Hello, there! In today's blog, we'll talk about intermittent fasting and the science behind it, as well as how it can help you lose weight, but first, let's define intermittent fasting.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that alternates between fasting and eating periods. You would have a feeding window where you could eat and a fasting window where you couldn't eat or fast. It does not insinuate which foods to eat or how many calories to take, but it does suggest when to eat. So it has no restrictions on a specific type of food, in the feeding window you can consume all the food and that's pretty beneficial you can enjoy carbs protein, and fat everything but in the fasting window you can't consume any carbohydrate-protein or fat and you have to strictly follow that fasting window.

How exactly intermittent fasting works?

The goal is to gradually starve the body until fat burning occurs.

Intermittent fasting can help with weight loss, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and also help with diabetes or people who are pre-diabetic, when done correctly.

During a meal, carbohydrates in food are broken down into glucose.

Glucose enters the bloodstream through the intestinal wall and travels to various organs, where it serves as the primary energy source.

Glucose which is in excess is stored as glycogen and fats in the liver and adipose tissue to be used later. When the body goes without food for an extended period, the liver converts glycogen back to glucose to keep the body supplied with energy.

An inactive person could reduce glycogen stores in 10 to 12 hours, whereas an active person can do so in much less time.

When the liver's glycogen reserves are reduced, the body turns to adipose tissue energy reserves.

This is the breakdown of fats into free fatty acids, which are then converted into more metabolic fuel in the liver.

As a result, if the fast is prolonged enough, the body uses fat for energy and loses excess fat.

Other health benefits:

In addition to weight loss, intermittent fasting has numerous other advantages.

Insulin is the hormone responsible for transporting glucose into cells. Insulin levels are adjusted to conform to blood glucose levels, which are high after a meal and low between meals. Due to insulin secretion after each meal, eating throughout the day keeps insulin levels high the majority of the time.

Constantly increased insulin levels may de-sensitize body tissues, resulting in insulin insensitivity, a defining feature of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Fasting lowers the risk of diabetes by keeping insulin levels low.

Fasting is also good for the mind.

It tends to put the brain to the test in the same way that physical or mental exercise does.

It promotes the production of neurotrophic factors, which help in the growth and survival of neurons.

Who shouldn't do intermittent fasting?

Fasting, on the other hand, is not ideal for all.

Fasting should be avoided by children and teenagers. - Pregnant or breastfeeding women - People with eating disorders, type 1 diabetes, advanced diabetes, or other medical conditions -People who are underweight or frail.

Fasting can be dangerous if done incorrectly or excessively.