Recently I wrote an article that explores why fasting is a better way to reduce body fat than just counting calories.
Here are some key takeaways:
–Nowadays people are eat 5 or 6 times a day, rather than just 3
–Eating all day long keeps your insulin high, which promotes fat storage. You literally can’t burn body fat when your insulin is high
–Time-restricted eating (a.k.a. Intermittent fasting) gives a little more time each day for your insulin to come down, which lets you access your body fat for energy more easily
–A ketogenic diet keeps your insulin even lower, so it’s easier to burn body fat
–Ketones also boost your metabolic rate, stimulate “brown fat”, and literally carry energy/calories out of your body (through your breath and urine)
–Prolonged fasting gets insulin even lower, and maximizes fat burning for a longer duration
–Multi-day fasting can also reduce insulin resistance by clearing out fatty deposits in your liver and pancreas
–Daily calorie restriction slows down your metabolism because your body will adapt after a while
–Calorie restriction also leads to more loss of lean body mass
–fasting doesn’t slow down your metabolism in the long run, since you don’t do it the same way all the time
–Fasting also preserves muscle mass through a few different mechanisms
This was definitely an interesting topic to explore!
In case you’re interested, here’s the link to the full article: https://fastingwell.com/fasting-best-way-to-lose-weight/
Feel free to let me know if you have any thoughts. :)
Ben
I don’t think fasting is better than other diets. I have heard from a long term IF practitioner that fasting can slow down your metabolism (he’s been doing IF for more than 5 years) so now he just switches it up occasionally or moves his eating window around. Just like all diets, our bodies can adjust. I do IF, but then sometimes do one 24 hr fast during the week and eat regularly the rest of the week. I’m getting very close to my goal weight and am now more focused on body composition. Because I can easily plateau at this stage I find switching it up helps move things along.