deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
Intermittent Fasting for Beginners - The Complete Guide - Diet Doctor
6
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
Fasting....
...is the voluntary withholding of food for spiritual, health, or other reasons.
Food is easily available, but you choose not to eat it. This can be for any period of time, from a few hours up to a few days or – with medical supervision – even weeks on end.
It’s done by someone who is not underweight and thus has enough stored body fat to live off.
134 SAVES
Intermittent fasting for weight loss
When we fast, Insulin levels fall, signaling the body to start burning stored energy as no more is coming through food. Blood glucose falls, so the body must now pull glucose out of storage to burn for energy.
In essence, intermittent fasting allows the body to use its stored energy.
190 SAVES
Health benefits of intermittent fasting
- Weight and body fat loss
- Lowered blood insulin and sugar levels
- Possibly reversal of type 2 diabetes
- Possibly improved mental clarity and concentration
- Possibly increased energy
- Possibly increased growth hormone, at least in the short term
- Possibly an improved blood cholesterol profile
- Possibly a reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- Possibly longer life
- Possibly activation of cellular cleansing by stimulating autophagy
- Possibly reduction of inflammation
246 SAVES
Possible side effects
- Hunger is the most common side effect of intermittent fasting.
- Constipation is common. Less going in means less going out. Standard laxatives can be used to help.
- Headaches are common and tend to disappear after the first few times on fasts.
- Mineral water may help if your stomach tends to gurgle.
- Other possible side effects include dizziness, heartburn and muscle cramps.
145 SAVES
Things to keep in mind
- Drink water
- Stay busy
- Ride out the hunger waves
- Give yourself 1 month to see if intermittent fasting (such as 16:8) is a good fit for you
- Follow a low-carb diet between fasting periods. This reduces hunger and makes intermittent fasting easier.
- Don’t binge after fasting.
213 SAVES
Types of fasting
Shorter fasts (<24hrs):
- 16:8: eating only during an 8-hour window during the day and fasting for the remaining 16 hours.
- 20:4: 4-hour eating window and a 20-hour fast.
Longer fasts (>24 hours):
- 24-hour fasts: fasting from dinner to dinner (or lunch to lunch).
- 5:2 fast: 5 regular eating days and two fasting days.
- 36 hour fasts: fasting the entire day.
213 SAVES
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
4
Key Ideas
Intermittent Fasting (IF)
The dietary practice of restricting your food consumption to a specific window of time. It is used as a supplement to your diet.
In this fasting state, our bodies can break down extra fat...
Approaches to intermittent fasting
- Skipped meals - when you skip over a meal to induce extra time of fasting.
- Eating windows - this condenses your entire macronutrient intake between a 4 and 7-hour window. The rest of the time you are in a fasting state.
- 24-48 hour cleanse - where you go into extended fasting periods and do not eat for 1-2 days.
Autophagy definition and benefits
The process by which the cell devours itself.
- Non-essential parts like damaged proteins are recycled and invading microorganisms and toxic compounds are removed.
- Autophagy plays an important role in stopping the aging process, reversing disease, and preventing cancer, but it doesn’t happen all the time.
- Autophagic processes can be initiated by fasting, protein restriction and carbohydrate restriction.
8
Key Ideas
What Intermittent fasting is
Intermittent fasting is based on the idea that when you reduce your calorie intake for limited stretches of time, your body will use its stored fat for energy. Intermittent fasting...
Time-restricted eating
One intermittent fasting method is known as time-restricted eating: A person consumes all of their calories for the day within an 8-to-12-hour window. You might eat breakfast at 8 AM, including coffee, and finishing your dinner by 6 PM.
In an experiment, two sets of mice were fed the same diet and ate the same number of calories a day. One set had access to food for 24 hours, and the other group had access for only 8 hours. After 18 weeks, the group that could eat all hours showed signs of insulin resistance and had liver damage. The mice who ate in an 8-hour window did not have the condition and weighed 28 percent less than the other group.
Food at the right time
Many of the human body’s processes are tied to our circadian rhythms.
Eating food at the right time can nurture us, and healthy food at the wrong time can be junk food because it gets stored as fat instead of being used as fuel.
3
Key Ideas
Intermittent fasting
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
- It makes your day simpler: fewer meals= less stressing about what you'll eat.
- It helps you live longer: you get the benefits of a longer life without the hassle of starving.
- Still up for debate, but intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer.
- It is much easier than dieting, once you get over the idea that you need to eat all the time.
Different Fasting Schedules
- Daily Intermittent Fasting: 16–hour fast followed by an 8–hour eating period.
- Weekly Intermittent Fasting: One of the best ways to get started with it - do it once per week.
- Alternate Day Intermittent Fasting: incorporates longer fasting periods on alternating days throughout the week.