Diet 168, 186, 52 and other passwords have recently become very popular in the field of weight loss, and many people have begun to share relevant experiences on the Internet. These numbers refer to intermittent fasting. What is intermittent fasting? Intermittent How does fasting affect the body? How do I perform intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is a strategic planning of the timing of fasting and eating. During the fasting period, no caloric food is eaten, and only water and non-caloric beverages (such as unsweetened coffee or tea) are consumed. , through a sufficient period of fasting to reduce the body's insulin requirements, stimulate the body's glucagon to break down fat.
There are two common types of intermittent fasting: daily time-restricted eating and 5:2 fasting. I often hear such numbers, 168 refers to the daily fasting time of 16 hours, the eating time is limited to 8 hours, 186 is the 18-hour off-time, and the eating time is limited to 6 hours.
, the dietary calorie intake on the fasting day is less than 500 kcal.
In 1997, some scholars published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, pointing out that restricting the caloric intake of animals would have a significant impact on aging and health. Since then, many researchers have devoted themselves to related topics and developed intermittent fasting. mode.
Animal and human studies show that intermittent fasting has many health benefits. In 2019, the New England Journal of Medicine published a literature review, sorting out the relevant studies on intermittent eating in recent years. The following is based on the content of the paper.A brief introduction to intermittent fasting.
Eating promotes the growth of cells and tissues, but if you fast for a period of time, it will activate the cell's intrinsic defense, increase antioxidant function, and clear or repair damaged cells.
Modern people eat adequately and sedentary for a long time, which is the main reason for the prevalence of chronic diseases. Under the condition of adequate diet, it is difficult to activate this defense. Fasting is a message to activate the body's cells, pull the cells out of the comfort zone, restart the defense system and activate the metabolism.
Animal model studies have shown that intermittent fasting improves a variety of chronic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative brain diseases. Periodically turning metabolic switches on and off triggers coordinated responses in cells throughout the body, and these responses can be carried over into eating periods to improve mental and physical function and disease resistance.
Glucose and fatty acids are the main energy sources for cells. After a meal, glucose is used for energy, and fat is stored in adipose tissue in the form of triglycerides. After fasting for more than 8-12 hours, the available liver sugar in the body is exhausted and cannot provide more glucose, and triglycerides will begin to be broken down into fatty acids and glycerol to provide energy.
The liver will convert fatty acids into ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are the switch to restart metabolism during fasting. Therefore, the concentration of ketone bodies will gradually increase after 24 hours of fasting. The concentration of ketone bodies in the body is too high, which will cause harm to the body. , therefore,
Although according toIntermittent fasting appears to be beneficial for cellular activation in animal models and physiological responses, but evidence from human trials is still very limited. It appears that intermittent fasting can help improve blood fat, but it cannot be confirmed that it has a clear effect on the control of other diseases.
In addition, human trials also lack long-term safety assessments. For example, if diabetic patients perform intermittent fasting, they may face the risk of hypoglycemia and ketoacidosis; if cancer patients perform intermittent fasting for a long time, they may face the risk of hypoglycemia and ketoacidosis. It can aggravate the condition of cachexia caused by malnutrition. Therefore, intermittent fasting should be carefully evaluated in patients with chronic diseases.
For healthy adults or people with a sedentary diet, you can try intermittent fasting for weight control and chronic disease prevention.
The implementation of the fasting plan does not mean that the diet during the meal time does not need to be moderated. If the habit of overeating during the meal period is not changed, excessive calorie intake will still destroy the weight loss plan.
The importance of nutrition to the body does not only depend on calorie intake, but choosing nutritious and diverse foods is the only way to maintain normal physiological metabolism.
Sufficient water intake can promote the elimination of metabolic waste, reduce headaches during fasting, and reduce hunger to help the implementation of the fasting plan.
Glucose in blood is an important source of energy for the brain.Fasting is recommended. If you are too hungry during exercise training, it will also affect the performance of exercise. Appropriate food supplementation after exercise will help maintain muscle mass and metabolic rate. When planning the fasting time, it is recommended to make appropriate arrangements according to the activity situation.
The main reason for the prevalence of obesity and chronic diseases in modern people is mainly caused by sedentary and unbalanced diet. Although intermittent fasting is theoretically beneficial to physiological regulation, human research currently lacks long-term experimental results and Safety assessment. If intermittent fasting is to be performed, it is still necessary to carefully assess and monitor the condition of the body.
In fact, in order to truly maintain the normal functioning of the body, improve metabolic status and activate cell function, moderate physical activity, proper exercise training, and a balanced diet are the only way to cure the root cause.
◎ This article is excerpted from / Cathay Pacific Medical News Issue 237
◎ Written by Lai Xiuyi, nutritionist, Cathay Pacific General Hospital Nutrition Group
◎ Image source / Cathay Pacific Hospital·Dazhi Image / courtesy of shutterstock
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