Intermittent fasting is one of the fitness trends that have been popularizing all over the world among the fitness community and health enthusiasts. You might have heard about many athletes as well as public figures such as actors, musicians, performers, and many more practicing this technique to lead a healthy life. A Certain celebrity which you can associate with intermittent fasting is Terry Crews he was one of the first celebrities to dive into this culture. Next is Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman follows a strict 16-hour fasting streak and eats only for eight hours a day most likely during his Wolverine training days.
Considering the music fraternity Queen Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez are followers of the regime, no wonder they stay fit all year round. Although many of the celebrities have never confirmed nor objected that they follow this routine of fasting, we know that it works for many people and has proven to be showing better results for those who follow the regime. Let's now understand the ideology of intermittent fasting and how it is practiced.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting can be envisioned as a diet plan category where you mix fasting for longer hours and restrict it to eating for shorter hours. Moreover, rather than focusing on what you eat in a diet plan, the intermittent fasting ideology mainly focuses on the time you intake food, when you eat, and your routine. Intermittent fasting can never be entirely allocated as a diet plan but can be considered under the category of an eating pattern to follow.
Researchers say that our body is capable of undergoing fasting and going without food for longer hours and even days if you entirely stretch. In ancient times, people used to hunt for food rather than cultivating and practicing farming. In those days the chances of obtaining food were low as the hunting operations succeeded up to a lower percentage therefore, they were bound to go without consuming food for longer days. However, the current lifestyle with the ready availability of food the capability to do so has been reduced.
Today Intermittent fasting is mainly associated with weight loss helping its followers to cut short on the food intake time and stretching their portions helping them to burn the excess fat and thus reduce their body weight. Furthermore, to say intermittent fasting is associated with the betterment of health as well as improving your body and bringing and contributing to longevity. Hearing the term longevity your next question will be how to do it, let's understand how intermittent fasting can be practiced.
How to do intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting mainly involves mixing up fasting along with following a strict diet plan. There are many proven ways to follow intermittent fasting and there are certain custom one which trainers have developed by analyzing and studying a person's body and their health requirements. Anyhow it should involve regular intervals fasting and food intake diet plans. Here are certain of the prominent proven ways of intermittent fasting followed by fitness enthusiasts.
16/8 rule: In the 16/8 intermittent fasting method you will skip the breakfast of the day and never eat for 16 hours and restrict your food intake to eight hours after the fast.
Eat stop Eat: In this one-on-one rule you fast for 24 hours and eat for the next 24, or it can be said that you never eat for an entire day and eat the next day. This methodology is not advised to be practiced during the entire week but once or twice is fine.
5/2 method: In the 5/2 method you eat regularly sticking to your diet for 5 days of a week and consuming less close to around 500 calories for the rest two days. Moreover, you should never follow the low intake of food on consecutive days rather, stretch them throughout the week.
These are certain of the renowned methodologies which are practiced to follow the intermittent fasting regime. One thing that you should always remember during all methods of intermittent fasting is that you should never overeat during the scheduled eating periods as it will lead to fatigue, and inactivity compromising your physical activities. The 16/8 intermittent fasting is one of the most followed and prominent ways which most intermittent fasting enthusiasts follow. Furthermore, it's one of the best-suited ways of intermittent fasting for beginners where you can start from lower hours of fasting and achieve the 16/8 periods in the long run.
You can also look up various intermittent fasting guides on the web where prominent health scholars and researchers have contributed to the betterment of human life after conducting numerous studies, surveys, and research conducted in this regard. Now your next question will be: does intermittent fasting work just as done for celebrities and does it have positive effects on your body? The answer is yes and there are various health benefits to intermittent fasting, let us understand them in the next section.
Health benefits of intermittent fasting
As mentioned earlier intermittent fasting is closely associated with weight loss as it helps many of the people who have followed it to reduce down the extra fat around their belly without compromising on the calorie of the food they intake but by bringing in certain modifications to their diet plan and meal durations. Furthermore, it's said to have heart benefits by researchers and to imply they say they follow it will reduce bad cholesterol, blood sugar, and many risk factors associated with heart health.
In addition, there have been proven studies indicating the prevention of cancer by intermittent fasting up to a certain level. Improvement in brain health by growing new nerve cells and tissue along with prevention from Alzheimer's is another aspect with which intermittent fasting is associated. Moreover, protection from type 2 diabetes by reducing blood sugar levels is another health benefit.
What should be my diet while following intermittent fasting?
It's extremely important to craft a well and effective intermittent fasting diet plan while practicing it. One of the primary reasons to follow a steady and rich diet during the regime is due to its most important side effect that you will be extremely hungry after the fast. Therefore, you should eat nutrient-rich food which will help you to get back on track as recovery is primary in any health plan you choose. You should have a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, healthy fats, and protein sources. On the other hand, what you should never do is load yourself with junk food during the scheduled meal times as it will cause you extreme health problems.
Furthermore one of the common questions that most people ask is, Can we drink water during intermittent fasting? Yes, basic drinks which are non-caloric and sugar-free are extremely OK to be drinking during the fasting period. In conclusion, following the intermittent fasting methodology is beneficial for the human body especially for the ones who are trying to reduce their weight and get back to be fit. However, do you research or consult with a doctor before following it.