Intermittent Fasting: Is it Essential for the Body?

My weight has increased in the last few months and made my body feel uncomfortable, and tired easily, and feeling low when sleeping made me want to try going on a diet without restricting any type of food. Food that is nutritionally irregular, exercise, which was previously an activity that I enjoyed, is now rarely done because of the work and deadlines that have continued to pile up over the last two months.

I looked for references in several trusted sources and watched videos that discussed safe diets and not torturing the body, and then I thought about doing intermittent fasting. A diet that can be said to be not a diet, but more about maintaining the calories that enter the body within a certain time and meal times in IF is the key to the success of the diet, for those who are just starting, you can use 16/8 where we don't eat anything with calories for 16 hours and 8 hours we can eat anything to meet nutritional intake.

Intermittent Fasting 16/8 is very suitable for reducing energy produced from foods that contain sugar and fat because when the body does not eat for more than 14 hours, the body will use energy reserves from sugar and fat reserves to be used as energy if at that time we expend a lot of energy. If you are used to fasting 16/8, we can increase the level so that the burning of energy and fat in the body is more optimal than 16 hours of fasting with 18/6.

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Fasting for 18 hours can help lower blood sugar. When the body does not consume calories for more than 16 hours, the body will use up remaining sugar reserves and use body fat for energy. The difference with 16/8 is that in 18/6 fasting the body uses more fat. This is good for losing weight and body recomposition for those who are building lean muscle and diabetes sufferers can use this 18/6 fast to control blood sugar in the body, although IF has many benefits for diabetes sufferers, this cannot be done by patients without the supervision of a doctor or medical expert because each body has a different reaction when doing Intermittent Fasting, so please ask a doctor or do research with an expert before doing it.

Intermittent Fasting is suitable for those who are just starting a diet but don't want to count calories or other complicated things because IF only control our eating hours and as much as possible keeps the body from excess calories. Some of the benefits you will feel when doing Intermittent Fasting in the first week are decreased hunger, your mind becomes more focused, and the main thing is that you lose weight in a short time.

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In my opinion, the benefits of Intermittent Fasting will be maximized by adding exercise such as weight lifting or cardio, because apart from losing weight, regular exercise will also increase muscle mass in the body and make bones and joints stronger and healthier, but you need to remember to do it properly. balanced and fulfills the nutrients the body needs.

References

• https://www.uclahealth.org/news/health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting-and-tips-for-making-it-work

• https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work#:~:text=Intermittent%20fasting%20improved%20blood%20pressure,showed%20better%20endurance%20in%20running.

• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting