Intermittent fasting consistently ranks among the most popular weight-loss diets, and for good reasons – it works!

Ongoing research consistently affirms that various fasting techniques, including intermittent fasting (IF) can help improve your health and increase longevity by improving insulin sensitivity1, which helps to repair cells and improves your ability to metabolise fat while reducing fat storage.

Evidence-based benefits

The main evidence-based health benefits of fasting include weight loss and various beneficial hormonal changes that promote improved health.

These include improving insulin sensitivity and lower insulin levels1 and an increase in human growth hormone (HGH)2, which positively affects muscle growth and recovery and benefits bone density.

Furthermore, fasting decreases inflammation3 and oxidative stress4, which are leading causes of many diseases and ageing, and improves your brain and heart health by lowering blood sugar, blood pressure and triglycerides1.

When considering an intermittent fasting, your options include:

  1. Intermittent fasting: You fast for fewer than 24 hours. The most common approach is the 16:8 method where you eat all your meals within an eight-hour window. This method is the most popular and best for fasting rookies.
  2. The 5:2 method: You eat what you typically eat five days of the week and restrict your calorie intake to 500–600 for two days of the week.
  3. Alternate-day method: Eat every other day.
  4. Spontaneous meal skipping: Skip meals randomly when you are busy or simply not hungry.
  5. Stop-eat-stop method: Fast for 24 hours, once or twice per week.
  6. One meal a day (OMAD) fasting: You eat a single meal each day.
  7. Extended fasting: Irregularly fast for longer than 36 hours. Popular durations include 2-day fasts. This plan is best for someone who already has experience with fasting.

References:

  1. Sutton EF, Beyl R, Early KS, Cefalu WT, Ravussin E, Peterson CM. Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes. Cell Metab. 2018 Jun 5;27(6):1212-1221.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.04.010. Epub 2018 May 10. PMID: 29754952; PMCID: PMC5990470.
  2. Ho KY, Veldhuis JD, Johnson ML, Furlanetto R, Evans WS, Alberti KG, Thorner MO. Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. J Clin Invest. 1988 Apr;81(4):968-75. doi: 10.1172/JCI113450. PMID: 3127426; PMCID: PMC329619.
  3. Pereira M, Liang J, Edwards-Hicks J, Meadows AM, Hinz C, Liggi S, Hepprich M, Mudry JM, Han K, Griffin JL, Fraser I, Sack MN, Hess C, Bryant CE. Arachidonic acid inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome is a mechanism to explain the anti-inflammatory effects of fasting. Cell Rep. 2024 Feb 27;43(2):113700. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113700. Epub 2024 Jan 23. PMID: 38265935; PMCID: PMC10940735.
  4. Hardiany NS, Karman AP, Calista ASP, Anindyanari BG, Rahardjo DE, Novira PR, Taufiq RR, Imtiyaz S, Antarianto RD. The Effect of Fasting on Oxidative Stress in the Vital Organs of New Zealand White Rabbit. Rep Biochem Mol Biol. 2022 Jul;11(2):190-199. doi: 10.52547/rbmb.11.2.190. PMID: 36164627; PMCID: PMC9455196.