This post is about some of the data I’ve gathered from studying Intermittent Fasting Research.

Intermittent fasting is not about what to eat; it’s about when to eat? In Intermittent fasting, a person can only eat for a specific span of time. Fasting for a certain period burns fat and provides numerous health benefits. 

Intermittent fasting has different types, such as 16:8 or 5:2, and studies revealed that our body could survive for longer hours without food intake. Back in prehistoric times, humans were hunters who survived and thrived for a long time without consuming anything.

There was no internet and computers in earlier times, so people went to bed earlier. Nowadays internet is available 24/7, and people love to catch up on their favorite shows all night along with their favorite snacks.  

Now activity and overconsumption of calories lead to obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Thanks to intermittent fasting research trends, the situation is reversing slowly.

Experience & Experts

I am not a scientist, a physician, a nutritionist nor a dietician.  Therefore, I want to emphasize I share so much based on the amazing results I have from my experience as an Intermittent Faster.  However, I believe there is so much value in having exposure and understanding of the intermittent fasting research as well.  This is why I am continually reading and learning!

Intermittent Fasting Research 

IF is an eating plan that swaps between eating and fasting. In intermittent fasting, you don’t have to be worried about what to eat; it’s all about when to eat.

Not only is Intermittent Fasting trendy, but there are many success stories and health benefits, including my own. Thanks to this, researchers are spending more time studying how does intermittent fasting work?

Over the years, folks have been opting for various intermittent fasting methods to get near magical results. During Kitchen Stories Survey in 2019, it was revealed that almost 38% of people in the US keep up with new trends. 

Intermittent fasting research is trending as IF is one of the hottest dietary techniques. Science is digging into the facts behind this practice.

Studies have revealed that intermittent fasting promises to treat obesity and improve metabolic health. Let’s explore the most updated and latest intermittent fasting research in this blog. 

But before that, let’s take a look at how intermittent fasting works?

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

You can opt for various methods to do intermittent fasting. But, they all can be practiced at a specific and regular time. You can eat only for eight hours or eat one or two meals a day.

If you think you can practice IF by taking three meals a day or snacking in eight hours and doing nothing to burn the consumed calories, you’re unlikely to get all the results you desire.

Intermittent fasting research showed IF only works when we don’t eat for more extended periods; as a result, the human body activates metabolic switching. In metabolic switching, the body starts burning fat.

Let’s explore the beneficial aspects of intermittent fasting. You’ll be amazed to explore the evident benefits of IF as they are almost magical. Let’s get started.

Reduce Inflammation And Oxidative Stress

Intermittent fasting research has shown that IF reduces inflammation. It is a condition that can lead to various diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and inflammatory bowel syndrome. 

IF reduces the root cause of oxidative stress, resulting in reducing inflammation. Oxidative stress is one of the steps toward many chronic diseases. Intermittent fasting has the ability to fight for both inflammation and oxidative stress, which is a big step towards a healthy lifestyle.  

Accelerate Weight Loss and Visceral Fat

Intermittent fasting research has proved IF is a potent tool for weight loss and visceral fat. Many people who have been adopting this dietary plan are doing it to lose weight. It has been proved that intermittent fasting boosts metabolic rate (burns fat out of your body) and reduces your food intake (less calories intake).

College of Family Physicians of Canada studied and revealed obesity could be treated using intermittent fasting methods. This study has been made on a small group of people with a shorter duration. In order to understand the sustainable role of IF, long-term research is needed. 

Recent intermittent fasting research from springer nature in 2022 has shown that intermittent fasting combined with calorie restriction is an effective strategy to help obese women lose weight and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). 

According to intermittent fasting research in scientific literature, IF can cause weight loss of 3-8% over 3-24 weeks. Additionally, the subjects lost 4-7% of their waist circumference, which means they likely lost lots of visceral fat.

Improve Brain Function and Happiness

Have you heard that what’s good for the body is always good for the mind? IF improves various metabolic features which are necessary for the proper functioning of the brain. Intermittent fasting research has also shown that intermittent fasting can also increase the growth of new nerve cells. As a result, these new neurons enhance your ability to learn new things and make you smarter.   Intermittent fasting has the ability to reduce:

• insulin resistance
• blood sugar levels
• oxidative stress
• inflammation

IF has been proved fantastic for maintaining mental health. It also has the ability to slow down the aging process and improve moods. Intermittent fasting research participants reported clear thinking and mindfulness, benefiting the Gut-brain connection and resulting in happiness.  

Help to Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most dangerous brain disorders that slowly destroys thinking skills and memory. Currently, there are no treatments for this disease, so it is necessary to prevent it from the start.  While I came to Intermittent Fasting for weight loss, I couldn’t ignore the benefits of disease prevention.  How amazing to have this  

Intermittent fasting research in 2017 has shown how intermittent fasting can protect against Alzheimer’s disease through Restoring Aquaporin-4 Polarity. IF also triggers a process called Autophagy (cleaning out damaged cells), which works to chase off Alzheimer’s disease. Fasting may help to protect against other diseases like Parkinson’s disease.

Increase Metabolic Rate

Many researchers have suggested that intermittent fasting can help to increase metabolic rate. The reason why most of the researchers think that IF improves metabolic rate is due to the greater fat burning and less loss of lean mass. 

According to intermittent fasting research, short-term fasting boosts metabolism by 14 percent. At the same time, a very long period of fasting can cause a drop in metabolism. In addition to that, some of the older studies have also suggested short term fasting can increase metabolic rate rather than slow it down. 

Induces The Regeneration Of Cells

When we practice fast, the body cells start initiating the removal of dead cells, also known as autophagy. This self-eating process is beneficial as cells get recycled or renewed—autophagy aka self-eating eliminates dead cells that might become cancerous.

Who do you think will have powerful autophagy? The one who takes three meals a day with a bunch of snacks or the one who has restricted calories intake. Of course, a regular intermittent fasting practitioner will give autophagy a powerful boost.

Autophagy protects against several diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disease.

Changes The Hormone Functionality

Fasting for a while initiates several changes. For instance, your body’s hormonal level shuffles to break down the stored fat and begins the cell repair process.

One of the main changes that occur is insulin sensitivity. Intermittent fasting works as an antidote as it has insulin-sensitizing substantial effects. These effects maintain blood sugar levels and reduce the risk of diabetes.

According to the intermittent fasting research of 2018, fasting of any type increased the blood sugar level. But, it wasn’t confirmed whether it occurred due to consecutive fasting or non-consecutive fasting.

That’s why it is recommended to consult with your doctor before changing your diet plan. The Human Growth Hormones level may also increase as a higher HGH level facilitates fat burn.

Improve Heart Health

Although IF is very beneficial for animals and various intermittent fasting research supports this idea, high-quality research for humans and heart health is limited.

The excellent news is that intermittent fasting improves heart health and subside many risk factors such as Triglycerides, Inflammatory markers, Blood pressure, Blood sugar levels and LDL cholesterol.

Extend Life Expectancy

It may sound strange, but intermittent fasting can extend your lifespan. Intermittent fasting research showed that Intermittent fasting could increase the lifespan of rodents and fruit flies. 

Mice that were fasted for days clearly showed increased life expectancy. Although animals have shown an increase in life span, it is far from human health, but it is still trendy among humans.

Given all the health benefits, it is evident that intermittent fasting can increase life span. 

Wrapping Up

People try intermittent fasting to reduce weight or treat various medical conditions. It is undoubtedly the most famous weight-loss method. IF deserves its popularity as its benefits are beyond your imagination. 

There are several methods or dietary plans to practice IF. Some plans include fasting for consecutive days and some for non-consecutive days. Check out all the plans and make sure which one suits you.  Don’t be afraid to make changes along the way, choosing one schedule doesn’t mean you’re committed to it.

Intermittent fasting helps in reducing weight. It also blows off many diseases coming on your way, on top of reducing weight, it also contributes to increasing metabolism, improving heart health and brain functionality, promoting cell regeneration, and changing hormonal functionality.

We are sure you’ve heard that even the same things have different impacts on different persons. So, before trying intermittent fasting, we recommend you consult with your attending doctor if you have any medical concerns. Make sure to discuss if you feel anything unusual after trying IF with your doctor.