Just think about waiting 16 to 18 hours before eating again. Or an entire day spent without breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This is what proponents of intermittent fasting do regularly.
Nutritionist Avni Kaul says, in actual terms, intermittent fasting (IF) means cycling through periods of voluntary abstinence from food (or significant reduction of calories), infused with intervals of normal food intake.
Unlike some unusual nutritional plans, intermittent fasting needs minimal effort; you simply do not eat, or eat very limited quantities, for hours at a time. No meal preparation, counting calories, or restaurant guesswork.
But there are various ways to go about the diet. Some intermittent fasting proponents maintain time-restricted eating, squeezing all the meals into an 8 to 10-hour period, followed by a 14 to 16-hour overnight fast.
Others opt for the 5:2 diet, which means eating normally for 5 days of the week followed by 2 days of eating 25% of their regular caloric intake (which is around 500 to 600 calories for most people).
Others normally restrict food intake completely on certain days of the week, relying completely on water, black coffee, and tea to keep off hunger cues.
In this article, Delhi’s top nutritionist and dietitian Avni Kaul talks about 4 potential benefits one can get from intermittent fasting. Here they are.
When you do not eat for a while, various things happen in your body. For instance, your body initiates essential cellular repair processes and changes hormone levels to make stored body fats more accessible.
Here are some of the changes that occur in your body during intermittent fasting:
Several benefits of intermittent fasting are linked to these changes in hormones, gene expression, and the functioning of cells.
Many of you who try intermittent fasting are doing it to lose weight. Normally speaking, intermittent fasting will make you eat fewer meals.
Unless iou compensate by eating more during the other meals, you will end up taking in fewer calories.
Also, intermittent fasting improves hormone function to facilitate weight loss.
Lower insulin levels, higher growth hormone levels, and increased amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all enhance the breakdown of body fat and facilitate its use for energy.
For this reason, short-term fasting increases your metabolic rate by 3.6 to 14%, assisting you in burning even more calories.
In simpler words, intermittent fasting works on both sides of the calorie equation. It improves your metabolic rate (increases calories out) and lowers the amount of food you eat.
All things are taken into consideration; intermittent fasting can be a powerful weight loss tool.
Oxidative stress is one of the main steps towards aging and several chronic diseases.
It involves unstable molecules known as free radicals, which react with other essential molecules such as protein and DNA and damage them.
Various studies indicate that intermittent fasting enhances the body’s resistance to oxidative stress.
Alongside, studies show that intermittent fasting helps fight inflammation, another key influencer of all sorts of common diseases.
Heart disease is one of the world’s biggest killers. It is known that several health markers (“risk factors”) are linked with either an increased or decreased risk of heart disease.
Intermittent fasting is shown to improve numerous risk factors, including blood pressure, total and LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, and blood sugar levels.
However, several of these are based on animal studies. The effects on heart health need to be studied a lot more in humans before recommendations can be made.
Intermittent fasting isn’t just a passing trend; it’s a structured approach to eating that can trigger meaningful changes within the body. IF influences everything from hormone levels and cellular repair to metabolism and inflammation. For many, it becomes a powerful tool for weight loss, improved metabolic health, and even better heart-related markers.
While ongoing research continues to deepen our understanding, especially in humans, the evidence so far suggests that intermittent fasting can offer meaningful benefits when practiced mindfully. As always, it’s essential to listen to your body and seek professional guidance when necessary. With the right approach, guided by insights from Nutri Activania, intermittent fasting can become a sustainable and empowering step toward better health and well-being.
Avni Kaul is a leading Dietitian & Nutritionist in Delhi NCR and the Founder of Nutri Activania. She holds a Master's Degree in Food and Nutrition from the University of Delhi and is a Certified Diabetes Educator from Project Hope and the International Diabetes Federation.
Her extensive experience includes serving as a Leicester Mamma's Ambassador, trained in Lactation Counselling with the NHS, United Kingdom.
Ms. Kaul specializes in key areas such as Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices, Pre- and Post-natal Diets, Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, and Holistic Health and Nutrition.
Nutri Activania, founded by Avni Kaul, a leading Dietitian & Nutritionist in Delhi & NCR. Offers personalized, science-based nutrition guidance for holistic health, wellness, fat loss, and nutrition.