Besides adopting special organic diets, fasting at intervals daily or weekly has for some time now been used as a solid technique when getting into shape. Recently, studies have not only re-affirmed intermittent fasting as a legitimate weight-shedding method but also unearthed more benefits that can have a positive life-long impact.
Techniques Used in Periodic Fasting
The beauty of cyclic fasting is that it does not confine you to restrictive diets. It’s concerned more with when you eat as opposed to what you eat. These are some popular fasting schedules.
1. The 16/8 technique involves restricting your eating schedule to just 8 hours per day 16-hour abstinence. In the 8-hour break, you are free to indulge to your fill. Taking water, coffee, or any zero-calorie drink is allowed. A simple example of the 16/8 technique is foregoing breakfast coupled with taking no food after dinner.
2. The 5:2 method technique has you eating normally for five days then fasting for two days each week. Also known as the Fast Diet method, this schedule recommends that women restrict themselves to 500 calories while it’s 600 for men during the two abstinence days.
3. Eat Stop Eat is built around a 24-hour fasting period once or twice each week. Only water and zero-calorie beverages are allowed within this period, so it may be pretty tough for beginners to pull off. A good demonstration is avoiding eating from dinner to dinner.
4. The Warrior Diet entails small helpings of raw fruits or vegetables in the daytime and consuming a single heavy meal at night. In its simplest form, it involves fasting for the whole day before going on a 4-hour night binge.
Advantages Of Periodic Fasting
Among the intermittent fasting benefits, weight reduction is perhaps the most apparent. Research, sampling a select group of respondents, revealed 1%-8% weight loss within a 3-week period. This is similar to the results of the usually distasteful calorie repression diets. Individuals were also able to maintain on average, a 7% slimmer frame across one year. Additional benefits include better verbal memory, heightened physical performance, lower blood pressure, and improved insulin resistance. Some studies have also recorded favourable changes in the stomach microbiome and lower levels of cholesterol and triglyceride after a sustained cycle.
