Intermittent fasting is a popular trend for people trying to drop pounds. The strategy, in which you eat only during a specific time frame each day, is designed to cut your caloric intake and possibly help your body reduce its cravings for unhealthy snacks.
It’s also used for a range of conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease. Intermittent fasting comes in different patterns. Some people eat normally five days a week and then eat only one meal the other two days. Others limit eating to the same eight-hour window each day -- 10 am to 6 pm, for example.
It’s important to understand that not every diet plan is right for everyone. And you should talk with your doctor before trying this one, particularly if you have diabetes, heart disease or some other chronic condition that requires you to take medications.
Is Intermittent Fasting Safe?
Some questions about the safety of the strategy were raised by recent research suggesting the time-restricted diet could actually increase heart disease risk. Researchers looked at data from 20,000 adults who used various fasting windows. They reported a 91 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death.
This one piece of preliminary research, however, isn’t enough to cast serious doubt on intermittent fasting – from a heart health perspective. Among the study’s limitations: It relied on a pool of participants who were not representative of the general population. For example, it included a large number of white males who were obese and heavy drinkers.
But it also used self-reported (meaning often inaccurate) dietary information from participants. That’s an important element when you consider the way intermittent fasting works.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?
The key to intermittent fasting is cutting the amount of calories you consume. It’s not the number of hours you go without food that does the work.
Most adults should consume between 1,600 and 3,000 calories a day, based on a range of factors, including age, sex and physical activity level. One of the ways people put on excess weight is by exceeding those calorie recommendations.
During intermittent fasting, you eliminate the calories you would otherwise consume outside of your eating window. You won’t help yourself if you skip breakfast but then eat twice as much at lunch or dinner.
Research has shown that people who use intermittent fasting have no weight loss advantages compared to people who simply cut the amount of calories they consume during a full day of eating, according to the Journal of the American Medication Association.
Still, there are other impacts on your body. After fasting for eight to 12 hours, for example, your liver starts to break down fatty acids to make ketone bodies as an alternative fuel source (when glucose is not available). This may help improve glucose regulation. The strategy has also been shown to help the heart by lowering blood pressure, resting heart rate, cholesterol and triglycerides. These improvements typically show up within a few weeks of starting intermittent fasting. But they also quickly disappear if you resume a normal eating schedule.
Other Strategies
There are many ways to lose weight to aid your heart and your general health. Before embarking on a new diet plan, you should visit a nutritionist. Everyone’s body is different. That’s even more important when factoring in chronic conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
There are several healthy eating plans, including the well-known Mediterranean diet. That includes:
- An emphasis on fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils and nuts
- Whole grains, including whole-wheat bread and brown rice
- Healthy fats, such as extra virgin olive oil
- Fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids
- Modest amounts of natural cheese and yogurt
- Poultry or beans for protein, instead of red meat
- Very little sweets or sugary drinks
A nutritionist can help you analyze your current eating habits and come up with a healthier plan. And don’t forget the value of exercise. Aim for at least 150 minutes (more is better) of moderate-intensity exercise each week.
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