Intermittent Fasting: Weight Loss And Heart Health

Have you heard about intermittent fasting? It's an eating plan that is slowly gaining popularity among health enthusiasts because it has helped many people lose weight. The basic idea is that you make a switch between fasting and eating healthy on a regular schedule.

While intermittent fasting may sound like a 24-hour fast weight loss program, it can help reverse some lifestyle diseases and improve heart health. But how is it done? Is it safe for everyone? 

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Most diet plans tell you what to eat and what not to eat, but intermittent fasting changes the name of the game. It's a diet plan that tells you when to eat what you want to eat. 

When you follow an intermittent fasting schedule, you are allowed to eat what you want within a given time frame. Intermittent fasting results in 2 weeks are usually astounding, and you'll be glad to know you tried it for yourself. 

Fasting means not eating for a certain number of hours in a day, ending up eating only a few meals a week. This allows the body to burn more of your stored fat to produce the energy you need to last through the day. 

How Does Intermittent Fasting Benefit The Body?

Although it gained popularity because of its effectiveness in burning fat, scientific evidence shows that intermittent fasting comes with other real health benefits. Studies show that the human body has evolved through time, and it has developed a sense of survival for hours without food. 

During prehistoric times before people learned to farm, they were hunters and gatherers. Sometimes they would go for hours without eating anything because it took time to hunt and gather nuts and berries. Fasting was something they did to thrive and survive.

It was easier for people to stay healthy fifty years ago. There were no computers or late-night television shows that prevented people from going to bed on time. The food options were quite limited to what was harvested on the farm, so portions were smaller and healthier. 

However, modern times have changed the way people do things. The internet keeps them up all night, eating and snacking on everything they like the whole day and even most of the night. 

Extra calories mean extra fat in the body. People's lifestyle choices have put them in the pitfalls of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Scientific findings, on the other hand, show that intermittent fasting can reverse these effects. 

With proper practice and healthy eating choices, people can get rid of their heart problems and restore their body to a healthier state. 

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

There are more than a handful of ways to engage in intermittent fasting. You must have heard of the fasted workout and how it hastens the body's natural fat-burning process. Intermittent fasting options are all based on choosing the right time to eat and the right time to fast. 

For example, you may only eat within 8 hours in a day and fast for the rest of the time. Or you could also choose to only eat once a day for two days every week. There are so many fasting schedules you can follow. 

How does intermittent fasting do the magic? After hours of not eating anything, the body begins to use its stored sugar to continue providing you with the energy you need. When it has exhausted all its sugar reserves, the body begins to burn the stored fat. This is what experts call metabolic switching. 

Is it possible to do intermittent fasting while engaging in regular exercise? Intermittent fasting cardio is a program that allows a person to do fasting and still keep up with their cardio exercises. However, if you are a newbie in fasting, it is best to get the body to adjust to the new diet plan before you push it to the limits during exercise. 

What Can You Eat While Fasting?

What makes intermittent fasting work as a fat-burning process is a fact that you are only restricted in terms of the time. You can eat what you want. However, if your goal is to lose weight and have your healthy heart back, you need to be careful with what you eat. 

There are no restrictions when it comes to food, but you are encouraged to choose to eat healthily. Some of the intermittent fasting proteins that are healthy are fish, chicken, and tofu. All these may be a regular part of your diet as they are rich in protein minus the extra fats. 

Before you engage in intermittent fasting, make sure to consult with your doctor, especially when you have pre-existing health conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Once you get the go signal from your doctor, the actual practice is pretty simple. 

From among the intermittent fasting programs, you may choose an approach you feel most comfortable with. Start with something you can work around with daily. You may begin with six to eight hours of eating restrictions in a day. Then you can improve the time as you go along until you reach 16 hours of complete fasting. 

Some people may find it difficult in the beginning, but people will easily find a pattern that works for them. To achieve long-term goals, you must learn to stick to your intermittent fasting schedule. It won't be as difficult anymore. 

What Do You Get Out Of Intermittent Fasting?

Research studies about intermittent fasting reveal how it helps improve the overall condition of the heart. It helps manage high blood pressure and resting heart rates, as well as other heart-related health concerns. 

Is intermittent fasting safe for you? Like any other weight management plan, intermittent fasting is not something for everyone. You have to consult your health care practitioner. Their evaluation of your overall health condition will help you decide if this is the right fit.