Fasting has become a popular dietary practice in France and has become a trend in recent years. Increasingly popular, particularly for its weight loss benefits and ease of implementation, intermittent fasting is now highly popular. While the rules of this diet are simple, recommendations regarding meals during a fasting period are rare. In this article, you'll find all the advice you need to eat well during intermittent fasting and the keys to good nutrition adapted to fasting.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting involves alternating periods of fasting (ranging from a few hours to several days) with periods of normal eating. During this fast, it is recommended to drink water throughout the day, as well as tea or coffee to help combat hunger pangs. This method is therefore much less restrictive and restrictive than strict fasting (religious or otherwise).
How to do intermittent fasting? Which method should you use?
There are many ways to practice intermittent fasting:
For example, the 5:2 fasting diet involves fasting two days a week.
24-hour fasting involves fasting every other day.
Daily intermittent fasting, on the other hand, involves fasting for between 12 and 16 hours a day and concentrating all of your meals within the remaining time slot. This means skipping breakfast or dinner (i.e., two meals a day). If skipping lunch is easier for you, go for it! Stay flexible with your schedule. Choose the fast that best suits your lifestyle.
It's also possible to train your body to tolerate intermittent fasting by gradually increasing the amount of time you abstain from food. You can also switch methods from time to time until you find the one that works best for you.
Who is intermittent fasting for? Why practice intermittent fasting? What are its effects and benefits?
Fasting generates the destocking of fats and sugars from the body: when you do not eat, your body must mobilize reserves to provide you with the energy necessary for the functioning of vital organs and to ensure muscle contractions (natural or linked to physical exercise). During the first hours of fasting, the body on a diet will quickly call upon the reserves of glycogen (carbohydrate reserves) in the muscles and liver. When these reserves are exhausted (a more or less long time depending on the state of the reserves and the sport practiced), the body will draw on the fat stored in the adipose cells and thus promote weight loss. This fat will “melt” little by little to take over as a source of energy until the next meal. The longer the fasting period, the faster the weight loss will be.
Fasting prevents certain diseases associated with excess weight. By its very nature, intermittent fasting helps reduce the risk of excess weight and obesity. In doing so, it acts to prevent associated pathologies such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. By limiting weight gain or promoting weight loss in some people, fasting offers real health benefits for the body.
Fasting gives you back control over your food sensations: it's very easy these days to eat more than you're hungry for (during meals or by snacking throughout the day). Intermittent fasting allows you to regain control of your desire to eat and reacquaint yourself with your sensation of hunger.
IN SUMMARY.
The benefits of intermittent fasting:
- can help regain control over your weight
- can improve digestion
- can improve sleep
- can beautify the complexion and skin
- may be effective in treating certain diseases
Risks of intermittent fasting:
- beware of hypoglycemia in some people
- not always recommended in combination with certain medications
- not always recommended for pregnant women
- You must be careful to ingest a sufficient amount of calories when not fasting
How does intermittent fasting work?
All the benefits of intermittent fasting for the body and health come from its primary effect of keeping insulin levels low. Consistently elevated insulin levels are the primary cause of all diseases related to metabolic syndrome because they promote the storage of fats and sugars in the body. By spacing out food intake and adapting your diet, fasting is the ultimate weapon in your arsenal for lowering insulin levels.
What to eat during intermittent fasting to keep your insulin levels under control?
Fasting isn't everything, nor are calories: it's important to have good eating habits.
The main goal of fasting nutrition is to provide the body with all the essential nutrients while keeping insulin levels low. Therefore, it is essential to maintain a healthy diet while fasting, following a few simple rules.
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Reduce sugars and refined grains
While it's best to avoid processed foods, there are many reasons why this can sometimes be impossible. Therefore, it's important to understand the most harmful ones so you can avoid them.
It is particularly important to avoid sugars (except when practicing high-intensity sports) and refined grains like white flour, which drastically increase blood sugar and insulin levels, which tire the body. For equal calories, these products make you gain more weight than others, such as vegetables, which explains why low-carb diets are effective for weight loss.
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Consume more natural fats
For decades, fats have been portrayed as public enemy number one because they are high in calories. Health authorities have gradually come to realize that their stigma is unjustified, and the term "good fats" is now commonly accepted. Foods rich in monounsaturated fats that were once shunned, such as olive oil, dried fruits, avocados, and nuts, are now being hailed as superfoods due to their qualities and health benefits.
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Consume less artificial fats
Not all fats affect the body in the same way, and not all fats are equally harmless. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils found in shortenings, fried foods, margarine, and baked goods such as cakes, cookies, or other highly processed sweet or savory products contain trans fats, which are problematic for your health.
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Pay attention to your protein intake
Whether or not you're doing intense exercise, it's important to get enough protein during your fast-breaking meals. To prevent muscle breakdown, choose meals rich in quality proteins that are "slowly absorbed," such as plant-based proteins (legumes) or whole-grain dairy proteins (cheese, yogurts). A word of advice: if you're taking a protein supplement, opt for plant-based proteins or casein instead of whey.
And hydration?
Proper hydration is essential for the body during meals, but also and especially during periods of fasting. Indeed, drinking water throughout the day is possible and even recommended.
What drinks are compatible with fasting periods?
Only certain liquids are compatible with fasting: water, tea, herbal tea or coffee...
Water: During a fast, it's important to drink water frequently, from morning to night. You can choose still, mineral, or sparkling water. You can simply enhance your water with lemon (green or yellow), slices of other fruits to infuse (without eating the fruit), apple cider vinegar, Himalayan salt, or even ground chia and flax seeds. Sugar-free sweeteners should be avoided.
Coffee: You can drink regular or decaffeinated coffee during the fasting phases. It is best to drink it black, but if you wish, add a tablespoon of fat (coconut oil, medium-chain triglyceride oil, heavy cream, single cream, whole milk, cinnamon powder, etc.)
You can also drink iced coffee, always unsweetened (just prepare the coffee normally, put it in the fridge and pour it over a cup filled with ice cubes).
Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk, liquid or powdered, should be avoided, as should sweeteners.
Teas and herbal teas: Tea and herbal tea can be consumed freely between meals. Some even act as effective appetite suppressants. Green tea, cinnamon chai tea, mint tea, black tea, oolong tea, etc., feel free to vary the types and flavors.
It is best to drink teas and herbal teas plain, but as with coffee you can add a tablespoon of certain fats, refrigerate them or ice them.
IN SUMMARY.
Regardless of the program chosen, intermittent fasting, to be most effective, must be accompanied by a healthy diet. Even if the menu remains flexible and you can eat almost anything you want, it's important to maintain a simple, minimally processed diet that prioritizes healthy fats, quality proteins, and unrefined carbohydrates, which will keep insulin levels low. Sugars should therefore be limited as much as possible.
Hydration, meanwhile, is essential from breakfast to dinner, during or between meals.
Whatever your motivation, we advise you to contact your doctor before starting intermittent fasting, to establish the method that best suits your needs.
Also find our articles on how to lose weight without exercising , vegetables that help you lose weight , or how to lose belly fat .
