A Quick Guide to Intermittent Fasting: Why are so Many Doing it?
Regardless of whether you’re active in the online health and fitness community, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the term ‘intermittent fasting’ thrown around these last couple of months. Thousands of books, blogs, and how-to guides have popped up, and celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Chris Pratt, Kourtney Kardashian, Hugh Jackman, and Halle Berry have touted its benefits, which appear to range from weight loss and less inflammation to better sleep.
But what exactly is it?
A Harvard publication lays out the basic premise. Intermittent fasting involves restricting your mealtimes to within a certain timeframe each day – usually six to ten hours – or each week, choosing to eat normally only on specific days or every other day. Of course, there are even more variations, but the most popular appears to be the 16/8 method, which most celebrities and influencers are using. As the name suggests, persons choose an eight-hour window each day for eating meals and avoid eating for the remaining sixteen. While the diet does not specify any particular foods that should or should not be eaten, since the goal is usually to become healthier overall, it tends to go hand in hand with a focus on nutrition. Food groups like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats, and whole grains feature heavily in intermittent fasting diet plans.
And when you look at the benefits, it’s not hard to see why it’s become this big this fast. In addition to weight loss, supporters are pointing to promise shown in diabetes prevention, a reduction in neurodegenerative diseases and some cancers, cellular cleansing, and even longer life.
Needless to say, even without proof for all the supposed benefits, proper fasting has always been recognized as a path to better health and wellness by the medical community. It is certainly worth looking into with the advice of your general practitioner.
