What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a type of eating habit that involves switching back and forth between eating and fasting. It stresses the timing of your meals rather than concentrating on the specific items you should eat.

Humans have practiced fasting from the dawn of time. This is because ancient people had a hard time finding food, so they had to learn to go for a long period of time without eating. Eating only 1-2 meals a day used to be more common than eating 3-4 times a day.

Does intermittent fasting affect growth?

It depends on how you practice intermittent fasting and whether you are still in your growing years. If you are still going through puberty, practicing intermittent fasting can stunt your growth. This is because an average teen requires a lot of energy and nutrients to keep their body in good shape. Thus, their growth and development may be severely impacted by an eating plan that dramatically decreases calorie and nutrient intake.

Does intermittent fasting increase height?

The answer is yes if you are still growing. Whether you use intermittent fasting or another alternate technique, your height will not change once you've reached puberty.

Does intermittent fasting help you lose weight?

Intermittent fasting is a highly useful method to lose weight as it can lower calorie consumption.

All the different protocols require abstaining from meals during fasting times. If you do not make up the difference by eating much more during mealtimes, you will not be consuming many calories.

According to a 2014 study, intermittent fasting reduced body weight by 3-8% over 3–24 weeks. When evaluating the rate of weight reduction, intermittent fasting can cause weight loss of 0.55 to 1.65 pounds (0.25-0.75 kg) each week [1].

In addition, it offers a lot of advantages for metabolic health and lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease. The majority of weight loss by intermittent fasting is mediated by a reduction in calorie intake. 

Who can use intermittent fasting?

People who want to reduce social eating

Intermittent fasting can be a useful set of restraints if you do not tend to be obsessive about eating healthily throughout the workday but binge when you're not working.

Some people find that adhering to intermittent fasting prevents them from mindlessly snacking late at night or overindulging in appetizers during happy hour. If you do it correctly, you will not even be tempted to overeat since your body will eventually learn to adapt.

People who hate counting calories

Intermittent fasting can help you reach your desired weight quickly without all the meal tracking and math calculations. Other benefits are that you do not have to eliminate the entire food groups or track calories constantly. Plus, you are still able to eat as much as you want within your eating window.

People with digestive issues

Intermittent fasting allows the body to take a break from continuously processing or controlling all the food we consume. This intermission may prevent people from feeling overstuffed or bloated. By giving up the habit of eating mindlessly at night, you can prevent digestion from disturbing your sleep. Moreover, fasting can help people pay more attention to their hunger and fullness cues, which can be easy to ignore when there are no time constraints on when we eat and when we do not.

What are some common types of intermittent fasting?

5:2 Fasting

This is one of the most popular IF strategies. It gained popularity thanks to the best-selling book The FastDiet, which has all the details you need to know about this tactic. In summary, all you need to do is eat normally for five days and then, consume 500 or 600 calories each day on the final two days. You can choose any days you want to observe a fast on.

Short fasting intervals are intended to keep you compliant. If you start to become hungry one day while fasting, just think about the next day when you can "feast" once more. Some people claim that they can do anything for two days, but cutting back on their eating for seven days is too much A 5:2 approach may be more successful for certain people than a weekly calorie restriction.

If you are engaging in vigorous endurance training, examine whether this form of fasting will fit into your training schedule if you are getting ready for a cycling or running race (or if you're planning high-mileage weeks). 

Time-restricted fasting

If you are looking for a daily eating window that, ideally, leaves a 14–16-hour fasting window, you can use this type of intermittent fasting. Fasting encourages autophagy, the body's normal "cellular housekeeping" process that gets rid of waste and other obstructions to mitochondrial function, which starts when liver glycogen levels are low. Doing this might help enhance fat cell metabolism and improve insulin performance.

Overnight fasting

This method, which can be considered the simplest fasting method, calls for a 12-hour fast each day. This means you have to stop eating at 7 p.m. after dinner and start again at 7 a.m. the following morning with breakfast. At 12 hours, autophagy is still occurring, but the cellular benefits are less significant. This is the bare minimum of hours for fasting.

The simplicity of this approach makes it advantageous. Also, you don't have to skip meals; rather, all you are doing is forgoing a nightly snack. Yet, this approach falls short of maximizing the benefits of fasting. A smaller fasting window gives you more time to eat, which may not assist you to reduce your calorie intake if you're utilizing fasting to lose weight.

In conclusion,

Not everyone should engage in intermittent fasting. If you decide to give it a shot, you should do it regularly. Although intermittent fasting is an excellent tool for changing one's lifestyle, one should consider their ability to maintain it over time before starting. For some people, intermittent fasting can be too limiting and eating should be simple and natural. It’s always important to have a balanced diet that is high in lean protein, whole grains, and veggies. If you do choose to include intermittent fasting in your diet, talk to your doctor first, especially if you have any health issues or are taking any side medications.

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