Intermittent Fasting (IF)
There's different diets out there claiming to help you get to your fitness goal quicker. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a style of dieting that claims to do that along with some other great benefits. People are using it to improve their health, lose body fat and help make their dieting easier. Many studies show that it can have beneficial effects on your body and brain, and can help you live longer. In today's blog I want to go over how does Intermittent Fasting work and what are the benefits you may get from following this diet.
Intermittent Fasting is when you eat during an 8 hour window only, and fast for 16 hours. During the 16 hours of fasting you can only drink water, in some variations of the diet some people have teas and coffee during the fast as well. An example would be to start eating from 2 pm-10 pm, once 10 pm hits you don't eat anything again until 2 pm the next day. Now not eating for so long can sound almost impossible to do but if you think about it, this is a more natural way of eating for humans. I'ts probably more unnatural to eat frequently than it is to Intermittent Fast. It's not until recent history that humans have had the luxury to go to a supermarket and pick up literally any food they want. This is unrealistic compared to how humans used to get their food for the most part which was through hunting and gathering. You would wake up and there was no breakfast, you had to walk for long hours and gather food, or hours trying to hunt something down to eat. Then after gathering or hunting your food that is when you would have the opportunity to eat, before that you would have been in a fasted state the whole time.
For some of us fasting can make dieting a bit more easier. You don't have to worry about constantly eating throughout the day and this is a great way to be more productive and get more work in during the early moring and afternoon. When you fast, several things happen in your body. For example, your body changes your hormone levels to make use of more stored body fat as energy, which in turn helps you burn more body fat. Some studies have also show that Interminnet Fasting can reduce cancer, lower your cholesterol, inflammation, increase brain health, anti-aging, and extended life span. Studies showed that fasted rats live as mus as 36-83% longer. With all these great benefits who wouldn't want to give this a try. I myself have tried it and have seen some benefits. Just like trying any diet make sure to consult with your doctor first.
It's also good to keep in mind that even though Intermittent fasting sounds like the holy grail of dieting, it all depends on what your goals are. You still have to eat according to your fitness goals, so regardless if you ate your meal frequently or through that 8 hour period you still have to make sure you are getting the proper nutrition for your fitness goal to see results. Remember your diet is 70% of your results, what really counts is what you are putting into your body on a daily basis.
-FitnessWithFlex
