IS FASTING JUST ANOTHER FAD OR HERE TO STAY?
Intermittent fasting might be one of the biggest wellness trends to hit the weight-loss industry in recent years with A-lister fans including Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, but is it good for you?
“I would absolutely recommend it and personally, I practice it twice a week,” says nutritionist Sarah di Lorenzo. “Our bodies were designed to fast and in fact need a break from food. I believe it’s the secret to having it all. If you want to be that person who socialises a lot then you need to learn.”
Sarah teaches fasting to all her high-profile and celebrity clients who are attending functions and dining out a lot during the week for work.
“ I truly believe that if you want to live a life where you go out every weekend to restaurants and attend work events and eat, then you really can’t keep overloading your body with calories or you will gain weight - it’s as simple as that. We can actually go three weeks without food, but not water. 60,000 years ago we were hunter/gatherers and there were times when we couldn’t eat because of a lack of crops, so the human body is very efficient at slowing down or speeding up its metabolic rate.”
She is often surprised to hear her patients think fasting is about not eating anything at all.
“It’s so far from that, there’s so much more to it.”
And in fact, it’s the worst thing to do.
“Some people abstain from food all day and all that’s going to do is make your metabolic rate really low because your body is thinking it’s going into some kind of famine!’ says Sarah.
“It’s important to have at least 500 calories a day and to consume food every day. Intermittent fasting is about using time or calorie restriction or doing a blend of both to make it work for you.”
The most popular types of fasting are:
1. 5/2 fasting - 500 calories, 2 days a week
2. 16/8- no eating for 16 hours then a feeding time of 8 hours
3. Alternate day fasting - 500 calories one day and the next day up to 2,000 calories.
Fasting is recommended for a maximum of three days a week but ideally two.
“I don’t recommend fasting every day because you’ve got to have love and respect for your body in between. I don’t recommend fasting on consecutive days, rather commit to a Monday and a Thursday, which is what I do”.
Health benefits include not only weight loss and more energy if you learn to do it correctly but it can make you smarter too.
“It does this by increasing the neural connections to your brain,” says Sarah. “It also lowers blood pressure and inflammation, and lowers the risk of chronic disease both cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes.”
Sarah’s top 6 tips
1. Don’t eat late: On the 16/8, people have their first meal at midday (then 3, 7pm). It’s better to have their first meal at 8am, midday and the last at 4pm so your body is still producing enough of the hormone insulin for energy. When people eat later at night I find the weight loss is not as great.
2. Keep hydrated. You can drink coffee, tea, water and herbal teas while fasting.
3. Eat enough. At least 500 calories daily.
4. Don’t fast too often. Only twice a week and not on consecutive days.
5. Don’t over-compensate. When you fast don’t make the mistake of telling yourself ‘ooh I fasted today so I can pig out tomorrow because you’re just wasting your time’. Return to normal, healthy eating with protein, salad and fibre.
6. Tailor it: Every human body is different so work out what kind of fasting works for you
(This article was first commissioned by Foxtel Lifestyle, 2019)
