By now, you’ve no doubt heard of intermittent fasting (IF). Maybe your brother skipped out on brunch the last time you got together because it was too early for him to eat. Or maybe your friend couldn’t do a late dinner last time you saw her.
Although IF has become part of the popular diet lexicon in recent years, fasting overall is nothing new. Hippocrates was reportedly the first person to use fasting in the fifth century B.C. to treat illness, and it is an essential part of many religious traditions, including in Islam.
There are many reasons why you might try fasting, or specifically IF, from weight loss to wellness. Use this scientific guide to get the lowdown on IF specifically. You’ll also find tips for how to set yourself up for success if you decide to start.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Unlike some other diets, intermittent fasting doesn’t have a long list of rules. Instead, the approach is all about “entirely or partially restraining or abstaining from eating during a specific period of time,” says Heather Bauer, RDN, founder of Heather Bauer Nutrition in New York City.
In other words, IF involves pauses from eating. While some people find that they enjoy IF, this is not the right diet for everyone, she says.
How Intermittent Fasting Works
You choose how you want to do IF by deciding which days of the week you will fast. On fasting days, you’ll likely follow a severe calorie-restricted diet or you may not eat at all. You can also fast for a certain time every day. Ultimately, this results in consuming fewer calories over the course of the week, and some experts, including Caroline Susie, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in Dallas, say that this calorie reduction is what sometimes leads to weight loss and then potentially additional metabolic benefits.
Types of Intermittent Fasting
There is no one standard way to practice IF. “Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term for three different types of diets,” says Krista Varady, PhD, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois in Chicago and a researcher on intermittent fasting. Here’s what you’re most likely to see, she says:
Alternate-Day Fasting
For the most common type of alternate-day fasting, you eat 500 calories every other day. On off days, you can eat what you want.
5:2 Diet
Popular in the United Kingdom, you consume 500 calories on two nonconsecutive days per week. On the other days, you eat whatever you like.
Time-Restricted Eating
You choose a window of time during which you can eat (feast); the rest of the day you don’t eat (fast). One popular setup is 16:8, which means you fast for 16 hours and you can eat during the other eight hours. For instance, you might set your eating window from 12 noon to 8 p.m. daily. (This could also be called skipping breakfast.)
Original Article: https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/intermittent-fasting/
