Intermittent Fasting: Does it Actually Work?
But what exactly is Intermittent Fasting and does it really impact positively upon your health? Can you seriously win back your health with this practice? Let’s plunge in!
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent Fasting simply means not eating or drinking anything (except water) for a certain period of time. So, it’s not about what you eat during diet regimes like Atkins or Keto but when you eat—for instance, fasting for 16 hours and feasting for 8 hours.
No, it’s not starving yourself to death. It’s simply intentional abstinence from food to achieve miraculous health benefits. Suppose your boss forces you to work 365 days and 24/7 hours how would you feel?
The same goes for your digestive system since you’re continuously munching and sipping throughout the day. Eating all day is abnormal, and thus, when you fast, your body can flush out the toxins. This process helps to cure your ailments, making your body healthier and younger.
How intermittent Fasting Works?
Ayurveda says, “langhanam param aushadham” which means no matter what disease you’re suffering from fasting is the supreme medicine. Even modern science confirms that fasting detoxifies your body at the cellular level.
Intrigued to see how IF works wonders for your body? Let’s check it out!
Boosts your Metabolism:
Fasting helps in boosting your metabolism and take nutrients from food. Ioannis Nezis, a professor of cell biology explains the reason behind this. He says that the metabolism changes because our body begins to use the stored fat to produce energy during fasting.
Additionally, fasting 16 hours a day allows your blood levels of insulin to reduce significantly. This further lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Autophagy
Fasting triggers a process in your body called autophagy. A medical jargon, right? Autophagy is a process by which your body gets rid of its sickest cells. In 2016, a Japanese cell biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on autophagy.
Surprisingly, during the fasting phase, your body induces autophagy, and only your healthiest cells survive the extreme condition. On the contrary, cysts, tumors, and cancerous ones die.
Weight Loss
When Intermittent Fasting can cure chronic diseases, losing weight becomes a by-product. Yes, IF helps you to get your ideal weight by reducing the amount of time you eat. It heightens the release of a fat-burning hormone called norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and also affects hormone levels resulting in weight loss.
A 2020 study stated that women over 60 experienced an average fat loss of approximately 2 kgs after following a 16:8 eating window plan for 6 weeks. However, it works only if you can quit for lengthy hours happily.
How to MakeIntermittent Fasting Work for You?
Although Nezis prefers a 16:8 fasting window, i.e., 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating, as a beginner, you can choose any one of the following that suits you.
The Balanced Window
If you’re new to this, this is for you as a beginner. Stop eating for 12 hours and then eat for the rest of the 12 hours.
The 16:8 Window
The next and the most beneficial way of practicing fasting. It’s by following the 16:8 window, i.e., 16 hours fasting and 8 hours eating. Once you’ve gotten accustomed to the 12-hour window, you can switch to the 16-hour window.
The Weekly Window
The next effective way to practice Intermittent Fasting is by eating healthy foods for 5 days and lowering your calorie intake for two days. Make sure that there must be at least 1 non-fasting day between 2 fasting days.
How you can Use Calorie Tracking App for Intermittent Fasting?
As a beginner, you may find it challenging to track your fasting hours and calorie intake. The easiest hack would be to use calorie-tracking apps like the Calory app that can manage your fasting regimen.
This is how they help you:
Get analytics about your eating pattern and overall progress.
The Bottom Lines
Popular Personalities like Hugh Jackman, Kourtney Kardashian, Elon Musk, and Malaika Arora swear by the benefits of Intermittent Fasting. So can you, if you are consistent enough practice it.
Calory app, helps you to stay glued to your IF regimen with regular reminders and a calorie tracking feature. Begin your IF regimen today to gift yourself a new healthy you with calory.
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