Here a snack, there a soft drink: Many people feed their bodies with calories almost all the time.
That doesn't have to be the case - on the contrary: Regular meal breaks can be good for your health.
16: 8, 14:10 or 5: 2?
The formulas for
intermittent fasting
* read complicated, but the principle of all methods is simple: Over a certain period of time you eat little or no food.
This is not a problem for most people, but not for everyone: Children and pregnant women, for example, shouldn't do this.
According to the internist and nutritionist Prof. Andreas Michalsen, the most common forms of intermittent fasting are variants of
time-restricted eating
,
i.e. eating
for a limited time
.
These include the 16: 8 and 14:10 diets as well as the 5: 2 fasting and the 2-day diet.
But what do the numbers mean?
16: 8 or 5: 2: what the numbers mean - intermittent fasting
16: 8 or 14:10 diet:
You do not
consume
anything except
water, unsweetened tea or black coffee
for a period of 16 or 14 hours
.
In the remaining 8 or 10 hours you can eat normally, explains Antje Gahl from the German Nutrition Society (DGE).
“There aren't that many guidelines when it comes to choosing food.
The diet should be as balanced as possible and you should eat early in the evening and have breakfast late, ”says Gahl.
5: 2-fasting or 2-day diet
: With these forms, you eat normally five days a week, and you fast two days.
With the 2-day diet, the fasting days should follow one another - on each of these you should eat a maximum of 650 calories, explains Gahl.
With the 5: 2 principle, the days of fasting do not have to follow one another, but they should have a fixed rhythm - for example always on Tuesday and Friday.
A quarter of the usual energy
intake
is then allowed, which corresponds to around
500 to 650 calories
.
Also read:
Start the day better - 5 tips for a healthy breakfast.
Two to four weeks of getting used to intermittent fasting
If you want to start intermittent fasting, you should give your body two to four weeks to get used to it, advises Andreas Michalsen.
“At first you are hungry, that's quite normal.
After getting used to it, you can judge whether it is good for you, ”says the chief physician of the Naturopathy Department at the Immanuel Hospital in Berlin, who looks after around 1,500 fasting people there every year.
And then, as most fasters hope, the pounds will drop.
According to the doctor, this calculation works out in most cases.
According to nutritionist Gahl, intermittent fasting is not
a miracle cure
when it
comes to
weight loss
.
There are rather
minor effects on the body mass index
, which describes the ratio of weight to height and is a rough indicator of overweight and underweight.
However, according to Gahl, fasting has the advantage that it
reduces unhealthy belly fat
.
And: “With strict diets, the body starts to break down fat-free mass, ie muscles.
That is reduced with intermittent fasting. "
Expert: Studies on intermittent fasting show positive effects
There are now some clinical studies on the effectiveness of this type of fasting in healthy adults, but most of the results came from animal studies, summarizes Gahl.
This shows many
positive effects
: In addition to
weight loss
, the
metabolic
situation improved,
for example in type 2 diabetes, says Gahl.
The risk of cardiovascular and neurological diseases decreased, brain function improved, as did blood pressure, blood lipid levels and fasting blood sugar.
Also interesting:
Recipe for the best low-carb bread in the world: This bread fills you up for a long time and goes quickly.
Criticism of the concepts of intermittent fasting
But there is criticism beyond the state of the art: "Most of the concepts contain no or only vague
recommendations on food
selection," says Antje Gahl.
"If people don't know exactly how they can eat better quality food or if they feast in an uncontrolled manner, the health-promoting effects fizzle out and unfavorable eating habits are not changed either."
Andreas Michalsen, on the other hand, thinks that people eat better because their cravings are gone.
But he also emphasizes: “No matter what you eat, you only eat according to the clock - of course it shouldn't be like that.
The best way to combine a
healthy diet
with fasting. "
Risks of Fasting
Intermittent
fasting also carries
risks
:
blood pressure
and
blood sugar
can drop and you can get headaches, explains Gahl.
Above all, it is important
to drink
at least
1.5 liters a day
, preferably water.
Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, children and young people should not fast.
This also applies to people with eating disorders.
Anyone who has previous illnesses should speak to their doctor.
But: "Basically, the body can handle meal breaks well," says Gahl.
Intermittent fasting is basically suitable for every healthy person and can be easily integrated into everyday life.
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