Intermittent fasting has become a popular trend because of how secure the method is and how it can improve metabolic health and possibly extend a person’s lifespan. Intermittent fasting involves partially abstaining from eating for a set amount of time before regularly eating again. Proponents claim that intermittent fasting is easier to maintain than controlling the number of calories to consume per day.
There are various methods of intermittent fasting that you can try. Each person’s experience of intermittent fasting will vary, and these different styles will suit different people.
Overnight Fasting
The rules of this fasting method are simple. You have to decide and adhere to not eating anything for 12 hours. Studies have shown that fasting for 10 to 16 hours can cause the body to convert its stored fats into energy, releasing ketones into the bloodstream, thus causing weight loss.
The easiest way to do and the easiest method for beginners because the fasting window is relatively small. The easiest way to do the 12-hour fast is to include the period of sleep in your fasting window.
Leanigans Diet
This method involves fasting for 16 hours a day and leaves an 8-hour eating window. This is helpful for someone who has tried the 12-hour fast but did not see any benefits.
The most common fasting period people perform is to finish their evening meal by 8 pm then skip breakfast until noon.
A study in mice found that by limiting the feeding window to 8 hours protected them from inflammation, diabetes, and obesity even if they eat the same number of calories as mice did not fast.
Whole-Day Fasting
In this type of intermittent fasting, you choose to eat dinner then not eat again until the next day’s dinner. Your fasting method with this method is 24 hours.
This is one of the most rigorous intermittent fasting methods, but if done right, it can significantly reduce your weight. Moreover, some people find it impossible to eat an entire day’s calories in one sitting. The disadvantage is that it will be hard to get all the needed nutrients in your body with just one meal. This approach is also tough to stick to. You might get hungry before dinner, and it may lead you to consume more food, which results in unnecessary calories.
Alternate-day Fasting
Fasting involves not eating every other day. But there are different variations to this diet. You can avoid solid foods during the day or allow up to 500 calories. On feeding days, people can eat as much as they want.
Alternate-day fasting is an extreme form of intermittent fasting, and this method may not be suitable for beginners or those with medical conditions. It may also be challenging to maintain alternate-day fasting for the long term.
The 5:2 Fasting
The idea of this fasting method is to eat for five days normally, and then for the next two days, restrict your calories to 500 to 600 calories per day. The fasting days are up to your preference. It doesn’t matter if you prefer two consecutive days or alternate days.