A Beginners Guide to Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is a way to control calorie intake through reducing the amount of consecutive hours you can eat. Studies have shown it can help lower weight, prevent and even reverse diabetes. Some people prefer to fast as it is easier to only think about eating for a certain period of time than to calories count and eat small meals every 3 hours.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Rather than focusing on what to eat, the focus is when to eat. The caveat is to continue eating healthy and well-balanced meals. The specific period to eat is completely up to you. The most popular is the 8 hour window e.g. from 12 PM – 08 PM.
Modern life means that we are moving less and eating more. Up until recently, people used to go to work after eating breakfast at home, eat a homemade lunch at work and have dinner when they got home.
We are bombarded with adverts and signals to eat and consume. Willpower is finite and eventually we give in to our cravings. One way to stay disciplined and not give in to consuming food in every waking hour of the day is by choosing a specific time you can eat.
Intermittent fasting is an easy way to reduce the amount of time you are eating. Sometimes people will have their first meal at 7 AM and their last morsel of food at 12 PM. This will include meals and snacks in-between. Combined with the sedentary lifestyle of modern life, it leads to excess calories and storing more fat.
The different ways to do it
Before making any lifestyle changes, it is important to check with your GP to see if it is safe to do so.
The 16:8 approach: The most popular approach to intermittent fasting is the 16/8 method. Using this method, you would not eat for 16 hours, which includes the time you are asleep, and eat in the 8 hour window. The most convenient for most people is having their first meal at 12 PM and finish their last meal by 8 PM.
The 5:2 approach: the 5:2 approach is the idea of eating as you would normally for 5 days per week and restricting yourself to 500-600 calories per day for 2 days. The two days can be any 2 days during the week. The most popular days for restricting calories are Monday and Thursday.
Eat-Stop-Eat: this is the 24 hours method whereby you would not eat for 24 hours. For example, your last meal could be breakfast at 9 AM and you will not eat again until 9 AM the next day. Similar to the 5:2 approach, most people do this twice per week.
There are also other methods with longer periods without food e.g. 24 hours, 36 and 72 hours. These can be more dangerous, so please consult your DR before taking this approach.
How long will it Take My Body to Get Used to Intermittent Fasting?
It can take two to four weeks before the body becomes accustomed to intermittent fasting.
AM I allowed to drink or eat anything whilst I am intermittent fasting?
During the fasting period, you can drink water, low calorie beverages, black coffee and black tea. Any tea without milk is permissible. Be cautious not to overdo it with the zero calorie fizzy drinks. We would recommend no more than one per day.
Will I be able to take supplements during the non-eating window?
Absolutely. Taking any vitamins or anything that is very low in calories (less than 20 calories) will not break your fast. However, do keep in mind that some supplements or vitamins need to be taken with food.
Intermittent Fasting Benefits
Helps burn fat and reduce weight
Longer lifespan, healthier in old age
Improves memory
Improves heart health
Retain muscle mass
Reduce the risk of diabetes
Proven Health Changes
It increases your human growth hormone levels: human growth hormone (HGH) plays a vital role in our day-to-day bodily functions. Studies have shown HGH to increase muscle growth, strength, sports performance and recovery. HGH also plays a vital role in preventing disease and increasing your fat loss. Multiple studies have shown intermittent fasting to increase HGH levels by 300%.
Weight loss: Intermittent fasting aids in weight loss by reducing the number of meals in the eating window. This tends to lead to the consumption of fewer calories. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting causes less muscle loss than regular calorie restriction. The caveat for is not to binge eat during the eating window.
Inflammation: research has shown intermittent fasting to reduce inflammation. Many diseases e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, COPD and psoriasis are caused by chronic inflammation. Inflammation is measured using the CRP test, which is included in our Optimal Health check.
Brain function: According to Dr Andrew Huberman intermittent fasting increases the brain function hormone BDNF which is responsible for the growth of new brain cells. This means it could potentially protect against Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Cancer: Studies have shown it can also decrease the risk of cancer. This might be due to the reduction in weight and inflammation.
Protect against Diabetes: That is right. Intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes and in some cases even reverse it. A diabetes blood test is included in all out health checks.
What to avoid
Do not try to cram in loads of calories during the eating window, as this will reduce its impact.
Avoid intermittent fasting if you are:
Under the age of 18
Pregnant or breastfeeding
Diabetic or pre-diabetes
Have a history of eating disorders
How to get started
Most people have done intermittent fasting in some form or another. To get started the easiest option would be to delay your first meal by 2 hours. Using the example above, that would mean having your breakfast at 10 AM rather than 8 AM. This is the safest option, but everyone is different.
First, you have to ask yourself how you feel when you do not eat. Do you function better or worse? Would you rather eat whilst working or eat when you are at home?
If you need food to function at work, then it is probably better to have an early eating window. E.g. eat from 10 AM until 6 PM.
If you function better without food, then make your eating window after 12 PM until 8PM. There are no strict rules for intermittent fasting. The great thing about it is that anyone can make it suit his or her own lifestyle, personality and schedule. Experiment with different approaches until you find what works for you.
I have tried it and it does not suit me
Like many diets, intermittent fasting is not for everyone. If you have tried and it does not work for you, try a different approach. The Mediterranean diet is probably the most beneficial diet according to research. However, there are hundreds if not thousands of diets that you can try. There is a plan to suit pretty much everyone. The only way to find out what will work for you is to try it.
