The Principles and Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting (IF) has become popular in the health world this last decade, but what is really all this fuss about? We explore the methods of intermittent fasting and why it can be beneficial for you.

What is Intermittent Fasting and is it Safe?

The concept of fasting is not new and consists of not eating for a period of time. While we usually focus on what not to eat or when not to eat, intermittent fasting is all about when you do eat. And this has to be at specific times.

The most common “patterns” of intermittent fasting are as follows:

16/8: you eat during a window of 8h, and you stop for the remaining 16h
5/2: you eat five days during the week but stop for two non consecutive days
Eat-Stop-Eat : eat on a normal day, and then stop for 24h

Intermittent fasting is quite common in major religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism. The aim is to shed yourself of one primary bodily need, eating. In doing so, you can focus on your spiritual life.

We now know that our ancestors went without eating during long periods of time, as finding something to eat could be somewhat a challenge. We were not always near a supermarket, a restaurant or a fridge, being able to eat whenever we wanted to, and sometimes just because we feel bored or stressed. So we know our bodies can endure long periods without eating.

You can drink during your fast, mostly water and herbal tea. Some say that coffee and tea are fine, but their content in caffeine might disrupt your fast. If you’re sensitive to it, drink too much of it or not much, you might find that this accelerates your heart beat and make you feel uncomfortable, if not anxious. Don’t add sugar to it at least. If you can go without caffeine, it’s preferable.

What are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

The main benefit that is also the most popular, is weight loss. As you eat less, it’s quite understandable that you should lose weight, but there is also a chemical process there. When your body has gone through the calories consumed during your last meal, it has to go and run on fat storage.

The hormone boost that you get makes the fat stores more accessible to use and burns more fat. This is thanks to the release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine. A study in 2014 did show that short-term fasting could help in weight loss (1).

It also showed that it didn’t lead to muscle mass loss, as common diets like calorie-restricting ones do. It seems to be the best option to follow, and you get a better physical performance.

Another benefit is the repairing process. Through fasting, cells have to regenerate faster and don’t oxidise as fast as usually. This means that new cells are constantly being “produced”, therefore you don’t age as quickly.

This repairing process is true also for new nerve cells (2), which leads to better brain health. Fasting may help with the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Fasting has benefits on heart health as well, by improving blood pressure and resting heart rate. It may reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin resistance (3).

Words of Caution

While all of this sounds great, of course I need to add a little warning sign. I’m not a doctor, and you should consult one if you have a condition or doubt as whether this is good for you.

The most common conditions that advise against fasting are: being pregnant or breastfeeding, being underweight or having a history of an eating disorder.

Some women have also reported that it caused them to miss periods so if you’re trying to conceive, it’s definitely not the right time for you.

Generally speaking, fasting shouldn’t be problematic but we’re all different. An activity of this kind can be dangerous for some so please stop if you feel like your body is not reacting well.

And something a bit more personal : I tried intermittent fasting a few times in my life, and it didn’t go well every time. The first time, it was summer and I loved it, it gave me more time back in the evening – I was eating from 8am till 3pm.

A few years later in February, I did it again but it was winter. All I could think about was eating in my non-eating window, and I compensated with sugary and processed foods. I was tired and bored. I was smart enough to stop before I had planned to, because it wasn’t really doing me any good.

As I’m writing this blog post, it’s July and it’s hot, I love not eating in the evening, or morning if I go out the night before, drinking lots of water, eating lots of fruit and vegetables during my eating window. I truly think there are phases of life – and seasons – where some things work, and the same won’t at a later stage.