Intermittent Fasting Diet Plan for Weight loss

What is intermittent fasting (IF)?

Refers to a dietary plan where you alternate periods of eating with periods of fasting.

When we fast - our body switches from utilising sugar and carbohydrate from the food we eat to utilising fat stored in our body as an alternative source of energy - hence burning fat and reducing obesity.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

1) Help in weight loss and combating obesity

• Studies have demonstrated that Intermittent fasting can help reduce 3-8% of weight over 24weeks.
• It can also help to reduce waist circumference by 4-7%.

2) Improve hypertension and hyperlipidemia and reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.

3) Manage diabetes by reducing insulin-resistance and inflammation.

4) Improve cognitive function like memory, executive function and global cognition.

However there are certain groups of patients which are not suitable for IF

• Growing children less than 18 years old
• Pregnant ladies and mothers who are breast feeding
• Underweight patients and patients with eating disorders
• Diabetic patients who have volatile sugar levels and are on diabetic medications

3 most widely studied intermittent fasting plans are :

• Alternate-day fasting : Eat for one day and fast for the next.
• 5:2 fasting where you eat 5 days a week and fast 2 days a week where you only eat within a window of 4-8 hours a day.

Which type of intermittent fasting will work for you?

Some people can actually tolerate going a full day without food , so alternate day fasting or 5:2 fasting may be suitable.

Some people cannot tolerate going without food for the day - hence they do time restricted feeding where they will designate certain timing of the day to have their food.

One of the most popular daily time restricted feeding plan is a 16:8 plan.You can eat your meals within a 8 hours window and fast the next 16 hours.

For example, you can have your breakfast at 9am , lunch at 12noon and finally dinner at 5pm. ( 8 hour window )

Is there a best time of the day to eat? 

There is a circadian system within our human body that determines the metabolism in a 24 hour cycle.

Glucose, insulin, lipid levels, energy expenditure and appetite peaks in the morning to afternoon period – indicating morning to afternoon as an optimal period to eat.

By using the 16 : 8 plan and shifting to a morning to afternoon feeding window, it may help in more effectively :

• lowering blood pressure
• lowering post meal insulin levels and improving insulin sensitivity
• reduce appetite in the evening
• reduce oxidative stress

Can Intermittent fasting help with effective weight loss?

1. Not everyone is able to endure starvation.
2. If you do follow the 16:8 rule but you take a lot of fried fatty food and candies with sweet soft drinks during that 8 hours period, then it would not have any benefits on your health. A wholesome healthy diet is still important.
3. For effective weight loss - you will have to combine physical activities and exercise with the diet. Weight loss is always 70% diet and 30% exercise.
4. There are patients with medical conditions always check with your physician or doctor for approval before you embark on intermittent fasting.

References

• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work
• https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156
• https://insights.ovid.com/crossref?an=01938924-201802000-00016
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29351490/
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413118302535
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26713821/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30968820/