/ Eating on the Fast Track

by Anokhi Admin

Eating on the Fast Track

Apr 04, 2014

When you see photos of people celebrating their 100th birthday rarely, if ever, are they overweight or obese. In fact, they tend to be on the slimmer side. Well, research shows that those who eat less tend to be healthier and live longer, and the principles of intermittent fasting are based on this exactly. The idea is to routinely integrate fasting into your diet and lifestyle; so, not just once or twice a year to customarily mark religious days but like “Meatless Mondays” have a “Fasting Friday.” The scientific jury is still out on intermittent fasting but it’s making waves on the diet scene so here’s the breakdown on what it’s all about.

Fasting Formula

It’s not as sexy as the Mars bar diet but the fact is that many of us are likely already intermittently fasting though we don’t label it as such. We eat dinner and then don’t eat for 12 hours until we “break fast” in the morning. Proponents of grazing are opposite to intermittent fasting: pushing for smaller sized meals or snacks with less time in between.

There are variations to intermittent fasting from fasting 16 hours a day, 20 hours a day or fasting all day once a week to just skipping meals in a day. The most popular is Dr. Michael Mosely’s method. In his book, The Fast Diet, he recommends eating just as you do for five days a week and eating only 600 calories for the other two days (a.k.a the 5:2 Diet or the Two-Day Diet). Whichever version you go for, the foundational principle is having periods of time where you eat nothing or very little and the rest of the time you eat normal. The bottom line: you’ll likely lose weight.

Science or Fad?

There is a growing body of evidence for intermittent fasting, mostly based on animals and not humans, but the results look promising.

In a study published in 2011 in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers compared two groups of overweight and obese women. They were on diets that reduced their usual intake by 25 per cent. One group shaved off the 25 per cent of calories everyday for the entire week and the other group cut their calories by 75 per cent on two consecutive days during the week and ate normally the other five days (5:2 Diet). The study found that both groups lost weight equally. So what does that mean? Well, instead of being on a diet every day, increasing your risk of cheating, with intermittent fasting you’re only dieting for two days. Albeit, those two days may leave you feeling so hungry that you’ll compensate on the other days. But assuming you don’t overeat on non-fasting days, it’s easy to see how you could lose weight.

Beyond weight loss, researchers have looked into other physiological benefits of intermittent fasting. Some researchers looked at the mild stress cells are under when we are fasting. They found that when cells are challenged with some stress they adapt by enhancing their ability to cope with stress and perhaps resist disease. And while we have a negative association to “stress” think of it more along the lines of the positive stress of exercise. Working out and giving your body time to recover actually allows it to grow stronger.

Bottom Line

Intermittent fasting is not easy and it’s not for everyone. The science is growing to back it up and, for some people, this pattern of eating works. If you think it’s for you, do your research and check with your health care provider to ensure it’s safe before starting.

In a dish dilemma? Email me @ [email protected]

_{Neera Chaudhary MHSc PhD (c) RD is a registered dietitian, foodie, culinary goddess and all-around fabulous girl in the kitchen. www.dietitian.ca}