Why Try Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting (IF) is an uber-trendy concept in wellness circles these days. It has been shown to be a helpful tool for weight loss–a study published in Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology found that intermittent fasting reduces body fat on par with traditional calorie-restrictive diets. But it’s also tough to pull off correctly and thus not a perfect solution for everyone. (Case in point: one 2020 study found that people tend to eat more food in anticipation of an extended fasting period.)
If you’ve questioned the practicality of intermittent fasting, you’re not alone. But according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, eating your meals on an IF schedule can help with more than just weight loss; it also has the potential to slow aging and disease progression…and more.
What happens in the body when you fast?
When your body has finished digesting a meal or snack, it begins to draw on its own stores of energy to keep your organs functioning properly. “Energy typically comes in the form of glucose,” explains Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Glucose is a simple sugar, derived from food, that travels through the bloodstream to supply the body with energy.
Excerpted from Health Central
