For hundreds of years, health experts have held one debate or the other on the benefits and apparent dangers of fasting – but recent studies show that fasting might be advantageous is done right and under medical supervision. This is the rationale behind intermittent fasting and mimicking diets.
For those who desire to lose weight, they have always found intermittent fasting beneficial; but the benefits of the practice go beyond weight loss. It reduces cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and slows down the aging process.
Some people have used the 5:2 Fast Diet option to control weight loss, and this involves consuming an amount of calories for five straight days and then lowering the calories intake to about 500.
But a variation of this is the Fast Mimicking Diet which involves eating for 25 days within any particular month and then consuming 1090 calories within a day, broken into 10% protein, 34% carbohydrates, and 56% fat.
For the remaining four days, the dieter can consumer about 725 calories that are broken down into 9% protein, 47% carbohydrates, and 44% fat.
The study is published in the journal Cell Metabolism and funded by the National Institute of Aging.
Health experts maintain that fasting has several benefits depending on your overall objectives. It aids weight loss, helps fat loss and regulates body cholesterol, and promotes detoxification process where toxins are eliminated from the body.
According to Dr. Valter Longo of the University of Southern California, LA, who is the lead author of a study on fasting published in the Cell Stem Cell, starving encourages the body to save energy, helping the body to recycle unneeded and damaged immune cells.
There are however experts that contend that these types of dieting might cause eating disorders, with some others consuming lesser balanced diets after the fasts. But then all medical experts agree that pregnant women, children, underweight people, and those recovering from surgery should stay clear of fasting.