Intermittent fasting - could this be the kind that works?
Every cell, every organ needs downtime to repair and reset, so limiting the hours during which you eat could benefit your health in all sorts of ways
Watching the clock might be a better way of losing weight than watching the scales, scientists say. It also seems that watching the clock can improved your sleep, and help to prevent diabetes.
Scientists studying the effects of daily fasting on humans have found that if you eat all your meals over a span of just 10 hours, then fasted for the rest of the day, your health would benefit in myriad ways.
The plan, called “time-restricted eating,” is similar to “intermittent fasting” - a practice growing in popularity. To lose weight or improve health, those fasting intermittently don’t eat - or follow a Spartan diet that mimics fasting – for a day or more every week or month.
Time-restricted eating, by contrast, limits a person to eating all of their daily calories in a relatively narrow window – say, from 8am to 6pm. Practiced daily, time-restricted eating widens the period during which the body’s major visceral organs are put into a state of rest and recovery.
There is more than enough research showing that erratic eating patterns, shift-work, and modern-day habits like get-up-and-go breakfasts and midnight snacks have contributed to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Satchidananda Panda, a biologist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, said that by getting into a consistent daily cycle of feeding and fasting, one might reset the ebb and flow of fuel intake with the body’s natural rhythms.
“Every cell, every organ has its clock, and every organ needs downtime to repair, reset and regain its rhythm,” Panda said.