Looking to stay healthy and active on a staple food diet? Sometimes a diet plan can help assure a healthy lifestyle along with some fasting techniques. Fasting is really an essential activity that can help in maintaining sound health and remaining active for the rest of the time. One such fasting technique utilized in the modern world is intermittent fasting. As with the pros of intermittent fasting, there are several cons to check too. Let us look at the article below and find the proper benefits and drawbacks of intermittent fasting for patients and healthy individuals.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is mainly the type of fasting that requires a time gap without any food. Mainly, intermittent fasting points to a gap of 12 hours minimum that an individual needs to stay away from any kind of food. As per the Nutrition Center in Mumbai, the time gap varies from individual to individual and can range between 6, 10, 12, and even 16 hours. The proper intermittent fasting ratio is kept at 5:2, which means that you eat 5 days a week and fast for the other 2 days. The 2 remaining days on a fast can help cut off 75 percent of the calories weekly to ensure a fit and active lifestyle.
What are the advantages of intermittent fasting?
There are numerous advantages of intermittent fasting, and the top ones are showcased below for the viewers!
- Weight Loss
One of the most important advantages of intermittent fasting is that it helps in losing weight! Losing weight is a pretty vital perspective, as with age, the weight ratio exceeds over time. This in turn makes a man obese and fat over a timeframe. To avoid all this, intermittent fasting is the best option to cut off extra weight from the individual’s body. You may also try Indian food to lose weight efficiently.
- Lowers blood sugar levels
Another important advantage of intermittent fasting is that it can help lower the blood sugar levels in patients! Intermittent fasting helps reduce the calorie meter to a certain degree and also helps restore the balance in the blood sugar levels. Intermittent fasting is prescribed to patients suffering from high blood sugar levels by reputed doctors and physicians.
- Increases brain health
As with the different advantages of intermittent fasting, patients can also enhance their brain health over time! Intermittent fasting helps in proper blood movement across the brain cells, making it the best technique to stay healthy and active. Mainly, the blood circulation from the brain to the different body parts is kept in balance for increased brain health in patients!
- Greater longevity
Intermittent fasting has another grand benefit that helps in retaining a longer life over time. Intermittent fasting helps boost bodily functions and thus increases the life span of humans. Sometimes, intermittent fasting is prescribed by doctors looking to recover their patients from life-threatening diseases and ailments. Here are the foods for longevity.
What are the drawbacks of intermittent fasting?
Honestly, there are not many important drawbacks to checking for intermittent fasting, but a few known ones are addressed below for the reader’s knowledge!
- Elder patients should avoid
Patients over the age of 65 should not undergo intermittent fasting! This is because, with an increase in age, people tend to lose their vital characteristics. The body functions come in a streamlined motion, making it vulnerable to adverse effects. Since intermittent fasting requires a gap of a strict period, it can cause medical conditions in elder patients.
- Stop diabetic patients
Diabetic patients, on the other hand, should also avoid undergoing intermittent fasting! Diabetes is a major issue that is caused by the increase in blood sugar levels. Intermittent fasting requires a longer stretch of time without food which can cause adverse effects on diabetic patients. This can also lead to an excess imbalance of blood sugar levels, making the body prone to several diseases. Do check our Diabetic diet here in detail.
- Not good for pregnant women
Intermittent fasting is just another process to keep the body fit and active over the long term! But intermittent fasting is not for everyone! People who are pregnant should not fast at all. Intermittent fasting in pregnant women may lead to bad baby health and may even cause complications during the pregnancy process.
In a Nutshell
Thus, intermittent fasting can have its own advantages and drawbacks for different types of patients. It is best to consult with a dietitian or a nutritionist to know about the proper techniques of intermittent fasting and its effects on bodily functions over time!
