Can Fasting Really Help You Lose Weight and Boost Cognition?
While many people all over the world fast for religious and cultural reasons, there are also proven health benefits of this practice, as long as you do it safely. Here’s what you need to know about the health benefits of fasting and the potential safety risks. Note: If you are fasting for health purposes, rather than religious ones, you can still drink water or black coffee.
What is fasting? Fasting is when you do not eat for a certain period of time. You can fast in several different ways. According to Andrew Wang, MD, PhD, a professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine, the main types are:
- Acute: When you fast for an extended amount of time every once in a while
- Chronic: When you fast for the same amount of time every day
- Intermittent: When you follow a fasting schedule of on-days and off-days
- Chronic intermittent: When you follow a fasting schedule consistently
Quick tip: There are also many types of intermittent fasting, and it’s important to find the eating and fasting schedule that works best for you.
Excerpted from Business Insider
