Intermittent fasting is a diet plan which focuses on the times that meals are eaten. There are lots of different versions of the weight loss plan, as detailed by Dr Michael Mosley.
“You simply ensure that for at least 12 hours within each 24-hour period, you do not consume any calories.
“Most adults eat for about 15 hours throughout the day, which does not leave enough time for cell repair pathways to engage to their fullest extent.
“The long-term health effects of this can be disastrous, loading the body with chronic physiological stress.
“Time-restricted eating is a simple and manageable step that can put all of this into reverse – and the test results prove it.”
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Eating a balanced plan is important for anyone hoping to sustain a healthy diet.
However, adjusting meal times could be a straight-forward way to speed up results, the expert said.
Changing breakfast and dinner times by just 90 minutes could be enough to make a difference.
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He continued: “In one of the first human trials of time-restricted eating, carried out with the help of the University of Surrey, two groups of healthy volunteers ate the same food, but the group on a time-restricted eating plan, eating breakfast 90 minutes later than usual, and dinner 90 minutes earlier each day.
“They lost body fat and saw bigger falls in blood sugar levels and cholesterol than the control group.”
As well as helping to burn excess body fat, the diet plan could have other notable health benefits.
Dr Mosley highlighted a study which showed the benefits of fasting for 16 hours a day.
“In another small study, Dr Panda teamed up with Dr Krista Varady, of the University of Chicago, to see how time-restricted eating worked for obese men and women,” he said.
“The group who restricted their eating to between 10am and 6pm lost fat, saw a drop in insulin resistance (which is a risk-marker for Type 2 Diabetes) and reported improved sleep, less hunger at bedtime and more energy.”
Fasting for 12 or 16 hours a day may seem like a long time but it can work around one’s sleeping pattern.
If carried out, Dr Mosley cited other benefits as well as weight loss and health.
He suggested it can increase alertness, improve the mood and automatically reduce calorie intake.
Source: Daily Express | Diet
