Should I Do Intermittent Fasting?

Just like what Ellen Degeneres said in one of the episodes of her talk show, with the coming a new year, there will be a new regime of diet that will emerge.
The current craze of diet regime is 'intermittent fasting'.
Most would be a bit turn off when reading the word 'fasting' as it conveys the message of not eating/ taking anything and that will leave a person hungry or worse, starved.
But intermittent fasting (IF) is more about strategy and not starvation. Results may vary to each individual. That's why you will find so many variations on intermittent fasting as via the fasting, each individual will eventually find what works best for themselves.
IF doesn't involve specific foods but rather a strict schedule regarding when you eat.  And IF is actually not necessarily a diet but rather a dieting pattern of a lifestyle. Meaning - if you're disciplined enough and the body is able to function normally and optimally while IF, you can practice it regularly. IF is a cycle of a period of fasting and non-fasting designated between hours of the day. Meaning you'll have hours to eat and then hours to think about what to eat next. Unlike the Ramadhan fasting, one is allowed to drink plain water, tea or coffee with no sugar, sweetener or milk during IF. 

NOTE: For a beginner, you are advised to practise fasting for a few days in a week to introduce and ease the body and its system to IF.

Reading from blogs, here are some of the IF variations :

1. 16:8. This one seems to be the most popular variation of IF. One is allowed to eat between 12 pm until 8 pm and you'll have to fast for 16 hours for a few days in a week.
2. 24 hours where one is to stay away from all food and drink with calorie for the whole 24 hours, once or twice a week.
3. 5:2 where one is allowed to eat as usual for 5 days a week. Whereas for the 2 days, one is allowed to eat within the calorie intake of 500  - 600 kcal only. 

Which one do you think will fit you? I will say that I would love to try No. 2 and No.3 first. 

CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING ANY DIET OR CHANGING YOUR LIFESTYLE IF YOU HAVE A CONDITION OR DISEASE

Will IF helps to lose weight?

Here are some points taken from Kevin Zahri's blog on IF.

1. Calorie: With limited food intake period, automatically you limit the total food intake for the day. When the calorie intake is less, you'll lose some weights too.
2. Water: As our body is made of water, the majority of it. But the amount will fluctuate according to sugar intake and insulin hormone. As IF limits the food intake, thus it will limit the sugar intake too. This will lead to the stabilization of the blood glucose level and lower the level of the normal insulin hormone. The drop in the level of the insulin hormone will force our body to discard the excess body water due to the low sugar intake in our diet. 

Other benefits of IF?

1. IF promotes stronger insulin sensitivity which means you have better blood sugar control. 
2. If can reduce blood lipids ultimately leading to losing body fat. OH YAY!
3. IF will improved inflammatory markers thus will reduce the risk of certain diseases caused by inflammation
4. IF increases production of hormones in-charge of energy balance (ghrelin and leptin). Ghrelin causes hunger while leptin helps to stretch out the energy we get from food

As mentioned earlier, just try whichever variation and find out what food/ diet will fit you the best.
All the best to all.

Rawlins GLAM
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