An Effective and Safe Guide to Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is presently one of the most widespread weight loss trends today. In fact, The Annual Review of Nutrition confirmed that intermittent fasting can be a feasible technique for improving the metabolism and the overall human health. In addition to these benefits of fasting, it is said to also impact biomarkers linked with a chronic ailment. 

Intermittent fasting basically suggests you follow a specific eating pattern which involves withdrawal from food for a specific period of time. During your eating window, you are advised to only consume types of foods and liquids that can give your body the necessary health nutrients without the excess calories. Achieving the perfect balance of health and fasting is crucial in the success of the practice.

What Happens When You Go on Intermittent Fasting

When you go on intermittent fasting, a number of things materialize in your body on both cellular and molecular level. Human growth hormone levels increase, and insulin levels decrease. Your body’s cells also alter the behaviors of genes, commencing important cellular repair developments. These alterations in gene expression, hormone levels, and cell activity are accountable for the health benefits of intermittent fasting. Here are some of the health benefits of fasting:

• Fat Loss

• Improved Insulin Sensitivity

• Lower Blood Pressure

• Reduced Oxidative Stress

• Improved Immune System

• Increased Autophagy

• Improved Brain Health

• More Energy

• Less Hungry

• Improved Mind-Body Connection

Safe Intermittent Fasting Methods

There are various ways of doing intermittent fasting.  They all consist of breaking the day or week into fasting and eating phases. You can either eat a little or nothing at all during the fasting periods.

• Leangains

This intermittent fasting leangains, also known as intermittent fasting 16/18, is developed by Martin Berkhan. It is best for committed gym-goers who desire to lose body fat and develop muscles. Men need to fast for 16 hours, while women need to so for 14 hours. The remaining hours will be the eating phase. You cannot consume calories throughout the fasting periods but diet soda, black coffee, and sugar-free gums.

Those who follow this routine which also known as knows that the most comfortable fasting period is at night and in the morning. They commonly break the fast approximately six hours after waking up. This plan, however, is flexible; you can adjust it according to your preference. Another important thing to do is to sustain a regular feeding window time. Otherwise, you might suffer hormonal imbalance, making harder for you to stick to the program.

• Eat-Stop-Eat

This is best for healthy eaters seeking an additional lift. This method requires you to fast for 24 hours once or twice per week. During this time, food consumption is off the list for 24 hours. However, you can take calorie-free drinks as prescribed by Brad Pilon, the developer of this intermittent fasting method.  You can eat normally after you have completed the fasting cycle. 

What to eat when you are on this kind of intermittent fasting? You can eat everything during the eating window. However, because you do go on fasting breaks, your calorie consumption will shrink even without controlling what kind of food you eat. The key is to regulate how many times you can eat.  Keep in mind that it’s essential to also fuse regular workouts, specifically resistance exercise, to get to your goal of losing weight or enhancing your body structure.

• The Warrior Diet

This program requires you to have a strict discipline. The food you eat and when you eat them is crucial to this method. This said the fasting period is around 20 hours per day. You are only permitted to eat a large meal at night. The principle here is giving the body the nutrients it demands when it demands it. In accordance with the circadian rhythm, humans are nocturnal eaters.

The Warrior Diet is actually more about under eating. In the 20-hour fasting period, you can consume a controlled amount of fruit, veggies fresh juice, or any sources of protein. This magnifies the Sympathetic Nervous System’s fight or flight response. As you know, this stimulates alertness, increases the energy, and promotes burning fats.

• Crescendo Method

Unlike other intermittent fasting methods, the Crescendo method doesn’t require you to starve every day. Fasting schedule is set on a weekly basis instead. This is a customized tactic of intermittent fasting and has plenty of benefits on the human body, especially for women.

Fasting must be done for about two to three days per week on an alternating basis. It simply means that Crescendo fasting works best in a non-consecutive manner. For instance, if you plan to fast on Wednesday, the next days of fasting will be on Friday and Sunday. The fasting period is around 12 to 16 hours, so if you start your fasting at 8 pm, then you are allowed to eat after 10 am the next day.

Final Thoughts

Experts can’t tell for sure which kind of intermittent fasting is the most beneficial to our health. So if you’re contemplating to give it a try, learn from this intermittent fasting guide and choose the fasting type that you can incorporate to your lifestyle.