May 20 2022

What is intermittent fasting?

How does it work?

How does it help burn fat and get rid of the rumen?

What are the tips to apply it in a healthy way?

What about dry fasting?

The answers are in this report.

Intermittent fasting, or organizing eating times, is a diet that depends on the timing of eating. With intermittent fasting, you only eat at a specific time, and you fast for a certain number of hours each day, according to the Johns Hopkins website. .

Hours after quitting eating, the body depletes its stores of sugar and begins burning fat, says Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University. He refers to this as metabolic switching, i.e. a change in the process of burning and consuming energy in the body.

How does intermittent fasting work?

There are different ways to perform intermittent fasting, but they all depend on choosing regular times for eating and fasting.

For example, you might try to eat only 8 hours each day and fast the rest of the time, or you might choose to eat only one meal a day, twice a week, and there are many different dates for intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the period after your body burns and exhausts the calories consumed during your last meal, and then begins to burn fat. In this way, it may help reduce weight and get rid of belly fat, provided that you do not eat a large amount of food in Time to eat.


intermittent fasting plans

It's important to check with your doctor before beginning intermittent fasting, and once you get the green light, the actual practice is simple.

You can choose a daily approach that limits your daily food intake to one 6 to 8 hour period each day.

For example, you might choose to try the 8/16 fast: eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours.

Kristi Williams, a dietitian at Johns Hopkins University, is a fan of the daily diet, and says most people find it easier to stick to this pattern in the long run.

Another method, known as the 5:2 approach, involves eating regularly 5 days a week, and on the other two days limiting yourself to one meal of 500-600 calories.

For example, you might choose to eat normally every day of the week except for Mondays and Thursdays, when they are one-meal days.

Long times without food, such as fasting periods of 24, 36, 48 and 72 hours, are not necessarily best for you and may be dangerous. Keeping food out for too long can encourage your body to start storing more fat in response to starvation.

Matson's research shows that it can take two to four weeks before the body gets used to intermittent fasting, and you may feel hungry or cranky while getting used to a new routine, but he notes that people who research during the adjustment phase tend to stick to the plan because they notice that they feel better.

What can I eat during intermittent fasting?

During times when you are not eating, water and non-calorie drinks such as black coffee and tea are allowed.

During the times when eating is allowed, it should be "eating normally" and not crazy, you are less likely to lose weight or become healthier if you fill your feeding times with unhealthy high-calorie foods and processed and bulky fried items.

Here are some of the benefits of intermittent fasting:

  • Improve thinking and memory.

  • Improving blood pressure and resting heart rate as well as other measurements of the heart.

  • Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining muscle mass.

    The mice that were fed on alternate days also showed more endurance to run.

  • In animal studies, intermittent fasting prevented obesity, and in 6 summary studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting.

Is intermittent fasting safe?

Some people try to stop fasting to control weight, while others use this method to treat chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol or arthritis, but intermittent fasting is not suitable for everyone.

Kristi Williams, a dietitian at Johns Hopkins University, stresses that before trying intermittent fasting (or any diet), you should check with your doctor first.

There are categories for which intermittent fasting is prohibited:

  • Children and adolescents under the age of 18 years.

  • Pregnant or breastfeeding women.

  • Diabetics or those with blood sugar problems.

  • Those with a history of eating disorders.

Keep in mind that intermittent fasting may have different effects in different people.

Talk to your doctor if you start to feel unusually tired, headache, nausea or other symptoms after starting intermittent fasting.

What is the correct way to intermittent fasting?

Writer Jennifer Cook says, in a report published by the American newspaper "Washington Post", that intermittent fasting - when applied correctly - helps reduce inflammation and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even some types of cancer.

The writer explains that these benefits stem from a phenomenon that occurs in the human body, which scientists call a "metabolic switch" that occurs when the body enters a state of fasting and begins to consume body fat instead of glucose, in order to meet its energy needs.

Also, this type of fasting contributes to maintaining the natural balance between the hormone insulin and blood sugar, which prevents the development of the problem of insulin resistance, and this condition prompts the body to perform automatic repair processes for the damage it inflicts, which prevents the development of some dangerous diseases.

The writer offers some tips and steps in order to apply the intermittent fasting diet correctly, with the warning that this diet may not be suitable for all people, as some elderly and those who suffer from chronic diseases may not be suitable for them to stop eating for long periods or change eating dates. Medicine.

Early morning breakfast

Dorothy Sears, a professor of nutritional sciences at Arizona State University, advises making sure to eat only an hour or two after waking up, because this protects the body from a long-term low level of glucose, and many studies warn that this decrease for a long time increases the risk of heart disease.

Sears recommends that your morning meal consist of healthy foods such as fruits, eggs and whole grains, in order to ensure you get the most fiber and other nutrients that protect against insulin resistance and improve glucose tolerance levels at the next meal.

Also, eating a quantity of proteins of 30 grams or more helps curb appetite and feel full for a longer period, which contributes to weight loss.

Dessert before three in the evening

The body is better able to digest carbohydrates in the morning, so it is preferable to eat foods that raise blood glucose levels during the first half of the day.

Doctors warn against eating sugars on an empty stomach, preferably with a meal that contains proteins and fats, to reduce their negative impact on blood sugar levels.

For example, when you eat a piece of refreshment, it is recommended that you eat a banana and an egg with it.

Don't be late for dinner

Nutritional research shows that the last time a person should eat dinner is eight in the evening.

At the end of the day, the production of the hormone melatonin, which is responsible for the quality of sleep, increases, and levels of insulin production decrease, so eating late causes sleep disturbances, and increases the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

light dinner

Most Americans consume about 45% of their total daily calories at dinner and the following evening snacks.

This percentage should be reduced to 30%, which means eating a meal with no more than 600 calories.

And advises Christa Faraday, professor of nutrition at the University of Chicago, to completely stop eating any type of food after dinner, and stresses that this is the most important change that a person can make to his diet.

Organizing eating times

Whatever method you decide to adopt, you must adhere to it and continue to implement it accurately.

Doctors confirm that nutritional disorders lead to metabolic syndrome, which may cause heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as stability in daily eating times is very important for heart health and metabolism.

More sleep and healthy eating

Adults need at least 7 hours of sleep, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Society for Sleep Research, but most people do not get enough hours of sleep, and this negatively affects their nutritional behavior and metabolism.

Unhealthy eating, in turn, can lead to sleep disturbances. Eating a spicy meal at night stresses the digestive system, and drinking caffeinated beverages reduces melatonin production.

Doctors also warn that eating large amounts of sugars and processed grains causes insomnia, while these problems can be eliminated by committing to eating fruits and vegetables.

Beware dry fasting

For her part, German nutrition expert, Aileen Emmanuel, warned against following the diet known as "dry fasting."

Given its danger to health, in a statement to the German News Agency.

Emmanuel explained that the "dry fasting" diet means complete dispensation of liquids and solid foods for a certain period of time in order to lose weight and expel toxins from the body.

The German expert added that dispensing with water is a major health problem, as a loss of water by 2% of body weight leads to dehydration, as well as disorders in the heart system, kidney stones, urinary tract infections, headaches, digestion problems and a decline in the ability to exert effort.

To avoid these health risks, a healthy and balanced diet should be followed, drinking at least 1.5 liters of water per day, and taking into account a lot of water-rich foods such as watermelon and cucumber.