Which Intermittent Fasting Type Works Best For Each Body Type
Certain body types react better to types of intermittent fasting and to pinpoint your exact type and body shape, we have outlined some of the most effective intermittent fasting diets for each of the three body types.
And while there is no specific research to pinpoint one intermittent fasting plan over another, these recommendations are chosen based on body type consideration and propensity for fat loss.
Other Benefits Of Fasting
What is novel about the explosion in interest in intermittent fasting is the small but growing clinical research base behind it. Several studies have found improvements in various health markers.
These include:
- improving blood cholesterol and lipid levels
- lowering resting heart rate.
However, it is not clear whether changes to these health markers are due to the fasting pattern itself or the overall energy deficit.
Chronic inflammation occurs alongside the development of many chronic conditions. This includes heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some forms of cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and even depression.
Several studies have found intermittent fasting can decrease blood markers of inflammation. This means in the future it may be found useful in treating inflammatory conditions.
Outside of weight loss, intermittent fasting may have an extra advantage on insulin sensitivity and abdominal obesity compared to a traditional kilojoule-reduced diet.
There have been claims that fasting helps you to live longer. But these are harder to prove with most of the evidence coming from animal studies.
While some of the benefits of intermittent fasting are flow-on effects from any weight loss, there could be some extra beneficial changes happening. And that introduces the term ‘autophagy’.
Autophagy seems to decline as we age, so the benefits of fasting could be greater in older people. That makes sense because there has been a lot more time for cellular waste by-products to build up.
Lose Weight By Science
The weight loss industry has become overwhelmed with marketing products that claim to help lose weight without any scientific backup. From outrageous claims to impossible goals, many businesses have deprived people of both time and money by taking advantage of their desperate need to lose weight.
Therefore it is better to be informed before trying any weight loss program. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Drink Water Before Meals- Water boosts up metabolism for 1-1.5 hours by up to 30% thus burning off extra calories.
- Eggs for Breakfast- Eggs are eggcellent breakfast options for a reason. A protein-rich breakfast like eggs reduces calories consumption and increases fat loss over the next 36 hours.
- Switch to Black Coffee This is good news for all the coffee-lovers. The caffeine in coffee increases metabolism by 11% and fat loss by up to 29%. Drink your coffee without sugar to reap the full benefits.
- Green Tea If you are not too fond of coffee, green tea is another great alternative. Though low in caffeine, it is loaded with antioxidants called catechins which enhance the effect of caffeine on fat loss and help in weight loss.
- Glucomannan supplements It is a type of fiber that works by making you feel full for a longer period of time thus decreasing calorie consumption. People who take these supplements are proven to lose weight.
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Keep Your Meal Nourishing
Include a lot of healthy fats, protein and fresh vegetables in your meals while following intermittent fasting. You can also include healthy carbs from foods like brown rice, sweet potatoes etc. Carbs are good for your body and will provide you with the energy to tide over the calorie-deficit you are going to create for the rest of the day.
Pros Of Intermittent Fasting
Researchers have already linked numerous health benefits with intermittent fasting and continue to examine them.
Plus, for some people, intermittent fasting fits well into their model of a healthy and sustainable long-term diet.
If youre wondering if intermittent fasting could be right for you, here are a few benefits that might pique your interest.
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Fasting May Have The Ability To Improve Cognitive Health
Fasting may help cognitive health in a number of ways.
Firstly, intermittent fasting is thought to reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation in the brain can lead to poor memory and cognitive processes. With the reduction of inflammation seen with fasting, cognition may improve.
In addition, the are directly linked to autophagy. As fasting triggers elevated levels of autophagy, fasting may help to boost cognitive health in older people.
Autophagy is also known to protect against the neurodegeneration that leads to diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons.
Are There Any Long
There is a growing body of research that suggests intermittent fasting does have health benefits outside of weight loss. One study published in Cell Metabolism in 2018 linked intermittent fasting and lower insulin levels and blood pressure. Researchers followed a small group of obese men with prediabetessome were put on a 16:8 diet, while others ate over a period of 12 hours. Both groups didnt gain or lose weight. But after five weeks, the men in the 16:8 group had much lower insulin levels and better insulin sensitivity. They also significantly lowered their blood pressure and said they had decreased appetites. They werent as hungry as they were beforeeven though they were fasting.
It might seem counterintuitive, but appetite control is a big benefit of fasting. A recent study in the journal Obesityshowed that people who ate only during a six-hour window, compared to following a normal eating schedule, felt less hungry than the control group, even though both groups ate the same amount of calories. Intermittent fasting has also been linked to increased neuroplasticity, or the brains ability to form new synaptic connections and fight injury.
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Does Fasting Benefit People Who Don’t Need To Lose Weight Or Who Have Reached Their Goal Weight
Yes, Varady said, citing one of her studies that found fasting helps maintain a healthy body weight lowers triglycerides, which is important for heart health helps decrease blood pressure and improves blood sugar regulation.
A review of research in humans and animals, published in 2019 in the New England Journal of Medicine, found intermittent fasting has “broad-spectrum benefits” for health problems including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and neurologic disorders.
The powerful health effects appear to come from the body flipping a “metabolic switch” during fasting or shifting away from using sugar as its main source of energy and instead converting fat for fuel when a person’s stomach is empty.
Examples Of Different Intermittent Fasting Schedules
If youre considering giving fasting a shot, there are a few different options for working it into your lifestyle.
Daily Intermittent Fasting
Most of the time, I follow the Leangains model of intermittent fasting, which uses a 16hour fast followed by an 8hour eating period. This model of daily intermittent fasting was popularized by Martin Berkhan of Leangains.com, which is where the name originated.
It doesn’t matter when you start your 8hour eating period. You can start at 8am and stop at 4pm. Or you start at 2pm and stop at 10pm. Do whatever works for you. I tend to find that eating around 1pm and 8pm works well because those times allow me to eat lunch and dinner with friends and family. Breakfast is typically a meal that I eat on my own, so skipping it isn’t a big deal.
Because daily intermittent fasting is done every day it becomes very easy to get into the habit of eating on this schedule. Right now, you’re probably eating around the same time every day without thinking about it. Well, with daily intermittent fasting it’s the same thing, you just learn to not eat at certain times, which is remarkably easy.
Weekly Intermittent Fasting
One of the best ways to get started with intermittent fasting is to do it once per week or once per month. The occasional fast has been shown to lead to many of the benefits of fasting we’ve already talked about, so even if you don’t use it to cut down on calories consistently there are still many other health benefits of fasting.
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Extended Fasting Maximizes Your Fat Burning
Multi-day fasting gets your insulin level even lower than TRE, and keeps it down longer.
It takes a couple days for your insulin to really come down all the way. And thats when you burn fat the fastest.
As long as you keep fasting, your insulin level stays nice and low. So you keep burning fat at the maximum rate.
If you have a lot of extra body fat, extended fasting is a great way to accelerate your weight loss.
Proposed Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
When it comes to weight loss, there are two thoughts behind why IF has the potential to work. The first: Periods of fasting produce a net calorie deficit, so you lose weight, explains Rekha Kumar, MD, a specialist in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYorkPresbyterian in New York City.
The other concept is more complex: This approach may prevent whats called the plateau phenomenon from happening, Dr. Kumar says.
Biggest Loser
Though more research is needed on the safety and effectiveness of IF, one of the touted benefits of this approach is that it may prevent this metabolic sputtering. Most people who try diet and exercise to lose weight tend to fall off the wagon and regain weight, Kumar says. Hormones that promote weight regain, like hunger hormones, are kicked into full gear, and the thought is that IF may be a way to prevent this metabolic adaptation from happening. The idea is that the normal periods of eating in IF trick your body into losing weight before the plateau happens.
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How To Succeed With Intermittent Fasting
Since it saves time and money, many have no problem starting IF. Others, however, may find it challenging to start especially when they are used to eating three meals and snacks every day. Here are some tips for success:
You can also learn more about the potential side effects of intermittent fasting in our evidence-based guide.
Seek Help For Severe Dehydration From A Healthcare Professional
You can usually manage your mild dehydration by increasing your fluid intake. However, its important to note that severe dehydration can be life threatening and should be treated by a healthcare professional.
If you or a loved one is experiencing signs of severe dehydration, contact a healthcare professional immediately. This is especially important for infants, children, and older adults, who are more susceptible to dehydration.
Risk factors for severe dehydration included prolonged diarrhea or vomiting, extreme exercise, laxative use, burns, and certain medical conditions (
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Fasting For Healthy Weight Loss The Wrap Up
Intermittent fasting can play a role in your healthy weight loss lifestyle.
But remember, fasting is not a magic bullet. The rest of your diet and lifestyle still matter.
Also, remember our six tips for healthy weight loss with intermittent fasting:
If you follow these tips, theres a good chance that intermittent fasting can help you lose weight in a healthy way.
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Tips And Tricks About Fasting
#1) Dont freak out! Stop wondering: can I fast 15 hours instead of 16? or what if I eat an apple during my fasted period, will that ruin everything? Relax. Your body is a complex piece of machinery and learns to adapt. Everything is not as cut and dry as you think.
If you want to eat breakfast one day but not another, thats okay. If you are going for optimal aesthetic or athletic performance, I can see the need to be more rigid in your discipline, but otherwisefreaking chill out and dont stress over minutiae!
Dont let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to your intermittent fasting plan.
#2) Consider fasted walks in the morning. I found these to be very helpful in reducing body fat, and also gave my day a great start to clear my mind and prepare for the day.
Simply wake up and go for a mile walk. Maybe you could even start walking to Mordor?
#3) Listen to your body during your strength training workouts. If you get lightheaded, make sure you are consuming enough water.
If you notice a significant drop in performance, make sure you are eating enough calories during your feasting window.
And if you feel severely off, pause your workout. Give yourself permission to EASE into intermittent fasting and fasted workouts. This is especially true if you are an endurance athlete.
#4) Expect funny looks if you spend a lot of mornings with breakfast eaters.
#7) Track your results, listen to your body:
This is just one tool that can contribute to your success.
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What Is Ketosis And How Will I Know That Im There
Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body starts to break down and burn fat. Ketosis is characterized by the production of ketone bodies in your liver, which include acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate and the breakdown product of acetoacetate, acetone.
If you have water fasted for over 12 hours, you are likely in at least nutritional or light ketosis! Your liver glycogen has been depleted. Your body is producing ketone bodies as an alternative fuel source for your brain through the breakdown of fat and fatty acids. You can also reach ketosis with an alternate day fasting or 5:2 protocol with up to 500 calories per fasting day, but its best if these calories come from low-carb or keto-friendly foods.
The best way to measure ketosis is through a blood ketone meter or a breath ketone meter. You can measure your ketone levels to see if anything you are drinking during your fast is kicking you out of ketosis. Urine ketone strips are not very accurate. They dont detect all forms of ketone bodies, such as the important beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB. So the best bet is to grab a blood ketone meter like Keto-Mojo, or a breath ketone meter like BIOSENSE.
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What Is The : 8 Diet
The 16:8 diet is a form of intermittent fasting where you break the day into two parts: a 16-hour fasting period and an 8-hour period where you consume all your calories.
The 16:8 stems from the 8-Hour Diet book by author David Zinczenko and Peter Moore , former editor-in-chief of Mens Health. The two created the plan off the back of the popular 5:2 diet, with the main difference being the longer fasting time between eating sessions. This, they say, gives the body the time it needs to process food and burn away extra fat.
The 8-Hour Diet by David Zinczenko and Peter Moore
Suzie Sawyer , founder of Nutrition Lifestyle, says, There are no restrictions on the types or amounts of food that a person can eat during the 8-hour window. This flexibility makes the plan relatively easy to follow.
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Does Intermittent Fasting Work
IN THE DIET WORLD THESE DAYS, intermittent fasting may be a popular trend, but those trying to lose weight or improve their overall health should know that it can be a hard plan to stick to.
The approach alternates between periods of fasting and non-fasting during a particular time period. Intermittent fasting isnt about deprivation, but about splitting up your calories differently than the three-square-meals a day plus a snack routine.
The reason intermittent fasting is thought to be effective in weight loss is because it increases your bodys responsiveness to insulin. Insulin, a hormone that is released when you eat food, causes your liver, muscle and fat cells to store glucose. In a fasting state, blood glucose levels drop, which leads to a decrease in insulin production, signaling your body to start burning stored energy . After 12 hours of fasting, your body runs out of stored energy and begins burning stored fat.
Three of the more well-known IF plans are:
- 5:2 diet: Eat normally, but healthfully for five days of the week and consume only 500 to 800 calories on two nonconsecutive days. Women usually aim for closer to 500 and men around 800 calories. Some might opt to split their calories into two or three mini meals.
- Alternate days: Eat normally one day, then fast the next, and repeat for the rest of the week.
- Time restricted fasting: fasting every day for 12 hours or longer.
