Have you exaggerated a bit during the holidays and need to drop a few pounds? You can try the intermittent fasting diet.
Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerousHave you exaggerated a bit during the holidays and need to drop a few pounds? Science confirms: You can try the intermittent fasting diet solution.
Intermittent fasting can offer greater weight loss benefits than classic calorie counting and can also increase resistance to stress and improve blood sugar regulation.
To say this is an article published in the 'New England Journal of Medicine', the work of neuroscientist Mark Mattson of Johns Hopkins University (USA) who, studying previous research and experimenting firsthand, concluded that intermittent fasting is a good solution for health and weight loss.
Professor Mattson has been studying the health impact of intermittent fasting for 25 years and is convinced of the effectiveness of this method for both body well-being and weight loss. The purpose of his article published in the prestigious scientific journal has, as explained, the purpose of helping to clarify the clinical applications of this method by providing advice and explanations to doctors who will thus be able to better help their patients who intend to experience it.
First of all, it is specified that the term intermittent fasting actually describes a range of diets which all follow the same basic idea: you eat as much as you want in a certain period of time but in the rest you need to fast with very few calories or nothing at all. Some examples are the popular diet 5:2, in which we eat normally 5 days a week and we limit ourselves to very little food in the remainder, or to various limited-time fasts such as 10:14 or 16: 8, where it is possible to eat only at certain times during the day.
The basic idea is that fasting causes a number of changes in the body and that practicing it regularly not only helps limit calories but also changes the way the body works for its health. According to Mattson, fasting promotes the health of cells that are consuming their sugar stores and converting fat into energy. This system would improve blood sugar regulation and resistance to stress with the advantage of lowering inflammation in the body.
Looking back at a series of studies, the professor reveals that intermittent fasting is also able to reduce blood pressure and blood lipid levels. There is also increasing evidence that this method also helps reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes and promotes brain health.
Experts warn, however, that follow this diet it may not be a good idea for everyone. For example, diabetic patients taking medications or insulin should avoid it.
Even perfectly healthy people may still have a hard time following it but Mattson advises to be patient and to get used to the body slowly to this practice overcoming the cramps of hunger and the feeling of irritability of the first times. These disadvantages, according to the professor, disappear within 2 weeks up to a month, once the body and brain have become accustomed to the dietary change.
As always, before starting any type of diet, we advise you to ask for help from an expert nutritionist who can also evaluate whether the proposal of intermittent fasting may be right for you.
Read also:
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