Intermittent fasting: how healthy is it?

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is also known as intermittent fasting. Intermittent means “interrupting”. Means: You interrupt your mealtime rhythm and do without food for a while. Fasting phases last from several hours to a day or two. A meal break of at least 16 hours is recommended, then everything is guaranteed to be digested and the energy stores are empty. Intermittent fasting is supposed to help you lose weight in a healthy way. The concept is different than e.g. B. therapeutic fasting designed for long-term use.

The period from the evening until the next noon is favorable for fasting, because then the seven to eight hours of sleep are integrated, in which one does not eat anyway. There are no restrictions on the subsequent food intake. Theoretically, you can design your diet as you like – but for a good weight loss result, it makes sense if you eat a largely healthy and balanced diet.

Why can you lose weight with intermittent fasting?

To generate energy, the body always first converts carbohydrates into energy because converting fats is more complex. Only when the carbohydrate stores are empty after about twelve hours does the fat burning process start. If you fast for 16 hours a day, the fat is already being utilized, making weight loss easier.

Diet: The variants of fasting

There are different forms of intermittent fasting. In Germany, the 16:8 method is particularly popular, which means that you don’t have a whole day of fasting, but only have to eat a few hours. Everyone can decide individually which variant suits their own life best. In general, during Lent only water, tea and coffee are allowed (black at best). There are the following forms of intermittent fasting:

16:8

Perfect for beginners and those who want to integrate intermittent fasting into everyday life: The meal break here is 16 hours, 8 is eaten. If you like to eat dinner, you simply skip breakfast and eat normally until the evening for a period of eight hours. On the other hand, if you can’t get going without breakfast, you can simply eat it a little later than usual, in the early morning. So you could have breakfast at 11 a.m. and should then have eaten your last meal by 7 p.m. The concept is very flexible, as the meal times can easily be changed individually.

36:12

With this principle you eat normally for a day. There is no food overnight and the next day and the fast is broken again with breakfast the day after next. A certain discipline is required for this variant due to the long day of fasting – only those who have no problem with not eating altogether can keep it up for a long time.

20:4

Eating here is only four hours a day. Only recommended for a short time and not for beginners, since the concept, like the 36:12 method, is difficult to maintain.

5:2

With the 5:2 diet, you can eat as you please five days a week, calories are not counted. The remaining two days of the week are fasted. This type of intermittent fasting is perfect for those who want to slowly lose a little weight and/or relieve their digestion. The flexible principle is suitable for anyone who can cope with not eating at all.

Can I eat whatever I want outside of Lent?

In principle, you can eat whatever you want when you are not fasting. However, the decrease will of course be higher if you tend to avoid fatty meals with many calories and instead focus on healthy food, which should consist primarily of the following foods:

In general, it is important to ensure that you have enough fiber, vitamins and minerals in your diet and tend to consume more protein than carbohydrates. It also curbs appetite and prevents cravings.

The best recipes for Interfallvasten

Tip: We’ll tell you the best intermittent fasting recipes here!

What other advantages does intermittent fasting have?

Animal studies suggest that intermittent fasting not only helps you lose weight, but can also have other health-promoting effects. These include:

So far, there have only been a few human studies on the subject of intermittent fasting, the results of which are also inconclusive. According to the German Society for Nutrition but to the end that the available data with human subjects provide indications of the positive health effects of intermittent fasting.

Is intermittent fasting in our blood?

Even in the Stone Age, the human metabolism was set to fasting phases – because food was not available at all times. Accordingly, food was eaten whenever possible in order to build up reserves for possible times of hunger that might follow. The body could then draw energy from these reserves during this time. This mechanism has been preserved to this day, which is why intermittent fasting is not a problem for the body.

Can everyone do intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is not suitable for everyone. The following groups of people should only fast with medical advice:

Reading tips: You now have a good picture of how intermittent fasting works. Try therapeutic fasting or the Mediterranean diet! You can also find the best weight loss tips here. And here we explain how losing weight with WW works and how flexitarians eat. Another exciting nutritional concept is the Logi method.

sources

Fahrner, H.: Fasting as therapy, Hippocrates, 2nd edition, 1991

Käfer, J., Aygün, S.: Fasting – from tradition to science, Nutrition News 1, 2017

German Society for Nutrition: intermittent fasting

Bridget