When it comes to losing weight, there are a lot of methods people try, such as going to the gym along with dieting and sometimes even medicines. However, one of the most recent things everyone has shifted to for weight loss is intermittent fasting, and for all the right reasons! Here, in this article, we’ve discussed about the details of intermittent fasting.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a type of diet that consists of a cycle with two components; eating and fasting. The difference between a normal diet and this one is that in the latter, you focus on the timings of eating instead of the type of food you’re consuming.
This isn’t a new concept as it has been practiced by many religions such as Islam, Christianity and etc. It has been proven that this special diet has a lot of benefits attached to it, such as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.
Types of Intermittent Fasting
There are different methods available for you to follow when it comes to intermittent fasting, depending on what time suits them best. This includes:
- 5:2 diet: This involves fasting for only two days by restricting your calorie intake to a maximum of 500 or 600. You can eat your normal diet for the rest of the five days.
- Time Restricted diet: In this type, fasting is done for 12 hours or so, and you can eat in the leftover hours.
- 24-hour fast: This one’s kind of a tougher diet; it involves not eating for 24 hours once or twice a week.
- Warrior Diet: In this, you’re allowed to eat a small number of fruits and vegetables and only have one proper meal at night.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
As mentioned before, Intermitted fasting has a lot of advantages, such as:
- Weight loss
The majority of the reason why people prefer intermittent fasting is to help them lose weight. By fasting, you won’t be eating any unnecessary calories, which will, in return, help in weight reduction.
- Metabolic Health
Metabolism is how the body processes and metabolizes energy. It is associated with the measurement of blood sugar, blood pressure and the fat levels. This type of fasting has shown results in lowering down blood pressure along with keeping blood sugar in check. Apart from that, it also helps in repairing the damaged cells in the body along with protecting the brain health.
- Reduce Inflammation
Sometimes our body goes through oxidative stress, which is bad as it leads to ageing and other chronic diseases. Intermittent fasting helps to avoid that as the fasting causes increased resistance against the stress created.
- Cardiovascular
Fasting helps decrease blood pressure and the bad cholesterol known as LDL in the body, along with triglycerides and inflammation. All this combined helps reduce the risk of getting any sort of heart disease.
If you want to live a healthier life, then you should consider adding intermittent fasting into your diet, as many studies have shown it to be very beneficial. However, before starting it, it’s always advised to consult your doctor to make sure it’s safe for you to do so.