Intermittent fasting has become very popular because restricting meal times – fasting for 18 hours and only eating within a six-hour window – promises cardiovascular health benefits, weight loss, and improved focus.
As a review article in the New England Journal of Medicine makes clear, there is mounting scientific evidence that intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of many diseases, including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
The authors even go so far as to say that intermittent fasting will one day become a part of any healthy lifestyle.
Over the past year, countless people have been posting online ways to lose weight, such as the latest celebrity diet plans. But the fastest growing diet trend of the year is intermittent fasting (IF).
Longer health through intermittent fasting
As a review article in the New England Journal of Medicine makes it clear that there are more and more studies that scientifically support the great success of the nutritional trend. The results suggest that intermittent fasting can reduce the risk of many diseases, including cancer, diabetes and heart disease, even when the daily calorie count stays the same.
For the article, the researchers evaluated more than 70 studies on the most common types of intermittent fasting. These include the 5:2 method, which involves eating normally five days a week and fasting for two days, fasting every other day, or limiting daily mealtimes to six to eight hours.
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The authors found that all types of IF can help slow the aging process and prevent age-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Also, the diet trend can help with weight and body fat loss.
What’s particularly promising is that the benefits of IF aren’t just for people who’ve lost weight. According to the study, the researchers believe that an additional process called metabolic switching is behind most, if not all, of the benefits of intermittent fasting.
In a press release Study lead author Mark Mattson explains that these discoveries may be “a point where we may soon consider adding information about intermittent fasting to medical education curricula alongside standard advice on healthy eating and exercise.”
Traditionally, a simple type of sugar called glucose is the main source of energy in humans. We get glucose from our food, especially carbohydrates, which our digestive system converts into glucose, the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
When we fast, however, our body has to resort to another source of energy. Therefore, the liver converts fatty acids into ketones, which can be used as fuel in place of glucose.
As the new research has shown, intermittent fasting allows the body to switch between the two energy sources, glucose and ketones, in a process called “metabolic switching.”
The scientists believe that the alternating energy sources are responsible for many of the benefits of intermittent fasting. A sustained cellular response triggered by this switch is critical to protecting the body from harm. This includes reducing inflammation, boosting metabolism and protecting against oxidative stress, which is associated with age-related diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.
These and other benefits seem to persist even after eating normally again.
Experts are still debating how best to implement fasting to maximize the benefits
Further studies have shown that intermittent fasting can have a positive impact on physical activity. For example, a scientific study found that young men who fasted 16 hours a day were able to reduce their body fat while at the same time building muscle mass through strength training. Another study shows that IF does not only have benefits for muscle building. The study on mice showed that the animals that fasted every other day had better running endurance than those that ate normally.
Brain health can also benefit from dietary changes. As shown by several clinical studies, intermittent fasting can help improve memory and prevent cognitive decline in older people.
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Despite the proven benefits of the diet trend, there are still some issues preventing intermittent fasting from becoming a widespread health solution.
The first, according to the researchers, is the fact that people are used to eating three meals a day. The second is the constant availability of cheap high-calorie snacks and foods that make it difficult for people to fast.
In addition, while it is common practice in medicine to advise a patient to eat a more balanced diet or exercise more, there is as yet no established procedure for “prescribing” fasting.
It’s also important to note that IF isn’t for everyone. This is because fasting can lead to irritability, listlessness, or stress, and can be risky for people who are prone to eating disorders.
In the future, the long-term effects of intermittent fasting in particular need to be examined more closely. But Mattson, who has studied the diet trend for 25 years and has followed it for about 20 years himself, is certain that intermittent fasting will one day become a part of any healthy lifestyle.
This text was written by Franziska Heck from English translated.