Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting

Eating less is the best-tested and surest way to a younger body and an increased life span. But it's a hard discipline to maintain, day in and day out for years on end, and many of us would welcome an easier alternative. There is accumulating evidence that you can get much of the benefit of calorie restriction by fasting on a schedule. Even if you don't eat fewer total calories. Even if your weight doesn't go down. (Not everyone agrees.)

Perhaps we can realize some of the benefits applying a more temporary exercise of willpower, with intermittent fasting. It's counter-intuitive, but seems to be true, that health and longevity are better served by clumping up our food consumption (feast and famine) than by spreading food consumption evenly through the day and through the week. The topic is controversial, and the evidence is not just unclear, it's contradictory. The bottom line is that it is worth trying. Some people who drift away from diets involving consistent discipline find that they can comply on an intermittent schedule. Experiment with different schedules, because individual response varies widely. Some strategies that have worked for others:

Eating lightly three days a week, e.g. just fruit in the morning and salad in the afternoon.
Eating one meal a day.
No food after noon.
Juice fast one week a month.
No food one day a week.

Many people find that this is not a weight loss diet, but that it has benefits for health and longevity nevertheless.