Do I recommend Intermittent Fasting?
For most people, no – I don't! I feel it's a dietary strategy that is overrated and even tainted by misinformation, with many “fitness gurus” stating it's magical metabolism-boosting and muscle building powers.
Prefer to watch than read? Then please check out the video below:
In reality, the benefit of intermittent fasting is simple but effective – it can induce weight loss by shortening your eating window, consequently reducing your caloric intake and putting you in a calorie deficit. It's that simple!
Intermittent Fasting Health Benefits
Andy, what about all the health benefits of intermittent fasting? Such as:
Reducing body weight
Improving glucose tolerance
Protecting from fatty liver disease
Increasing metabolic flexibility
Reducing atherogenic lipids
Reducing blood pressure,
Improving gut function
Improving cardiometabolic health
Yeah, they're awesome, though; you do obtain the same benefits from other dietary strategies that induce weight loss, a great example would be my favourite approach – simply controlling your calories, eating mostly healthy foods and consuming a protein-rich diet. If you're overweight and you lose weight, you'll see many if not all your health markers improve – that doesn't mean the health benefits are exclusively associated with that specific dietary strategy!
Is Intermittent Fasting good for weight loss?
When people are looking into trying intermittent fasting, it's usually to lose weight. So, here's a good question. "What is the effect of time-restricted eating (or intermittent fasting) on weight loss and metabolic health in patients with overweight and obesity?
This question was answered in a randomised controlled trial done by Dylan Lowe PhD, and colleagues in 2020. The answer: "Time-restricted eating, in the absence of other interventions, is not more effective in weight loss than eating throughout the day."
This was also shown in a recent Meta-Analysis – a study of studies, stating “The effects of intermittent energy restriction (intermittent fasting) on weight loss are similar to weight loss achieved by continuous energy restriction (normal calorie controlling approach).
Should I avoid Intermittent Fasting?
Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't do intermittent fasting. I know many people who it really works for, and I kind of implement some intermittent fasting, just not as extreme, or as restrictive, as many intermittent fasting approaches, as many involve full days of fasting, a full 24 hours, such as the Eat-Stop-Eat diet and others involve days of extremely low calories, such as the 5:2 method where for two days in the week you only eat 500-600 calories.
I just don't eat in the evenings. My final meal is around 5 pm, and I don't eat till breakfast the following day, which is around 8 am – that’s a 15 hour fast. This is similar to the 16:8 (16 hours of fasting with an 8-hour eating window) mines just 1-hour shy. I do have milky coffees from around 4.45 am (I'm up early), so technically, this would be cheating if I was trying to do true intermittent fasting, which I'm not. I just eat in a way that works for me, and you should too, you do you! The reason I stop eating at 5 pm, is for two reasons, I've just brushed my teeth and don't want to do them again, and if there is ever a time I'm going to binge on crap, it's while I'm chilling in the evenings. So, I tend to avoid it. I'm now accustomed, or you could say adapted, to not eating in the evenings and don't tend to get hungry. This is a huge benefit to intermittent fasting – it can attenuate hunger and make being in a deficit much easier.
A Parting Shot
If you want to implement intermittent fasting as a tool to create a caloric deficit and attenuate hunger, then do it, but don't do it with the false expectation that it will boost your metabolic rate or is superior to a simply healthy, calorie-controlled, protein-rich diet – it isn’t!