that this form of fasting is useful.

Always choose nutritious meals like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, plant proteins, and non- or low-fat dairy anytime you eat, regardless of the fasting pattern you select. Whether it's a 16:8, 20:4, 5:2, alternate-day fast, or anything else, the efficiency of any IF plan varies from person to person. Finding the best intermittent fasting schedule depends on several variables.

Best App for Intermittent Fasting

Numerous fasting apps assist you in staying on schedule with the IF.

The top fasting applications include 

1- BodyFast

2- Fastic

3- Window

4- Fastyle

5- FastHabit

6- Life Fasting Tracker

7- Zero

8- DoFasting

9- Ate

10-Vora

These are the top applications for your smartphone that you can download to get started with intermittent fasting in the right direction. You can start using any of them for free, and you can then decide whether or not it's right for you. To find the type you're looking for, you can choose one or test out a few.

Try out the intermittent fasting regimen and use the above-mentioned apps for a better guide. There are absolute benefits and changes that you will notice in yourself after some time while doing intermittent fasting.