Intermittent fasting, how does it work?

In a world where cardiovascular disease, hypertension and diabetes have become the order of the day, it is important, even crucial, to have and maintain a healthy weight. Achieving this healthy weight is not always easy. Losing weight can be very difficult for some people, a real chore. From strict diets to reducing daily caloric intake to physical activity, all the most drastic methods can sometimes be used. Yet they can fail to achieve lasting weight loss. Fortunately, a little-known but effective method still exists intermittent fasting.

Principles of intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a variant of traditional fasting, which consists of depriving oneself of food completely. Its particularity lies in the fact that it involves alternating periods of fasting with periods when you can eat normally. For the application of this trick, there is no need to change your diet or to think about a low-calorie diet. You will just need to eat at strict times, and fast during the period between meals while continuing to drink enough water. Strictly speaking, this is not a diet, but rather an eating behavior.

Different Forms of Intermittent Fasting

You can fast intermittently in different ways. For example, there are:

Fasting for a limited time
It requires you to eat whatever you want, but for a set period, to fast the rest of the time. This type of fasting is the simplest and easiest to do. It exists in several variations, depending on each person. You can choose to eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours. For example, have your last meal at 8 p.m. and the first one at noon. We will talk about fasting 16-8. You can also choose to fast 17-7, 18-6, etc.
The 5:2 diet
It consists of fasting or eating very little for two non-consecutive days per week, and eating normally on the other five days.
Fasting 1 day out of 2
As its name suggests, this form invites the adopter to alternate a day when he or she will be satisfied with 25% of the usual calorie intake with a day when he or she will eat normally. You can also choose not to eat anything for 24 hours and then eat normally for the next 24 hours. When you do not eat, however, you are allowed to drink water or unsweetened, unsweetened drinks. This would be a more intense version of the 5:2 diet.

Benefits of intermittent fasting

There are many positive aspects to this fast. It improves insulin sensitivity, which is a real advantage for people with insulin-resistant diabetes. It also increases the level of growth hormones in your body. Finally, it allows for less brain aging, a reduction in obesity and therefore weight loss.

Intermittent fasting is then a solution when you want to lose weight and have a better health. It is important to hydrate yourself sufficiently and regularly. However, be careful not to do so if you are a child, a frail elderly person, a pregnant or breastfeeding woman.