Is Intermittent Fasting Right For You?

What it is, how to do it, who it’s for, and who it’s not for.

Intermittent fasting has been making headlines recently, so I thought this would be a great time to do a deep dive into the topic and help you make sense of it all. Optimizing the timing of your meals is a powerful tool that I consistently use in my nutrition practice. When done correctly the benefits spam from weight loss to better sleep, reduced cravings, improved digestion, and more.

Before we get into it, the news: In case you missed it, a recently published study showed that a 16-hour fast was associated with a 91% increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. What?! As a nutritionist, I’m sure you can imagine the flurry of emails I got about this, but before you freak out, remember: the media loves to pick up inflammatory health headlines. When you get into the details of the study you’ll find a lot, like a lot, of flaws that make the headlines feel a little hasty.

If you want to read more about why this study shouldn’t alarm you, this New York Times article breaks it down pretty well. But long story short, I don’t think this is a reason for concern yet, and I would guess that a different study would get different results.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting can sound daunting, but it starts with just a twelve-hour window between dinner and breakfast the next day. If you sleep, you fast. In fact, that’s where the word breakfast comes from; you’re literally breaking your fast. Many of us intermittent fast those twelve hours intuitively, but being more consistent with it and, potentially stretching that window could be beneficial for your nutrition and wellness goals. 

Sometimes I think we make these things into more than they really need to be. If the idea of intermittent fasting scares you, just think about kids who sleep 12 hours. They’re intermittent fasting. Slapping on a nutrition term makes it feel technical and controversial, but it doesn’t need to.

While some people might be doing this without even knowing, there are benefits of being aware and intentional about it. In my practice (and personal experience), I find that being more aware of the timing of meals can be tremendously helpful in supporting your nutrition goals, and there are many ways to do this.

What Intermittent Fasting Isn’t
Intermittent fasting can certainly be taken to an extreme, so before we get into it, I want to take a moment to talk about what intermittent fasting isn’t:

• Calorie restriction
  There are a variety of reasons why you might eat a little less when intermittent fasting (think more mindful eating, no late-night snacking, etc.), but the true benefits of fasting aren’t from reduced calorie intake. It’s about giving your body a break from food to do other things that help keep us healthy and functioning (more on this below).

• Starving yourself
  Forcing yourself to wait to eat when you’re hungry isn’t a sustainable solution for whatever you’re trying to achieve. The point of any nutrition intervention is to feel good, and in this space, we’re always focused on sustainability.

• Skipping meals

  You don’t have to skip breakfast or dinner to do intermittent fasting. Some people might, but I think for most it’s about optimizing the timing of your food intake and that can certainly include three square meals (and a snack!).

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Now to the good stuff. Here are some of the benefits of intermittent fasting.