IS INTERMITTED FASTING FOR YOU?

Intermittent fasting is a trendy topic that arises repeatedly in our gym and the Power Hours we deliver to our corporate partners.

I get it: restrict the time period when you eat, but within that time window eat as you normally would.

No calorie counting.

No food restrictions.

Simple and flexible.

In an on-the-go world, I can see the appeal of intermitted fasting.

Is intermittent fasting a reliable strategy to achieve weight loss?

To date, the answer has remained murky due to the quality of the evidence, which often involves very small sample sizes, short intervention periods, varied study designs (often lacking control groups), different fasting protocols, and participants of varying shapes and sizes.

One of the most recent studies on the subject published by The New England Journal of Medicine monitored 118 people of different ages, genders and sizes for a full year.

After the full year, they concluded that intermitted fasting showed no significant difference in weight-loss to people consuming the same amount of calories but eating at the time of their choosing. 

But…

As an unwanted side effect, a calorie restricted (fat-loss aimed) intermitted fasting diet has shown to lead to more muscle loss and a lowered basal metabolic rate, meaning long term followers of the diet will need their calories tightened periodically to keep unwanted weight off.

Conclusion

Whilst intermitted fasting can help you reduce the number of calories you consume by limiting the window of opportunity, it is far from being the best or even an ideal solution for fat-loss.

No silver bullet found… Still…

Written by Peter Varga - 20/11/24