07-Tue-Jan-2025
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Author :
Dr. Qurat ul Ain
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BUMS
Q1. What is intermittent fasting?
A. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a popular health and fitness trend that involves alternating between periods of eating and fasting. It's a way to "diet" without counting calories, as it allows you to eat what you want, but only during certain times.
Q2. What are the ways to do intermittent fasting?
A. Some popular approaches to intermittent fasting include:
1. Fast for 12 hours a day
The rules for this diet are simple. A person needs to decide on and adhere to a 12-hour fasting window every day. For example, a person could choose to fast between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. They would need to finish their dinner before 7 p.m. and wait until 7 a.m. to eat breakfast but would be asleep for much of the time in between.
2. Fasting for 16 hours
Fasting for 16 hours a day, leaving an eating window of 8 hours, is called the 16:8 method or the Leangains diet. On this fast, people usually finish their evening meal by 8 p.m. and then skip breakfast the next day, not eating again until noon.
3. Fasting for 2 days a week
People following the 5:2 diet eat standard amounts of healthful food for 5 days and reduce calorie intake on the other 2 days.
4. Alternate day fasting
There are several variations of the alternate-day fasting plan, which involves fasting every other day.
5. A weekly 24-hour fast
Fasting completely for 1 or 2 days a week, known as the Eat-Stop-Eat diet, involves eating no food for 24 hours at a time. Many people fast from breakfast to breakfast or lunch to lunch.
6. The Warrior Diet
The Warrior Diet is a relatively extreme form of intermittent fasting.
The Warrior Diet involves eating very little, usually just a few servings of raw fruit and vegetables, during a 20- hour fasting window, then eating one large meal at night. The eating window is usually only around 4 hours.
Q3. Can intermittent fasting improve your health?
A. Losing weight and being physically active help lower your risk of obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes, sleep apnoea, and some types of cancer. For these diseases, intermittent fasting seems to be about as beneficial as any other type of diet that reduces overall calories.
Some research suggests that intermittent fasting may be more beneficial in many conditions such as:
• Alzheimer's disease
• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Multiple sclerosis
• Stroke
Q4. What are its side- effects?
A. It's important to note that intermittent fasting can have unpleasant side effects, but they usually go away within a month. Side effects may include:
• Hunger
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Nausea
Q5. Is Intermittent fasting safe for everyone?
A. Intermittent fasting is safe for many people, but it's not for everyone. Skipping meals may not be the best way to manage your weight if you're pregnant or breast-feeding. If you have kidney stones, gastroesophageal reflux, diabetes, or other medical problems, talk with your doctor before starting intermittent fasting
Q6. How does intermittent fasting work?
A. All the different ways to do intermittent fasting are based on choosing regular time periods to eat and fast. Researchers say that after hours without food, the body exhausts its sugar stores and starts burning fat.
“Intermittent fasting contrasts with the normal eating pattern for most people, who eat throughout their waking hours,” If someone is eating three meals a day, plus snacks, and they’re not exercising, then every time they eat, they’re running on those calories and not burning their fat stores.”
Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the period when your body has burned through the calories consumed during your last meal and begins burning fat.
Q7. Has research confirmed any research benefit of intermittent fasting?
A. Here are some benefits of intermittent fasting that researchers have confirmed so far:
• Thinking and memory.
• Heart health. It improves blood pressure and resting heart rates as well as other heart-related measurements.
• Physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining muscle mass.
• Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Certain studies found that some patients practicing intermittent fasting with supervision by their doctors were able to reverse their need for insulin therapy.
• Tissue health. In animals, intermittent fasting reduced tissue damage in surgery and improved results.
Q8. Is intermittent fasting a reliable strategy to achieve weight loss?
A. To date, the answer has remained murky due to the quality of the evidence. A recent compilation of the evidence suggests that limiting your eating window might indeed help you shed a few pounds.
Q9. How does intermittent fasting work for beginners?
A. People who are starting intermittent fasting for the first time may find the 12-hour fasting method the easiest. This involves fasting for 12 hours every 24-hours period.
Q10. How much weight can someone lose in a month with intermittent fasting?
A. The amount of weight someone can lose with intermittent fasting depends on various factors, including the type and duration of fasting, their current weight, and how many calories they consume when they are not fasting.
Q11. Is it better to fast for 12 or 16 hours?
A. The effectiveness of different fasting methods may vary between people. Fasting for 16 hours may be effective for people who did not see results when fasting for 12 hours.
Q12. How many days can someone do intermittent fasting?
A. Some fasting practices may involve fasting for one day a week, every other day, or two days a week. People should speak with a healthcare professional to ensure they are staying safe when fasting.
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