If you're not familiar with intermittent fasting, it's not a diet but rather a pattern of
eating. You choose a part of the day to refrain from eating, called your
fasting window, and the other part of the day to eat, which is your eating
window. The most common type of IF is known as the 16:8 plan, where you fast for 16 hours and you eat from noon
until 8 p.m.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is gaining popularity, most
notably because it can help people lose weight. That's not the only positive effect,
though! Here are six common health benefits you'll experience from intermittent
fasting.
Related: 5 Types of Intermittent Fasting
Weight Loss
Many people who've failed at
other diets or workout programs find success with intermittent fasting.
Stephanie Ferrari, a registered dietitian with Fresh
Communications, said, "The formula for weight loss is actually
very simple. When the number of calories you eat is less than the number of
calories you burn, you will lose weight." Since you're not eating for long
periods of time, there are fewer opportunities to consume calories, which is
why IF helps people eat fewer calories effortlessly. Stephanie also shared
a meta-analysis from 2014, which "shows
that when using an IF eating pattern, people reduced bodyweight by three to
eight percent over three to 24 weeks."
Both Stephanie and Dr. Luiza Petre,
a weight-loss specialist and board-certified cardiologist, also note that
intermittent fasting raises growth hormone levels and lowers insulin levels,
both of which help burn more fat. Stephanie added, "Insulin decreases when
you fast, and lower levels of insulin results in burning more fat."
"The most important
benefit of fasting is increasing insulin sensitivity," Dr. Petre said.
"That means that cells are able to metabolise the carbohydrates better and
the doors to the fat deposits are open vs. being locked as in insulin resistance syndrome." She added that your
metabolic rate increases by four to 14 percent. "Intermittent fasting will
reset your body from burning sugar as fuel to burning fat."
