Intermittent Fasting and Why It Is Not For You
At one point or another you have probably heard about intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is a diet in which short term fasting is implemented in order to promote weight loss. This can be done in a small window of time or even up to 24 hours of fasting. If you are looking to understand whether intermittent fasting is the real deal, you have come to the right place. Although intermittent fasting can promote weight loss there are a number of reasons why it should be avoided.
First, recent research has shown that intermittent fasting may not be effecting our bodies the way may think it is. Some research has suggested that intermittent fasting causes loss in weight primarily due to a decrease in caloric intake. By limiting the number of hours that eating is allowable, it significantly impacts how much food can actually be consumed in that time frame. Researchers suggested that intermittent fasting has nothing to do with effects on metabolism, but rather, that it has everything to do with simply eating less. When in comes to losing weight, burning more calories than what is being consumed is the ultimate equation to achieving that goal. Although intermittent fasting may allow you to achieve weight loss, be weary of not consuming enough food. Through this diet, it is easy to not consume enough food for daily function.
Next, a recent study has followed intermittent fasters over the course of four weeks and discovered some interesting data. The researchers were able to determine that some of the participants VO2 max scores decreased and showed no improvement on a variety of anaerobic tests (anaerobic capacity, anaerobic peak power or grip strength.) From this data, we can conclude that for active individuals or athletes, intermittent fasting may not produce performance gains. This is critical information to understand if athletics or high physical performance is important to an individual.
Because intermittent fasting can be restrictive and have negative effects on physical performance I would not suggest that it be a diet that most people implement. At the end of the day, it comes down to what works best for you. For some, intermittent fasting can be a tool that promotes weight loss where it is needed. For others, intermittent fasting can be a burden on everyday life. Reading your own body and knowing what is best for it is something that I recommend everyone does and tailors their diet accordingly.
Mari,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your response to the intermittent fasting diet and share many of your concerns. I also think most of the weight loss from IF is due to not eating a sufficient amount of food. I especially connected to your analysis, stating intermittent fasting may not produce performance gains. This was an issue that especially worried me about the IF diet in my own life, so it was encouraging to receive an answer within your response. Do you think the IF diet would be a good diet option for those people who may not care about performance gains? I am wondering what demographic this diet might be the most effective for.
Hi Beth!
DeleteI can see this diet plan being okay for those who may not care about performance gains. For the most part, I see this diet being a huge problem for athletes who are striving to perform well. So for those, who do not have that worry, I can see intermittent fasting being an acceptable diet to implement if an individuals chooses so. Although, the amount of effort needed to stay on track with this diet and the little benefits that may follow, I just do not thing it is very worth it.
Hey Mari,
ReplyDeleteLove your blog post. I thought you had a lot of good information about IF. You definitely laid out all the facts and explained why its not the best choice for certain populations. I also think you did a great job at recommending against IF without dismissing that it actually can work. One thing I think you might include is the title of the research article you found. The hyperlink is great and easy way to look at the study but the specific one you used only works for APU students/faculty. If you included the name of the article it would give those outside of APU a way to find it. Again though, awesome article packed with good info. Great job!
Hi Micah!
DeleteI hadn't even thought of that in regards to the databases, thanks for the helpful suggestion!
Mari,
ReplyDeleteLoved the photo of the girl with her hands covering her eyes, that is totally me during exams and also when I don't get enough to eat! I agree that IF does not provided enough food/energy for daily function. I personally cannot go through my day without having 5-6 meals and consuming at least 3400 Calories. Im not a big guy or bodybuilder, but I definitely need those calories for my daily activities of work, school, gym, and studying! I didn't realize it until recently, but during high school I was unintentionally fasting during my sophomore year(before I realized I needed more food). I would have swim practice at 5:00am then go to class at 8:00am and have my first "meal" of the day at lunch which is around 12:30pm, then I would have swim practice again from 3:00-5:00pm and have large dinner at 6:00pm! I wasn't eating anything for 11 hours and I was exercising for 5-6 hours a day as well! This story definitely lines up with you article on unsubstantial affect on athletic performance. I appreciate your perspective, definitely a lesson I learned back in the day to give my body the proper energy it needs!