Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting

Alternate IF This means that two days a week, you do not eat and do not drink anything. This is known as the 5:2. On the other days, you eat like you usually would. 

You alternate between fasting and eating days. Notice, I said. Usually, this does not mean binge eat unhealthy fatty foods like three big macs and a shake because you’ve fasted for 24 hours the previous day.

Very similar to the Alternate IF. However, they were not able to show that this kind of calorie restriction was any better than any other type of diet in which calories are restricted. Some people reported feeling less tension and anger and a positive effect on self-confidence. Other people said headaches, low energy, feeling cold and irritable. This diet does not have the same impact on everyone, so it’s important to listen to your body and change your diet and exercise regimens to you individually.

Time-Restricted IF

These diets generally have a fasting interval of about 12-20 hours. This means the remaining 4-8 hours are the eating permitted hours. There are some differences. You can either do one meal a day (lunch usually), OR you can use your eating interval to space out three meals in the day of equal calories as if you would have the one meal/day. It sounds confusing, so I hope I didn’t make that worse.

This type of dieting has similar results to the above two. Lower cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and some other factors, which would improve your immunity (ability to fight infection) and improved insulin sensitivity. Comparing the one meal a day to the three meal a day type of diets: There was higher weight loss in those who only consumed one meal/day.

Drawbacks of Intermittent Fasting

Yes! Those who only ate one meal a day complained of feeling more hungry the morning after their fast. Who likes to feel hungry? I don’t, which is why this diet wouldn’t be for me (but it still could be for you as explain in the pros and cons of intermittent fasting). That explains the benefits and downfalls of each type of IF. But I am sure you want to know whether or not this is a proper diet, or if it’s’s even good for YOU. Am I right? Okay, here is the bottom line:

1. Any fasting, such as overnight fasting, has shown to level your metabolism and put it into a “steady state.” Meaning not high and not low, just regulated.
2. Any of the above three can lead to weight loss, between 3-8%. However, other diets that are low in calories can lead to a weight loss of 4-14%. These diets, as well as any other low cal diet, can lower visceral fat, insulin resistance, fasting insulin, and glucose. So there are some benefits, but these can be reached through other less strict diets as well.
3. Alternating between fasting and eating days may be the worst one. Not because it’s unhealthy as it has similar benefits as the other 2, but because many people complain of hunger, and hunger is not something you want to feel.
4.  There are some benefits, as you can see, but everyone reacts differently. These kinds of diets can also alter your sleeping patterns, mood, and exercise endurance.