Fasting has been in India’s culture since forever. Women and Men of India (mostly women) have
been fasting for religious purposes in the form of Vrat and Roza. In recent fame is the new
fasting trend called Intermittent Fasting. Doctors and nutritionists claim this to be less of a diet
and more of a way of living.
Unlike other weight loss techniques, intermittent fasting is not about “what” you eat, it is about
“when” you eat. It is effective when the individual is keeping in mind the amount of calories they
intake, but only in a decided time frame .This technique is proven to help in weight loss and
better our cardiac health. It was discovered in the 1940s while conducting laboratory
experiments on animals. Scientists found out that, when being kept on a calorie restriction (CR),
the animals tend to live longer. This is how they found out that consuming less calories than
being burnt can easily shed weight and help in anti-ageing.
What exactly is IF?
Nutrition advisor Baneet Kaur said, “In simple words, IF is eating at only specific times of the
day and fasting the rest of the time. It is different from starving, because during starvation we are
forcing ourselves not to eat even when we are hungry. During the fasting period of IF, one can
consume some recommended drinks like water, apple cider vinegar, herbal tea and black coffee.”
This method of staying fit has many variations in the time periods. Some of the popularly known
methods are :
1. Alternate day fasting - A method when you fast for 24hrs and then consume food the next
24hrs. According to Healthline, If you’re following a modified Alternate Fasting fasting
approach, you’re also allowed to eat about 500 calories on fasting days, or 20–25% of your
energy requirements.
2. 16:8 way of fasting - This is the most commonly adopted method of IF. In this method, you
fast for 16 hours and intake your meals of the day within the time span of 8 hours. Your dinner
can be at 7 PM and you can break your fast in the morning at 11 PM or 12 PM. During the
fasting period you can opt for carb-deficit drinks and some nuts to munch on.
3. 5:2 way of fasting - this method came to fame when a British journalist Michael Mosley
served as an evidence of the advantages of this method. In this routine of IF, a person is eating a
normal diet on 5 days of the week and fasting on the weekend. It is popular as people prefer 2
days fasting over 5 days fasting. As exciting as it sounds, it is very difficult to control the urge of
not intaking any amount of sugar or carbs during those 2 days.
Benefits of Intermittent fasting and how celebrities have adopted it.
Even though following IF can take a week to adapt to, the benefits are worth waiting for. Not
only does it enhances a person’s physical health, it also helps your mind to rejuvenate. “ IF can
help in Insulin Regulation, better metabolism, boosting human growth hormone (HGH - helps in
lean muscle mass building), helps promote autophagy (the process through which dead cells are
removed), helps in Anti-Ageing and moderates cholesterol.” says Nutrition Advisor Baneet
Kaur. “In addition to this it also helps in your cognitive abilities and longer memory retention”,
she added.
No wonder celebrities like Alia Bhatt, Malaika Arora, Jacqueline Fernandes and comedian Bharti
Singh have chosen this path to stay fit and lose weight. For Alia’s debut film, the actress had to
shed 16 kgs and her nutritionist gives the whole credit to IF. Malaika Arora is finest at
maintaining her figure even at the age of 48 and apart from yoga, she follows the method of IF.
According to her, Intermittent fasting is the “easiest” way to lose weight. Bharti Singh is singing
praises of IF after she has conceived her first child this year in April. She said that the only way
she could lose weight and conceive is by eating only at specific times and managing her calories.
It would not be false to claim that intermittent fasting is the Gen Z way of staying healthy. Due
to its numerous advantages, it is being practiced by the majority of the population to get over the
obesity epidemic we are in due to change in lifestyle.
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