Intermittent Fasting: Hype or Effective for Weight Loss?

Doesn't this sort of go against the old adage of "don't skip meals because it'll slow down your metabolism"?

My mum, who once had a fairly high blood glucose level, told me about how people would "magically" cure themselves of diabetes by fasting and drinking water. Thus she tried to ignore her tummy's gnawing desire -- her low insulin levels...and she couldn't sustain it.

Just as I thought.

After a year of tight blood sugar control, I started IF. 1 day a week I don't eat anything, only drink water throughout the day, so it essentially amounts to a 36 hour fast, once a week. It's not difficult at all and I think the tight blood sugar control going in is the key. On the day that I fast I don't feel very hungry (there seems to be some psychological\physiological benefit to knowing in advance that you won't be eating that day). Around 4 in the afternoon I feel some mild hunger that passes pretty quickly. It's not even difficult to sit through dinner while my husband is eating.

I've been on IF for about 4 months and don't find it difficult to maintain, even though I exercise fairly heavily.

IF helps me maintain my 75 pound weight loss (still eating sensibly the other 6 days of the week) without a lot of effort.

Go check out Martin Berkhan's website, leangains dot com.

He has before and after photos of his clients. It's pretty obvious that intermittent fasting has benefits regardless of what the very limited body of science may or may not say at this time.

Just my experience with fasting, it actually helped with cravings I have had to binge eat, because once I had decided to not eat for such a period of time, the cravings went away, and when they returned (a.k.a., when food was an option again), it was the same as before, not worse. And really, the hunger goes away very quickly.

"feeling more "freedom" from not having to eat so often and also a sense of accomplishment and control from being able to sustain such a regimen."

Freedom from not having to eat???? Hey I don't know about that. ME? Eating is a joy and a delight and a happy experience why on earth would I want to be free from something that now that I've stopped dieting and restricting and starving, not to mention all the sneak guilt eating I used to do brings me great pleasure?

And you know that sense of accomplishment and control? Been there, done that.... and that sense of control was precisely what opened the door to anorexia.

I have included fasting in my health routine and have found that I feel great following a fast. More energy, contorl of my appetite, better sleep, even weigh management.

However, when I fast it's usually for 24 hours and it's only once maybe twice a month.

Every other day fasting sounds a bit extreme, and impractical for 99% of people.

IF is just one more diet fad with little or no clinical data to support it. The field of nutrition has long been plagued with inadequate clinical information and this is why you see an almost constant revision of even the most basic nutrition guidelines. I think there is a legitimate concern that the stress created by IF may out weigh any benefits achieved by it. If one generality has become very clear and repeatedly enforced in the history of nutrition science, it's that nutrition is more about balance and variety, than about deprivation. I work in the field of nutrition research (animal) and to date I have seen only one diet system that provides broad, consistent and predictable results - it's called the South Beach diet. (I have no relationship of any kind with those that market the related products - nor do I recommend the products - just the process). It is far from perfect, but it does work long term (no other diet system that I know of can make that claim) and I think the principles of blood sugar control through management of simple carbohydrates along with a balanced diet high fresh vegetables, make far more nutrition sense than IF. If your diet was imbalanced before IF - what possible nutrition gain are you going to achieve with IF that betters your nutritional intake?

As someone mentioned here, couldn't this lead someone down the path to anorexia? And how is it done, REALLY? I eat very healthy and have a healthy weight, but if I go too many hours without food I get very lightheaded and shaky (I'm not anemic, hypoglycemic or diabetic.) Also, are any beverages at all included? Water can severely dilute you if you don't take in appropriate nutrients. Are juices allowed?

I don't fast personally because it's never made me feel good or refreshed. At the same time, I can't see there being anything particularly dangerous about IF, considering animals (spec. predators) in the wild will often go a day without food if nothing comes their way. I'm not going to say I agree that it has mega health but I don't think it's harmful. If it energizes you, then enjoy!

again another fad that won't be around over the long term. if there is a way to make money off a diet then people will do it.

In India, persons with religious leanings often fast for whole days together. Most religions observe fasting as a ritual. MOslems call it Ramzan. Christians, at least the more austere ones, practice this as Lent. Hindus have it in a variety of formats. Jains and Buddhist probably observe this in its most rigourous format. Jains are regularly known to fast for 10 days or so at one stretch.

I myself underwent a Buddhist Vipasanna mediation course for 10 days and found amazingly that I could easily do with just one good lunch each day.

Thanks for the quick write-up. My friend now is doing more of a calorie restriction type diet although it seems more like a constant, unplanned, fasting style diet.

As with anything, we'll see how it pans out. At this point until a decent long term study comes out, it is nothing more than individual personal experiences and theories being batted around.

Not sure why IF comes up so much in the bodybuilding world. Strange since you absolutely need food for fuel and recovery and fasting is already being done by thousands of skinny guys and gals all over the world today. Heck, IF worked for me when I was a teenager. That's how I kept lean and under 150 lbs! I guess I was doing IF on weekends without even knowing it.

Thanks again for the quick rundown of IF.

Although I don't fast often, I do it on occasion with no ill effects. I'll go for 24 hours with no food sometimes, but not usually longer than that. Surprisingly, I'm never really hungry when I do that. Or rather, I get hunger pangs for a little while, but they seem to disappear pretty quickly. I work out a lot, but not usually on the days that I fast.

I know a lot of people who do a modified fast where they eat only fruit and vegetable juices for a day to give their digestive systems a "break" from things. I don't know if that would necessarily count as the same thing as IF, but it sounds close enough for me. I've heard of the "Hollywood Miracle Diet" or whatever it's called...it's basically a juice drink with laxatives and diuretics in it. You're supposed to drink it and eat no food for 48 hours and you can lose up to 10 lbs (most of which is probably water and food weight). Not exactly the smartest way to lose weight, but if you're starting a long term weight loss plan, it may give you a bit of a psychological boost that could help you stick with it.

Intermittent fasting is not a diet....it's just an eating style. You still have to get enough calories, get the right macronutrient ratios, and do it "intermittently"...hence why it is called IF. Many ways to do it...and many can be wrong ways too. If you use it as a pass to eat whatever you want mostly carbs and sugar, then you lose the benefits. If you eat smart for your lifestyle and goals, you can get results.

Myth: Your metabolism with plummet: Truth: Short fasts do not lower metabolism, overall calorie intake for days (if not weeks) puts you into a starvation response. Most researchers try to measure thyroid output which will normalize and increase with any feeding window. It's not about starvation....well unless you don't eat enough or eat the wrong foods and deprive your body of nutrients.

IF is a freeing lifestyle once you know HOW to use it. Otherwise to put the hopes on eating 6x a day for the rest of our lives is pretty depressing.

Actually it is a diet. I'm not sure why people steer so clear of that word.

I think trying to make certain diets work for everyone is a very bad idea. Use what works for you. I'm not saying I would approve of eating nothing every other day..but if that works for you then go for it. Your body is alot tougher than you think and unless you have some kind of medical condition..IF wont hurt much.

I would note however that if your doing something like this and you start to feel side effects that prevent you from doing normal every day tasks..please save your local ER some time and stop fasting.