Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you go through cycles of eating and fasting. It can vary depending on the person and the kind of goal they want to achieve. More recently, this has become a popular method to lose weight and allows for people to feel like they are in control of their eating regime more effectively in sync with their daily work habits. But the real question is: is it good for your health?
Let’s start with the pros!
There are many elements of intermittent fasting that can have physical and mental health benefits. Some of these include:
- Weight loss
Intermittent fasting is known to help you lose weight by restricting when you are eating to allow for midnight cravings to be stopped. It also then allows your body to get into a cycle of familiarity where your stomach naturally gets used to when you eat and how long you go without food.
This does not mean, however, that you can eat whatever you want whilst fasting in order to lose weight. You must be having a nutritious and well-balanced diet alongside this to achieve your goals.
2. You decide your hours
One thing that is very beneficial to this lifestyle choice is that you can decide what hours fit the best within your daily regime. For example, many people who have a long day at work will struggle to find the time to even eat before lunch, and so making their hours of eating from lunch onwards could help them stay productive at work without thinking about what to eat first thing.
3. Better immune system
Fasting has been deemed to “reset” your immune system, naturally giving it a power boost. There is a theory that has been drawn from the University of Southern California where both mice and humans were studied, which suggested that fasting for 72 hours could allow your body to flush out damaged immune cells and regenerate new, healthier cells primed to help the body fight toxins.
4. Health benefits
Naturally, any dieting can allow for better lifestyle choices, and you can see the positive results based on your own health benefits. For example, clear skin is a clear indicator that your blood sugar is not spiking from any sugary foods or drinks. This will be kept limited due to the smaller time window you have to eat and drink, automatically allowing your body to get used to this cycle.
5. Increasing brain function and concentration levels
Throughout the day, your focus and concentration at work are important for you to attain a successful level of performance. With an increase in brain functioning, this can allow you to work at a much more efficient pace.
There is a brain hormone commonly known as BDNF or Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor. This increase of hormone will limit your chances of getting particular mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and ADHD.
But what about the cons…
Although we can see these factors above relay many benefits, we also have to discuss the cons that impact our wellbeing and lifestyle also. Some of these include:
- Social life is affected
When a friend invites you out for dinner one evening, if you are out of your time window to eat, you may feel obliged to let down that friend. This is the unfortunate negative aspect of fasting, where it may affect your social interaction with friends and family, restricting your availability to join social gatherings that may involve food.
You could end up missing out on birthday meals and special events due to your new lifestyle choice, and this is something that you would need to think about and consider if and when it comes to it.
2. Eating more than you need
You may have just finished a long day at work and now have a 3–4 time window before you start to fast again. This may give you an incentive to eat as much as you can within these hours, potentially overeating and eating more calories than is needed. You may find that this will bring on a habit of overeating in short periods of time, which in the long run are not beneficial for your health or lifestyle.
3. Health consequences are still evident
Although we have been made aware of the health benefits that intermittent fasting can bring, for the long term, there are also some dangerous elements to this lifestyle choice. Due to restricting a diet, meaning less protein and less energy, this can allow some risks from nutrient deficiencies as well as reproductive problems in women.
According to animal studies, fasting led to a shockingly reduced ovary size — significantly having a big impact on fertility. Therefore, taking this route would have to be carefully considered for your health and wellbeing based on the choices you make within your life. Always speak to an industry professional before embarking on any diet!
Written by Shannon Donovan
WellBe is spearheading the way to a brighter future for corporate wellness. Our innovative portal is scientifically designed and tailored to each individual employee to improve their wellbeing. We specialise in a range of services from coaching and therapists, to meditation and reading materials. Our aim is to reduce workplace stress that costs UK businesses £42 billion per year. Get in touch with us by visiting our site wellbe.global for more information.
