Restricting Food Intake for a Set Time Launches a Fast

Fasting never requires calorie counting and, when matched with personalized menus that feature a diverse intake of healing foods, can result in a healthier lifestyle and may help to delay metabolic syndrome. The main reason that restricted eating and intermittent fasting works so well for weight loss is the reduction of calories. Unless you overeat during feasting periods, your overall consumption of calories will be less. For shorter fasting periods, you can break a fast by consuming a regular-sized meal or launch fasting mode by restricting food intake.

• Whole Day Fasting - If you finish dinner one day at 6 pm and don't eat again until 6 pm the next day. This is one of the simplest fasting protocols and requires little tracking.
• Alternate Day Fasts - If you are using an eat-stop-eat method of fasting, it is important to eat normally during all eating periods and eat the same portion size as if you had not been fasting.
• Plant-Based Fasting - Developed by a biogerontologist named Valter Longo, the fast mimicking diet came from years of study on the role of starvation and nutrient response genes on cellular protection against aging and chronic diseases.
• 36-Hour Fasts - Similar to a fasting-mimicking or elemental diet, occasional prolonged fasting is followed for a couple of days and is repeated up to four times per year. May be more difficult to follow due length of food restriction.

Always listen to your body when you are restricting food consumption. A key to successful fasting is to find a protocol that fits your schedule and is sustainable over the long haul. Alternate-day and whole-day fasts have been shown to reduce body fat in overweight people as well as lower total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The biggest drawbacks are lower energy levels and increased irritability when getting started. By eating food with low energy density, like fresh fruits and vegetables, during periods when you are allowed to eat, you will feel full longer. For a personalized menu plan, contact the MRC weight loss clinic nearest you.

*NOTE: Due to a difference in hormonal makeup, women have special considerations when fasting. Intermittent fasting is not a good idea for women under 18 years of age, those with a lean body profile, or those with medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism or a history of eating disorders. Ask your physician about an appropriate fasting protocol for you.