Important Points:
- Intermittent Fasting
- Benefits
- Diabetes
How can intermittent fasting help with your health?
Intermittent fasting may be a new concept for some, but it’s gaining a lot of popularity especially because of its touted health benefits. Intermittent fasting is not a diet in a classical sense since it does not limit the amount of food or restrict the type of foods eaten. Instead, it changes the time in which a person eats, most often practiced by fasting the whole day and only eating at a specified time once a day.
A research article published on Annual Review of Nutrition states that the benefits of intermittent fasting include prevention of obesity and its related conditions including diabetes and cancer. Another study in mice found that mice who fasted lived healthier and longer compared to mice that had free access to food. One study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine found that people who fasted showed marked improvements on disease indicators. Their fasting blood sugar, which is an indicator of diabetes risk, and their cholesterol and triglyceride levels all improved. It’s notable that participant’s lost abdominal fat without losing muscle mass.
How exactly does fasting help our body stay healthy such that we can reap these benefits? The current theory is when a person fasts, the body uses stored fat as a primary source of energy instead of using glucose. This is why those who fast showed a marked reduction in body fat compared to those who didn’t.
It is important to understand that despite having these benefits, not everyone should practice intermittent fasting. Those already in top health would not see as much benefit from fasting, and those who already have diabetes will struggle to achieve these benefits.
If you want to try out intermittent fasting, be safe and get help with your diet.
Metabolic Effects of Intermittent Fasting
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064634
Daily Fasting Improves Health and Survival in Male Mice Independent of Diet Composition and Calories
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413118305126?dgcid=rss_sd_all
Fasting-mimicking diet and markers/risk factors for aging, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease
