There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of ways to lose weight. There is the Mediterranean diet, a low carb diet, the keto diet, the Paleo diet, the whole 30, the list goes on. One of the increasingly popular weight loss diets is intermittent fasting (IF), where you eat all your meals in a small eating window and fast for the rest of the day. And that’s all. You technically do not have to give up any of your favorite dishes and you do not have to force yourself to eat any health food that you dislike. So how can that be? How can it be that you have free time to eat what you want and all you need to do is limit when do you eat it?
We talked to registered dietitians and looked at the science behind exactly how fasting helps you lose weight and why it is a diet worth considering if you want to lose weight safely. So if you have been thinking about trying an intermittent fast diet for weight loss, read on and for more on how to eat healthy, do not miss 15 underrated weight loss tips that actually work.
- Advertisement -
When you fast, your body will burn fat stores more often for fuel than if you eat all day. “When you fast, your insulin levels and glycogen (muscle energy stores) drop [because you’re not eating food]. As a result, your body switches from burning carbohydrates for fuel and taps to burning fat for fuel. This forces your body to ketosis (the goal of the ketone diet), says The Nutrition Twins, Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT and Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, CDN, CFT, author of The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure and members of Eat This, Not That! Board of Medical Expertise.
“One of the biggest weight loss benefits of fasting and going into ketosis is the effect of ketosis on appetite. As fasting reduces ghrelin (the hunger hormone), it can help weight loss hopefuls feel fuller and on track,” says The Nutrition Twins, which refers to this Business research study.
When you fast, you can synchronize your eating schedule with the body’s circadian rhythm: the natural, internal process that regulates the wake-up cycle. By doing this, you can optimize your body’s metabolism and help it run more efficiently:
“When you synchronize intermittent fasting with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, you eat during the day to take advantage of how the body has evolved to maximize hormone secretion for digestion. By doing this, your body can more efficiently use food during the day to fuel activities., says The Nutrition Twins.
In addition to weight loss, there is another health benefit of this method: it can help reduce the risk of diabetes. Part of the human circadian rhythm is to reduce insulin sensitivity throughout the day. Insulin is a hormone that is responsible for pulling glucose out of the bloodstream and into your cells. This means that when you eat a carbohydrate-rich meal at night, your body is exposed to more insulin, which can lead to a increased risk of type 2 diabetes over time. By fasting during this time, you can avoid this problem.
“One of the best things about [intermittent fasting] is that you eliminate snacks in the evening, which is associated with weight gain and which has also been shown to interfere with natural metabolic processes, says The Nutrition Twins.
Make sure you are not one of those 11 people who should never try intermittent fasting before going out and trying to fast for weight loss.
