By Elizabeth Meyer, LRD
It's 2:58 in the afternoon. It hasn’t even been two hours since I finished my lunch, yet my stomach is churning. And snacks are on my mind. I swear I ate an appropriately sized lunch.
Fasting isn’t in my vocabulary. I don’t fast. Ever. Unless I’m asleep. So why is this the new diet craze? People seem to love it. Meanwhile, I pack a snack for the grocery store, “just in case.” I must have some undetermined or undiagnosed fear of hunger.
Intermittent fasting is one of the newest fads in diet. But some of the research behind it actually seems credible (weight loss, general improvement in overall health, longer life span). I’m still stuck on why we need a fancy fad diet – good old fashion moderation with a side of portion control and large serving of fruits and veggies really can work to help people maintain or even lose weight. But maybe that’s boring.
Intermittent fasting obviously requires you to fast. But how long? What defines a fast? Have I been fasting since lunch ended? It sure feels like it. There doesn’t appear to be rules on WHAT you eat, its more WHEN you’re eating. As a dietitian, I feel its important for me to point out WHAT you eat really is important. I just needed to say that. There are multiple spins on intermittent fasting, and they seem really confusing to me. The most common ones involve eating over an 8-hour time span daily (16 hour fast) or fasting for 24 hours two times per week.
If you are only eating during an 8-hour time span through the day, could you potentially just be eating less because you start eating later and stop earlier? Yes, this absolutely could be the reason. Also, if you know you only have these 8 hours to eat, are you going to make smarter choices?? If you are like me, you are. That’s because I’ll be worried about being hungry, so I’ll try to get the most bang for my buck when I do get to eat. In my case, I don’t think fasting is “magic,” but rather the fact that I’m eating less and making better choices. This may not be the case for everyone.
Intermittent fasting claims to lower insulin levels and increase growth hormone levels, topped off with an increase of fat burning hormones. Because of all these fancy things, your metabolism may increase. Now, I don’t have a minor in biochemistry, but I think this sounds too good to be true, or at the very least, something that is very individualized depending on your body and your metabolism.
But, if you want to try it, go for it!! By all means. I’m sticking to the approach of moderation and trying to move my body more. Fad diets are generally not effective long term. Choosing the right foods to eat and forcing workouts upon myself are what do work!
Meyer is a licensed registered dietitian. Her posts appear monthly on OYT.