There is a lot of buzz these days about intermittent fasting within the health and fitness community. If you’re not familiar with it, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. Also know as cyclic fasting, people are using it to lose weight and improve their health.

There are several different methods of intermittent fasting, but those more commonly used include:

• Time-restricted Eating. For example, a 16:8 plan in which you eat for only 8 hour a day and fast for the other 16 hours. Similarly, it could be 14:10 or 12:12 depending on preference.
• The 5:2 Plan. This means eating regularly five days a week, and for the other two days, you limit yourself to one 500–600 calorie meal. For example, you can choose Mondays and Fridays as the two days you limit yourself to a 500-600 calorie meal, and Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, you eat regularly.
• Eat-Stop-Eat. This involves fasting for 24 hours, once or twice a week, for example by not eating from dinner one day until dinner the next day.

What to Eat When You Eat

It’s best to eat healthy, nutrient-dense foods, such as:

• Vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, bell peppers, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, asparagus, garlic, cucumber, onions, etc.
• Fruits: strawberries, oranges, lemons, blackberries, limes, raspberries, pears, apples, blueberries, etc.
• Meat: grass-fed beef, lamb, venison, wild game
• Fish: wild-caught salmon, tuna, mackerel
• Poultry: organic chicken, turkey, goose, duck
• Organic, cage-free eggs
• Nuts: almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios, macadamia nuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts
• Seeds: hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds
• Legumes: black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, Lima beans, chickpeas, lentils
• Whole grains: quinoa, barley, buckwheat, millet, brown rice
• Healthy fats: olive oil, coconut oil, organic, grass-fed butter, ghee, avocado oil

During the times when you’re not eating, water and zero-calorie beverages such as black coffee and tea are permitted.

The Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

In 2016, Cell Metabolism studied the impact of time-restricted eating in metabolic syndrome by reducing participant’s daily eating window from 14 hours a day to a self-selected 10 hour window for 12 weeks. The results of this study showed time-restricted eating led to weight loss, healthier body composition, lower blood pressure, and decreased levels of cardiovascular disease promoting lipids.

Additional benefits of intermittent fasting include:

• improved memory. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting boosts working memory in animals and verbal memory in adult humans.
• improved physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining muscle mass.
• obesity prevention. In animal studies, intermittent fasting prevented obesity. And, in six brief studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting.
• decreased blood sugar levels. Research shows that intermittent fasting can help people lose body weight and lower their levels of fasting glucose, fasting insulin and leptin while reducing insulin resistance, decreasing levels of leptin and increasing levels of adiponectin. Certain studies found that some patients practicing intermittent fasting with supervision by their doctors were able to reverse their need for insulin therapy.

Keep in mind that intermittent fasting may have different effects on different people. Talk to your health care provider before you begin any intermittent fasting program.