What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent  Fasting

 Intermittent fasting is an off and on type of fasting. There are three main types that doctors have studied and people have used for weight loss and improved health. While fasting you are able to consume minimum but should drink lots of fluids - including bone broth as this is allowed during fasting.

  The run down - Fasting means you stop eating completely, or almost completely, for a certain stretch of time. Fasting is different from dieting in that it’s about cutting back on food, for a time. There is research showing that intermittent fasting may help  with weight loss and improve your cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose levels, insulin sensitivity, and other health issues. Although studies show that your health changes for the better when you fast, even if your diet does not, adding more nutrient dense foods, fruits, veggies, and whole grains will lead to better results. Intermittent fasting  can help with fat loss and not muscle while weight training - just limit eating to 8 hours a day and while aerobic training  you might find that your cholesterol levels improve as well as loose belly fat of course when not fasting your body needs fuel for exercise.

 There are three types of intermittent fasting, first is time restricted fasting, there is also alternate day fasting and modified fasting

Time-Restricted Fasting

This means you do all your eating in a certain stretch of the day, often around 8-12 hours. An easy way to do this is to skip one meal for example if you finish dinner by 8 p.m. and then have breakfast at by 8 a.m. there's your 12 hour fast. This is obviously an easy one to stick to.

Alternate Day Fasting

Alternate day fasting means the time when you don’t eat lasts a full 24 hours. You follow that with one or more feast days when you can eat as much as you want. Even though the studies are very limited, the results suggest that alternate day fasting can lead to weight loss and improve health.  

 Modified Fasting

One popular version of modified fasting is the 5:2 diet, which requires 2 days a week of 24-hour fasting except for a very light meal. On the other 5 days of the week, you can eat whatever you want. The fast days should not be consecutive.

If you want to attempt intermittent fasting you should talk to your doctor first, especially if you have any health problems such as diabetes and are taking medications for this or in-fact any kind of medication. Fasting should be avoided by pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as kids and teens.