Intermittent fasting refers to eating patterns that alternate between fasting and eating periods. The goal is to systematically starve your body long enough to trigger fat burning. While research is still underway, therefore this method may not be suitable for everyone.
There is evidence that when done correctly, intermittent fasting can help lose weight, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, control or prevents diabetes, and improves mental health.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?
During a meal, carbohydrates in the food are broken down into glucose. After that, Glucose is absorbed by the intestinal wall into your bloodstream and is transported to specific organs. Here it serves as the major energy source.
Excess glucose is stored for later use in the liver and adipose tissue, in the form of glycogen and fats. In between meals, when the body is in the fasted state, your liver converts glycogen back to glucose to keep supplying the body with energy.
Normally, an inactive person is more likely to take 12 hours to use the stored glycogen. Although, someone who workouts or exercises may use stored glycogen in much less time.
Once the reserved glycogen in your liver is depleted, your body taps into energy stores in adipose tissues. This is when extra fats are broken down into free fatty acids which are then converted into additional metabolic fuel in the liver.
Thus, if the fasted state lasts long enough, your body burns fat for energy and loses that extra fat from your body. Losing extra fat has a range of health benefits.
Insulin drives glucose into cells. Insulin level is regulated to match the amount of glucose in the blood that is, high after a meal and low between meals.
Moreover, insulin is secreted after every meal, and eating food the whole day keeps your insulin levels high most of the time.
Constant high insulin levels may de-sensitize body tissues, causing insulin insensitivity-the hallmark of diabetes type 2 and pre-diabetes. Intermittent fasting keeps insulin levels low, reducing diabetes risks.
Fasting also has beneficial effects on your brain. It changes the brain the same way physical or cognitive exercise does. It promotes the production of neurotropic factors, that support the growth and survival of neurons.
Who Should Not Attempt Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is not recommended for everyone. Those who should not do fasting are:
- Children and teens
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women
- People with bulimia or anorexia (eating disorders)
- Someone who has advanced diabetes or diabetes type 1
- Someone with other critical medical problems
- Those who are underweight or frail
Fasting can be unsafe if not done correctly or if overdone.
Tips To Consider Before Starting Intermittent Fasting
- There are several approaches to intermittent fasting, but the easiest one is usually a nighttime fast. A daily cycle of 16 hours fast with an 8-hour eating window is most sustainable.
- For effective and safe intermittent fasting, you must combine it with balanced meals containing good nutrition.
- It is important to stay hydrated and know your physical limits while fasting.
- You must break your fast slowly.
- Don’t overeat in your eating window. Overeating after fast, especially with unhealthy foods must be avoided.
FAQs
Does intermittent fasting work for belly fat?
Due to the restrictions on calorie intake, intermittent fasting might help you reduce fat, especially in your trunk and belly.
What fat burns first when fasting?
When you start fasting, first you will lose hard and stubborn fat around your organs like the liver, heart, and kidneys. After that, you will lose soft fat around your waist and belly.
The Bottom Line
Intermittent fasting can help lose weight, lower your blood pressure and cholesterol, control or prevents diabetes, and improves mental health.