Today we come to the advantages or disadvantages, if I find some that interval fasting has compared to other types of diet or even diets.
Benefits of interval fasting
- what I personally like best is the fact that you can basically eat everything during the meal breaks, as well as that you don’t have to change to a completely new way of eating.
- You can choose yourself, the variant that best suits you. Whether it’s just dinner cancelling 3 times a week, fasting 2 days a week and eating the rest of the week or fasting, on self-selected days between 12 and 20 hours.
- With a manageable time window, it is easy to plan what you eat and you can prepare your food in advance.
- You can stay flexible without having a bad conscience, because you don’t have to count Kcal or points or whatever.
- If you extend the fasting phase, you simply extend the meal phase and vice versa.
- Fasting relieves the body and the longer you fast, the better the body can repair itself – autophagy is called that.
- Those who fast will find that from a certain moment they will have much more energy, because the body can set new priorities, as it will be much more relieved in terms of digestive processes.
- The immune system is improved as the body will repair itself very well during the fasting phases.
- Hot hunger attacks become less or disappear completely with increasing discipline – as the body will better control insulin levels, as blood sugar levels are no longer exposed to constant fluctuations.
- Insulin resistance is thus prevented, I know many diabetics who have been able to significantly reduce their medications because the body has reacted very well to fasting.
- Oxidative stress in the cells is reduced – this allows the body to heal inflammation better and you feel generally, at some point much better – some even call it anti-aging program.
- The body can break down fat and repair the liver better – our liver can regenerate as well as you can imagine, but it needs our help.
- With fasting, we reduce hormonal roller coaster rides and thus also fluctuations in the body that affect our health.
- Our brains can repair and reconnect better, which will be beneficial to our mental health.
- With a body that can and will repair itself very well, medical measures are much better than if we continue to overexploit.
These are the advantages that spontaneously come to mind. This list is not complete and extensible.
Fasting also has a positive effect on the muscles, but I am still a little ignorant.
Disadvantages of interval fasting / Exclusion criteria
- It requires, especially for beginners, despite everything really discipline and readiness! change his lifestyle in favor of fasting!
- It can be again and again that you want to cheat, so you fast much less and eat tons for it, because you think the fasting phase regulates this already – no! Excessive calorie intake can actually cause you not to decrease or get fitter.
- So it can and will be advisable to think about your diet!
- Those who rely only on the fasting phase and continue to feast unrestrainedly will have no success.
- You can be mercilessly overwhelmed because you are over-motivated, then the whole thing may backfire!
- Fasting is only suitable for people who are mentally able to understand the whole thing at all! So neither for young or younger children, or for people with physical illnesses or the elderly with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
- Pregnant women should not fast, nor should breastfeeding. But as soon as one is fed or the child is only partially breastfed, one can think about moderate versions of fasting.
- If you have a serious illness or are dependent on regular medication, you should definitely discuss the whole thing with a doctor BEFORE, whether he can and can fast at all and above all, if so – how.
My experiences and conclusion
Let’s face it, interval fasting is nothing for people who want quick success in playful form
Whoever wants to fast MUST be aware that it will not be a walk, especially at the beginning.
It really requires discipline, consistency and perseverance.
If you don’t have that and don’t have control over your body and mind, you won’t, or you’re very hard to do that, and you’re going to have success.
He will start cheating step by step until he realizes he has achieved nothing, except maybe even to gain weight.
JOJO effect?
Definitely! Those who have managed to reach their desired weight and fall back into old habits will soon be back and probably even faster than expected, at their starting weight or even weighing even more.
Accustomation effect?
There also seems to be interval fasting, which means that our body has then become accustomed to fixed times and we can no longer expect any special advances.
This would be the ideal time to change the whole thing, right down to other fasting times and possibly the inclusion of more exercise up to sports or strength training.
Katjas Bauchladen 