What is Intermittent Fasting Diet?

Intermittent fasting is a nutrition plan that allows you to combine both a regular meal plan and fasting. Some research results on this diet system show that intermittent fasting is a way to prevent some diseases and to provide weight control. So, what is an intermittent fasting diet? How is it done?

What is Intermittent Fasting Diet?

“What is intermittent fasting?” The question is among the prominent ones of recent years. Intermittent fasting is characterized by periods of eating and fasting. This type of eating style is often described as cycles of fasting. Intermittent fasting isn't about starving, it's about cutting calories for short periods of time. The purpose of this diet is to accustom the body to eating smaller portions.

How Is Intermittent Fasting Done?

“How is intermittent fasting done?” If you are wondering, you should know that there are some rules you have to follow. Intermittent fasting offers different methods. However, the basic logic in all methods is to comply with a regular routine. To explain this with an example, you can eat during the 8 hours of the day for 7 days a week and spend the other 16 hours of the day starving. Or by choosing another method, you can only eat 1 meal 2 days a week. Regardless of the program you choose, thanks to the hours the body spends without food, the sugar stores in the body are depleted and fat burning begins.

Intermittent Fasting Methods

Although the intermittent fasting may differ from person to person, this diet has different methods based on strict rules. The methods offer different feeding periods and you can make this choice according to your routine. The most popular intermittent fasting methods are:

• 16/8 method: In this method, also known as the Leangains protocol, breakfast is skipped and the feeding time is limited to 8 hours, and a 16-hour fasting period is followed.
• Eat-Stop-Eat: It involves fasting for 24 hours once or twice a week.
• 5: 2 diet: With this method, 2 non-consecutive days of the week are selected and only 500 or 600 calories are consumed during these days. On other days, normal diet is followed.

What Happens During Intermittent Fasting?

“How is a fasting diet done? What happens during fasting? If you are wondering, you should know that the most important result of this nutrition plan is that it creates the autophagy process, which cleans the dysfunctional cells in the body and renews some of these cells. Autophagy is a system that promotes the regeneration of healthy cells and clears mutated cells that can develop into cancer, as well as toxic proteins that may be responsible for the development of neurological conditions such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Autophagy begins after a period of fasting. Fasting causes the body to enter an alternative metabolic state, burning stored fat as carbohydrates are not available for energy.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Affect Your Cells and Hormones?

Before determining an intermittent fasting diet list, you should know how this fasting system affects your cells and hormones. When you fast on an intermittent fasting diet, your body's molecules and cells experience some changes. To explain these changes with an example; The body adjusts its hormone levels to make the stored fat available. Cells also initiate repair in this process.

Growth Hormone (GH): A significant increase in growth hormone levels is experienced. Thus, fat loss accelerates and muscle gain begins.

Insulin: As insulin sensitivity increases, there is a significant decrease in the body's insulin levels.

The cellular repair process begins.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

It is among the prominent diets of recent years. The benefits of intermittent fasting are:

• With intermittent fasting, you can lose weight and burn belly fat that has accumulated over the years without having to consciously restrict calories.
• Insulin resistance may decrease with intermittent fasting.

Intermittent Fasting Diet: Who Should Be Mindful or Avoid?

The intermittent fasting diet is not suitable for everyone. If you are under your ideal weight or have had an eating disorder in the past, you should first consult a nutritionist and plan the process with a specialist.

Which foods should not be included in the Intermittent Fasting Diet List?

Foods containing high carbohydrates, sugar and fat, packaged, processed foods, sugary, acidic and alcoholic beverages should not be included in the intermittent fasting and diet plan.

Are There Any Risks?

Intermittent fasting is not safe for some people, including those who are pregnant, children, people at risk of hypoglycemia, or people with certain chronic diseases. If you are at risk of an eating disorder, you should not try any fasting diet. If you are interested in trying intermittent fasting, you should also be aware of some of the side effects. It may be associated with irritability, low energy, persistent hunger, sensitivity to temperature changes, and poor work and activity performance. If you have read the comments made by those who lose weight with intermittent fasting and you want to follow this diet, you should definitely consult a health professional.

Tips for Intermittent Fasting

“How to do intermittent fasting?” If you are wondering, you should pay attention to these tips:

• Yoga and light exercise can help facilitate intermittent fasting.
• Consume plenty of water and herbal tea during the hunger window.
• Engage in activities that will make you avoid thinking about eating on the days you fast.
• Avoid activities that will tire you on the days you are fasting.
• Choose foods rich in protein, fat and fiber in your nutrition window. You should have hearty but low-calorie foods on your plate.
• Take care to flavor salads and vegetables with garlic and spices.

Comments on Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting reviews are often sought after by those who want to do Intermittent fasting. With these comments, you can learn about how this process goes. However, after taking a look at the details highlighted by those who do the IF diet, you should definitely take care to plan the diet process with a nutritionist.

Can I drink liquids while fasting?

Water, coffee, tea and beverages with low calorie content can be consumed in this process. However, sugar should not be added and a small amount of milk or cream should be used instead.

Does fasting cause muscle loss?

Muscle loss is experienced in most of the methods that provide rapid weight loss. For this reason, the intermittent fasting process should be planned with the nutritionist and exercises that include weight lifting should be included in this plan.

Does fasting slow down metabolism?

Some studies show that fasting for short periods accelerates metabolism.