The Benefits and Risks of Intermittent Fasting

With the holiday season around the corner, now might be the best time to try intermittent fasting and see its health benefits.

What Is It?

It is not so much a diet and more of an eating pattern where you cycle between eating and fasting. Instead of focusing on what you eat, intermittent fasting is about when you eat. It has become a popular method for maintaining physical health.

People have been practicing this eating pattern for centuries. We can survive days without eating food, as sometimes hunters could not find food. Nowadays, with supermarkets and grocery stores, we have more reliable access to food.

How Do You Do Intermittent Fasting?

There are several different ways. One popular one is the 16/8 method where you eat within an 8-hour period in a day and fast for the remaining hours. Another way is to do OMAD (one meal a day), where you eat only one meal in a 24-hour period.

The Benefits

Intermittent fasting provides many benefits. The main one is burning fat. Known by scientists as the ‘metabolic switch’, fasting for hours signals your body to change its energy source from glucose which is stored in the liver, to ketones, which is stored in fat cells. Then, your body begins burning fat instead of sugar.

Other benefits include:

• Better memory
• More regulated blood pressure
• Better heart health
• Reduced risk of diabetes and obesity

The Risks

White fasting can be a powerful weight loss tool, there are some risks that come with it.

• Negative effects on the female reproductive system

Doctors do not recommend this eating pattern to women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Fasting can cause elevated stress to the body and under-eating has a negative effect on female hormones. This can lead to menstrual cycle issues and even infertility in some cases.

• Risk of developing eating disorders

Intermittent fasting is often associated with binge eating and bulimia nervosa, which can cause serious damage to your health and have long-term effects.

• Not for those with blood sugar problems

Doctors do not recommend those with diabetes or unregulated blood sugar to try this eating pattern.

Conclusion

Further studies are needed about the safety and effectiveness of intermittent fasting. Like everything else in life, one size does not fit all. It is important for people, especially women, to try a form of fasting according to their unique bodies.

Remember: don’t try it just to lose weight. What’s more important is to keep your body healthy and your mental wellbeing top of mind.