In my early post, I've shared with you what is Intermittent Fasting as general
Today, I am going to talk about the health benefits of it.
Many studies have been done on intermittent fasting, in both animals and humans.
These studies have shown that it can have powerful benefits for weight control and the health of your body and brain. It may even help you live even longer.
Here are the main health benefits of intermittent fasting:
- Weight loss: As mentioned above, intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat, without having to consciously restrict calories;
- Insulin resistance: Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, lowering blood sugar by 3?6% and fasting insulin levels by 20?31%, which should protect against type 2 diabetes
- Inflammation: Some studies show reductions in markers of inflammation, a key driver of many chronic diseases;
- Heart health: Intermittent fasting may reduce ?bad? LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood sugar, and insulin resistance ? all risk factors for heart disease;
- Cancer: Animal studies suggest that intermittent fasting may prevent cancer;
- Brain health: Intermittent fasting increases the brain hormone BDNF and may aid the growth of new nerve cells. It may also protect against Alzheimer?s disease; and
- Anti-aging: Intermittent fasting can extend lifespan in rats. Studies showed that fasted rats lived 36?83% longer
No doubt, Intermittent Fasting is a very powerful tool for weight loss and reduce belly fat. This is the most common reason why people go for it.
By making you eat fewer meals, intermittent fasting can lead to an automatic reduction in calorie intake.
Additionally, intermittent fasting changes hormone levels to facilitate weight loss.
In addition to lowering insulin and increasing growth hormone levels, it increases the release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
Because of these changes in hormones, short-term fasting may increase your metabolic rate by 3.6?14%.
By helping you eat fewer and burn more calories, intermittent fasting causes weight loss by changing both sides of the calorie equation.
However, keep in mind that the main reason for its success is that intermittent fasting helps you eat fewer calories overall. If you binge and eat massive amounts during your eating periods, you may not lose any weight at all.
The person in the picture is the author of this post - Derick
** I was struggling last year and suffered from obesity which affected my health badly as a result of excessive weight gain and stress. But after merely 2 months on the Intermittent Fasting Challenge, I feel extremely amazed by the result I get so far. I re-gain my focus back on track and sharpness on works done.