Your Guide to Intermittent Fasting

You might have heard about the benefits of short-term fasting for fat loss, mental clarity, or long-term health. But what’s the truth about “intermittent fasting”, is it safe, and should you try it? Our Guide to Intermittent Fasting tells you everything you need to know.

WHAT IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?

Intermittent Fasting (sometimes shortened to IF) has recently become popular with people interested in gut health, training performance, and cognitive health. Some sources even think it may extend life expectancy.

Intermittent Fasting is – as it sounds –an approach to fasting that combines periods of fasting and periods of eating as normal. It’s more of an eating pattern than a diet, since it doesn’t tell you what to eat but focuses on when to eat.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO DO INTERMITTENT FASTING

The most common and accessible form of IF is 16/8, where you fast for 16 hours and then eat during an 8-hour window. Other ways to do it include 24-hour fasts, or 20/4 fasting to eating ratios.

INTERMITTENT FASTING AND WEIGHT LOSS

Plenty of people find that IF is great for fat loss. This is for two reasons – the first being a pretty obvious matter of caloric intake (1) It is harder to overeat if you only have a short eating window, and periods of fasting really help you manage your caloric intake across the whole week. Second, and perhaps more interesting, IF actually changes increases levels of some fat-burning hormones, and could increase your resting metabolic rate by up to 14%. (2)

FASTING AND MUSCLE GAIN

Fasting seems to have a positive impact on the hormones responsible for muscle gain and muscle protection, even though there are periods without food coming in. During fasting, levels of HGH (Human Growth Hormone) rise significantly, which is good news for muscle gain and fat loss. Insulin levels drop and insulin sensitivity increases, which helps free up stored body fat for energy.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF FASTING

There seem to be a host of health benefits associated with fasting. It encourages autophagy (where your cells clear out the build up of old proteins) (3) and even your gene function changes, which has significant positive implications for long-term health. (4)

Studies have shown many other health benefits of fasting. These include lowered blood sugar levels, lowered markers of inflammation and reduced risk of chronic disease, reduction in several risk factors for heart health LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar), and an increase in brain hormones for cognitive health. (5)

PROS AND CONS OF INTERMITTENT FASTING

Now we’ve looked at the potential health benefits of intermittent fasting, are there any other reasons to adopt this way of eating?

Many people say that IF makes life easier, by reducing the amount of time they spend food planning, prepping, eating, and clearing up. For people who aren’t that interested in food, this can be a welcome relief. And for those who struggle with overeating, or constant thinking about food, the practice of fasting can break the cycle and may even promote a healthier relationship with food.

Some hunger is to be expected, especially at first. Many people say this is soon replaced with a feeling of high energy and mental clarity which has a knock-on effect for productivity.

IS INTERMITTENT FASTING SUITABLE FOR YOU?

That said, anyone with a history of disordered eating should take advice before fasting as it can have significant psychological and behavioural effects.

If you have diabetes or low blood sugar, if you’re underweight, trying to conceive or are pregnant, or if you have a history of amenorrhea, you must seek advice before fasting.

HOW TO START FASTING

Most people start with the 16/8 ratio of fasting to eating. The easiest way to do it is to incorporate time asleep into your fasting window. So you might eat at 7pm, then not eat for the rest of the evening, go to bed, and eat again at 11am. You will eat as normal from 11am-7pm.

You could do this every day, but it’s a good idea to start with 1-2 days a week until you are sure it is right for you.

During your eating window, focus on healthy, nutritious foods, balanced macronutrients, fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Resist any temptation to overeat or load up on quick-energy snacks and treats. It’s a good idea to prep the meals you’ll eat in your eating window ahead of time.

IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENTS FOR FASTING

If you’re worried about supporting muscle mass during a fast, you could take EAAs or BCAAs, like PhD BCAA+. When you have broken the fast we would recommend a good quality protein shake such as Pharma Whey or Whey Isolate to ensure you a meeting your daily protein requirements. We would also recommend you take a good quality multivitamin supplement on fasting and non-fasting days, like PhD Multinutrient.

(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7021351/
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10837292/
(3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/
(4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622429/
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4257368/

(6) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/

Written by Nicola Joyce

Nicola is a specialist freelance copywriter for the fitness industry @thefitwriter