Sunday, April 19, 2009

Is Fasting Every Other Day For You?

There's a lot of talk these days about eating less, calorie restriction and fasting. Not just because of Lent, but finding easy, or easier ways to have less food so that weight loss and weight maintenance can at last be achieved.Please post a comment below - tell us if you've been fasting, or thought about it. What was your experience? What have you learned?I wrote about this in March; here's the initial column on Fasting Every Other Day (click here).

Yes, there are a few research projects and studies about calorie restriction, and how it increases life span in rodents. It's not proven to extend lives in humans, however. That's where the scant research has been centered, on lengthening lives, not losing weight per se.
Here's a report from the University of California, Berkeley from 2005.

So, in consideration of the "Fasting Every Other Day" subject... it seems to be about eating anything and all you want one day, and then reducing intake, or fasting entirely the next. There's even an acronym for it, ADF, "Alternate Day Fasting." There was a study done by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular in 2007, here's a news report about it in
Science Daily, click here. Again, this study was only on lab rodents, and stated that the forced fasting could control obesity and assist with Type II diabetes, but did not help for fat reduction or weight loss.

Here what I think: I do believe that eating fewer calories if you are overweight or obese is a good idea. Also, increasing physical activity is really great. However, I think calorie-lowering and increasing activity must always be in moderation. Having been on a lot of fasts in my life, and experiencing mixed results (sometime feeling starved, dizzy, etc.) it's not something I do much anymore.

Rather, I pray to God and ask Him to help me abstain from compulsive overeating. In effect, that amounts to mini-fasts. I do this throughout the day, in my efforts to always eat only just as much as my body needs - not what my desires or thoughts dictate.At night, to solve my nighttime eating challenge, I will have only a little amount and then do without any more even though I often want more. That's a "mini fast" in my estimation. Anything more than doing my best with God's help to maintain moderation is all I am capable of doing. Fasting every other day makes me too hungry to manage, and is not for me.


Sources : http://www.beliefnet.com/Blogs/index.aspx (by Dr Norris Chumley)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've fasted every other day before in my college years because a friend introduced me to it. I lost weight and felt great. Two children later, I'm starting my 2nd week of every other day fasting. I feel great. What I've observed for myself is that it helps to control my eating. I noticed that on the days I do eat, I'm eating more balanced meals. For everyone, it may work differently. Some may fast for religious purposes, personal cleansing, but I do it for the health effects. It truly controls my eating habits. On my fasting days, I don't have anything other than water. On my eating days, I eat what I want. In the beginning, for many of my followers, they do binge, but after some time, they realize that their stomach has shrunk and they are not binging. They are actually eating healthy portions. I've actually water fasted for 11 days. I did feel emotionally cleansed, but passing through the 3rd day was tough. I think that every other day is more feasible. I plan on doing this for only 4 weeks. I recently learned of another type of Intermittent Fasting. You would eat breakfast and lunch until 6 pm. Not eat until the next day after 6pm. Basically, you do a 24 hour fast. I plan on transitioning into that program after my 4 weeks. We all find ways to lose weight and stay healthy in ways that work for us. This is what works for me and I hope that it may work for others.

fred said...

great comment. tq

Truth About Six Pack Abs said...

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