Counting
calories for weight management is not only tedious but ultimately
ineffective. Clinical studies confirm that most dieters increasingly
skip the counting, stray from their diets, and in the long run regain
lost weight.
Intermittent
fasting (or time restricted eating) offers an effective alternative to
calorie counting.
By
limiting pancreas stimulation, it is also beneficial for patients
with metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, and diabetes, all of
which are linked by altered insulin metabolism.
We
all fast when we are asleep, and then eat from 7 AM to 6 PM with a
snack later in the evening. Ergo most of us have an eating interval
of 12 or 13 hours alternating with a fasting interval of 11 or 12
hours.
Intermittent
fasting as currently used in the literature (time restricted eating
is technically more correct) refers to extending the length of our
normal night time fast in conjunction with restricting our daytime
eating hours. One of the most popular versions of intermittent
fasting is called the 16:8 plan. You eat during an eight-hour window,
say, from noon to 8 p.m., and then fast for the other 16.
There
is a solid rationale for extending a daily fast rather than
alternating 4 or 5 days of a normal eating with 2 or 3 complete
fasting days per week. The daily schedule synchronizes your
calorie intake with the body’s normal 24 hour circadian cycle, the
master clock controlling multiple metabolic digestive processes. Vary
the timing of eating from day to day and these processes get out of
sync. Likewise the eating window should start at about the same time
every day.
The
distribution of daily calories across the eating interval is
important. During physical activity, muscle cells actively remove
glucose from the blood (to fuel contraction) and blunt a rise in
blood glucose. Eating early in the day means less insulin is released
to divert dietary calories into liver fat or fat cells. Thus it makes
sense to distribute total daily calories 25-50-25 percent rather
than, let’s say, 25-25-50 which leaves the bulk of any blood sugar
rise occurring while you are more sedentary at the end of the day.
In
this recent study on intermittent fasting nineteen individuals
shortened their normal daily eating interval of 15 hours to 10 hours
without limiting their calories, the kinds of food that they
ate, or how much they exercised.
The
results?
-
Individuals ate an average 200 fewer calories per day (without trying) and lost an average of 7 pounds over the following 3 months.
-
They lost three percent of their body fat and reduced their belly fat by three percent
-
They lowered their high blood pressure, bad LDL cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, triglycerides, and HBA1c (a measure of poor blood sugar control).
How
does limiting pancreas stimulation and minimizing blood insulin
levels lead to these benefits?
When
blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas responds by releasing insulin
and glucose (sugar) is moved from the bloodstream in to liver and fat
cells for storage.The fat cells grow larger and we gain weight. The
liver also converts excess sugar calories into fat. Liver fat in turn
blunts the effectiveness of insulin, the cause of metabolic syndrome,
pre-diabetes, and diabetes.
Time
restricted eating has become a popular weight loss strategy as many
people find it easier to follow than traditional calorie restriction
diets. And best of all, after the study was completed, nearly 70
percent of the participants reported that they were sticking with the
diet on their own.
Best
of all, time-restricted eating is the healthiest way to eat, whether
or not you are working on weight management.
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(19)30611-4
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-benefits-of-early-time-restricted-eating/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-benefits-of-early-time-restricted-eating/
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/eat-more-calories-in-the-morning-to-lose-weight/
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/923557_1 (may need password)
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Added after publication. Why time restricted eating works.
