What is Intermittent Fasting?

With all of the popular diet fads out there such as the ketogenic diet, juice diet, and Meditteranean diet, intermittent fasting seems to stand out the most. Intermittent fasting is an effective way of getting rid of excessive body weight when followed by calorie restriction. Intermittent fasting has rendered all the old styles of shedding off excessive weight obsolete and is now being widely employed by people that are concerned with their health status. During intermittent fasting, food is not consumed, but drinks that are free from calorie like water, tea without sugar, creamer, coffee and other additives which may contain calories are taken.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

It is a way of scheduling food intake, according to your desire to get rid of excess weight permanently.
Sometimes, it may involve skipping one of the three compulsory daily meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and most times may be observed during asleep.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

During the cause of intermittent fasting, a hormone called insulin is produced rapidly. This insulin helps to reduce the body fat until another food is taken. Intermittent fasting mode also has a more significant impact on growth hormone levels in the body because the peak of the intermittent fasting occurs during this growth.

Importance of Intermittent Fasting

  •  Increases metabolic process: Intermittent fasting is known to increase the metabolic activities of the body because the restriction of food leads to regular eating, which thus, stimulate the metabolic movements of the body. This, in turn, does not affect the muscles as in dieting, but instead improves it and also leads to a fast digestive system.
  •  Stimulation of brain function and better health performance: Intermittent fasting enhances memory performance, promotes neuron growth and helps to recover brain injuries. In addition, intermittent fasting improves the quality of life of people living with some diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson or reduces the risk of developing neurodegenerating diseases.
  • Control body weight:
    Intermittent fasting uses the excess fat that is present in the body whenever there is a restriction of food in the body by burning them. This, in turn, brings about minimal 0.5 pounds of actual body fat reduction daily.
  • Improves immune system:
    Intermittent fasting enhances the immune system by replacing old, damaged and ineffective immunes with new efficient once like leukocyte which combines with other immune systems to protect the body against toxic and other harmful substances.
  • Reduces free radicals:
    Intermittent fasting reduces the risk of developing cancer and other chronical diseases caused by free radicals.
  • Improves cardiac functions
    This is because people adhering to intermittent fasting do not smoke, drink alcohol, or eat massive amounts of meat throughout the day. Also, this improves the cardiac functions and promote healthy heart health.

Conclusion

In conclusion, It is advisable to follow intermittent fasting because many people respond quickly to eating most of their calories in fewer meals, especially during dieting. This allows hunger control, insulin sensitivity, and more time for burning fat. Intermittent fasting is also effective in reducing weight because it does not involve restriction of foods, unlike dieting in which the lost body weight could be recovered when the dieting stopped. Remember to always check with your physician before starting a new diet.