What are the benefits of intermittent fasting?

Published on: December 21, 2022 – By means of Jenny | Reading time approx. 4 minutes

You hear and read more and more about intermittent fasting. It is a certain lifestyle, using nutritional schedules. This states when you can eat normally and at what times you eat very limited or even nothing at all. Intermittent fasting brings several benefits, which this blog will tell you more about. I will also tell you about the disadvantages.

What are the benefits of intermittent fasting?

1 Increased fat burning

Intermittent fasting can also bring about major changes in overweight people. Research has shown that intermittent fasting changes the microbiome. This makes the microbiome less obesogenic.

Simply put, this means that less obesity is caused.

2 Stimulation of growth hormone production

Intermittent fasting stimulates the production of growth hormone and improves the frequency of that production. Growth hormones are important in, among other things, building muscle tissue and proteins in your body.

3 Blood sugar regulation improvement

Insulin sensitivity, or blood sugar regulation, is improved by intermittent fasting. Insulin levels drop and this leads to an increase in fat burning. In addition, insulin resistance also decreases, so intermittent fasting also has a positive effect on type 2 diabetes.

4 Has an anti-inflammatory effect

Intermittent fasting also has a beneficial effect on inflammation or inflammation-related conditions. Fasting leads to a decrease in a certain protein, which your body produces when there is inflammation.

Not only does intermittent fasting lower the inflammatory values ​​in the blood, but the concentration of leptin is also reduced. Leptin is a hormone that promotes inflammation.

5 Good for the heart

There are a number of factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as glucose levels, blood pressure and cholesterol. Intermittent fasting has a positive influence on these factors and more, so that fasting indirectly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Good for brain

Research has shown that intermittent fasting increases levels of a brain hormone that is important for the growth of new nerves. This same hormone is often also associated with depression and other brain disorders when a deficiency of this hormone is found in the body.

7 Improves recovery processes

When you fast, your body can divert energy to other important tasks such as repairing cells. This recovery takes place because waste material is removed from those cells. This process is also called autophagy. Promoting autophagy leads to better protection against diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

8 Boost your immune system

Your immune system also benefits from fasting. Not only are broken and non-functioning proteins removed from the cells, but germs in our cells are also removed. In addition, the production of important immune cells is promoted.

9 Biological clock stabilization

Your metabolism is controlled by your biological clock. This makes you more active during the day than in the evening. If your biological clock is out of whack, this can have negative effects on fat percentages, liver and the like. Your body then receives incorrect eating signals and this causes you to snack.

Intermittent fasting resets the biological clock, as it were, so that you can enjoy better eating signals, energy balance and sleep rhythm again.

10 Live longer

Intermittent fasting is a fairly new phenomenon and not much research has been done yet. So it has not yet been shown that people who fast live longer. However, this research has already been applied to rats and they lived 83% longer.

Given the improvements in all kinds of health factors, people expect to see the same results. However, the long-term effects of intermittent fasting on humans can only be mapped out in about 50 years.

The disadvantages of intermittent fasting

Of course there are also disadvantages associated with intermittent fasting. The best known and most irritating side effect is the feeling of hunger, which mainly occurs in the first period. The feeling of hunger is often accompanied by a weak feeling or intermittent fasting headache.

A second disadvantage is that you do not always have to maintain your weight after a period of fasting. This has to do with what you eat and how much you eat during the period that you are allowed to eat. If you eat normally and healthy during those weeks, you will maintain your weight.

NB
Intermittent fasting is not for everyone. An intermittent fasting diet is not suitable for people who already have diabetes 1 or 2. Pregnant women, people who are underweight, people with an eating disorder in the past and people under the age of eighteen are also better off avoiding intermittent fasting.

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Jenny

Together with Vanessa I am the owner of this website Good food Healthy living. I myself struggled with my health and weight for a while and I was looking for more information. Actually, this website started as a great search for what could be right for me. How could I feel healthier and fitter? I’ve been reading a lot about this. Vanessa already knew a lot about nutrition and often told me about it. We thought it was fun to share, that’s why we started this blog. This website is our passion. All information is supplementary, not a replacement for regular medicine!