About two years ago, I intermittently fasted every day for a
semester and I definitely noticed a pretty significant loss in body fat. Basically,
I would not eat from 9pm the night before until around 12pm the next day, which
is 15 hours without eating, and I would do this 7 days a week. After about 3
months of doing this I had lost about 20 pounds and I noticed I actually had
more energy throughout the day (which may have been due to the mass amounts of coffee
I was consuming to suppress my hunger). An article recently was published
showing that intermittent fasting is no better than the traditional calorie restriction
diets when it comes to losing weight. The study had two groups: one followed an
intermittent fasting diet and the other followed a more traditional calorie
restricting diet. The researchers found that both groups had similar amounts of
weight loss, especially belly and liver fat, but neither weight loss method was
superior to the other. The researchers stated that because an individual’s body
is unique certain diets will be more effective than others. They emphasized
that if a person wants to lose weight they need to experiment with different diets,
and when they find one that works, they need to stick to it. The results of the
study are not exactly mind-blowing, but I think it sheds light on the fact that
you shouldn’t just pick a new diet because its “trendy”. Basically, the best
way to lose weight is to decrease energy intake and increase energy output, but
the method of decreasing energy intake is entirely subjective. For me,
intermittent fasting was extremely effective, but for others this may not be
the case. If you want to lose weight, experiment with different weight loss
methods and determine what is most effective for your body.
References:
German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ). (2018, November 26). Intermittent fasting: No advantage over conventional weight loss diets. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181126115842.htm
Schübel R., Nattenmüller J., Sookthai D., Nonnenmacher T., Graf M. E., Riedl L., Schlett C. L., von Stackelberg O., Johnson T., Nabers D., Kirsten R., Kratz M., Kauczor H., Ulrich C. M., Kaaks R., Kühn T. (2018). Effects of intermittent and continuous calorie restriction on body weight and metabolism over 50 wk: a randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 108(5): 933–945, https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1093/ajcn/nqy196
The best diet is the one that you can stick to! I also dabble with intermittent fasting with my last meal around 7pm, and then I wake up to exercise and don't eat breakfast until around noon. I don't like to eat too close to bed time due to research showing high insulin levels at night may decrease the amount of growth hormone secreted during my beauty sleep (Ricort, J., 2004). However, as you mentioned intermittent fasting also gives me more energy throughout the day. It also frees up more time! I spend no time preparing, cooking, eating, and cleaning up breakfast allowing me to start other tasks in the morning. I also had the tendency to eat too much at breakfast causing me to be lethargic afterwards, and this was detrimental to my productivity. You mentioned that you drank copious amounts of caffeine during your fast, and caffeine has interesting effects on fasting. Caffeine causes the body to release glucose and then insulin (Tunnicliffe, J.M., & Shearer, J., 2008). Because of this, most hardcore fasters will tell you that drinking lots of caffeine is breaking the fast, and you will not get the maximal results from this type of fasting. It sounds like you achieved the results you were looking for regardless, so perhaps caffeine's role of releasing glucose into the blood is not as significant as this community makes it out to be. Still, I try to limit my caffeine intake during the fasting period and only right before my exercise so that glucose released from the caffeine intake will immediately be used for energy throughout the exercise. For anyone looking to try out intermittent fasting, the best advice I can give in order to help you succeed is to drink lots of water. Sometimes in the morning during the fast I do get the feeling of hunger, but then I just pound a pint of water and like magic that feeling goes away! Perhaps the body has trouble differentiating signals of hunger and thirst?
ReplyDeleteCitations:
1. Ricort, J. (2004). Insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP) signalling. Growth Hormone & IGF Research, 14(4), 277-286. doi:10.1016/j.ghir.2004.02.002
2. Tunnicliffe, J. M., & Shearer, J. (2008). Coffee, glucose homeostasis, and insulin resistance: Physiological mechanisms and mediators. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 33(6), 1290-1300. doi:10.1139/h08-123