REVEALED The Hard Science Behind Intermittent Fasting Rapid Weight Loss

What if I told you that losing weight is as simple as reading a calendar and telling time? These are the fundamentals of a successful intermittent fasting diet.

But is it really that simple? Is it effective? What scientific evidence supports fasting? I am frequently asked such questions as a registered dietitian and specialist in human nutrition and metabolism. – McKale Montgomery, The Conversation

Simply put, intermittent fasting is described as the practice of rotating times of fasting with periods of eating. The 5:2 method fasting is one way.

On “fast days,” practitioners of this style of fasting are limited to 500 calories per day; on “feast days,” which occur every other day, they are free to eat whatever they want, with no limits on the types or quantities of foods consumed.

Other options include the 5:2 approach, which is becoming increasingly popular. Five days of feasting and two days of fasting are included in this type of fasting.

Another option the “time-restricted” method. This means that adherents should fast for a set number of hours—usually 16 to 20 each day—while eating freely within a four- to eight-hour window.

But, to keep the body’s metabolism working, how about eating breakfast and then modest meals throughout the day? That is, after all, the prevailing thinking with which many of us grew up.

Understanding the fundamentals of human metabolism is helpful in answering these concerns.

Human Metabolism 101

To maintain life, the human body requires a constant source of energy, which we get from the foods we eat.

However, because eating is frequently followed by times of fasting, the body’s energy demands are met through a complex network of biochemical mechanisms.

Most of the pathways are always active at some level, but they fluctuate after a meal in a predictable pattern known as the fed-fast cycle. The length of the cycle varies depending on the foods consumed, the size of the meal, and the individual’s degree of activity.

Rachel Clarkson is the creator of The DNA Dietitian, a London-based company. “You cut calories but don’t learn the necessary behavioral changes surrounding what you put into your body.”

“To fast you have to downregulate the feeling of hunger,” says Clarkson. Hunger is felt when ghrelin, a hormone released from our stomach, triggers the production of two other hormones, called NPY and AgRP, in the hypothalamus.

While these three hormones stimulate hunger, there are a slew of others that reduce it.

One of the most important “satiety hormones,” leptin, is released from fat cells to block the synthesis of ghrelin, thus telling the body “there is fat here that you may burn.”

Ghrelin is sometimes referred to be the short-term hunger response since it is released when the stomach is empty and the stomach wall is under less strain.

Drinking water can help to overcome it to some extent. Leptin, on the other hand, has a long-term effect.

“Many factors influence our hunger hormones, including heredity,” adds Clarkson. “However, considering the nerves that are connected to our stomach and digestive tract, if your stomach is not bloated, your body will believe you are hungry.”

She goes on to say that staying hydrated can assist with early hunger pangs until your body adjusts. “The first several weeks will be difficult, but you will adjust.”

Intermittent Fasting is to me hands down the easiest most intuitive way to lose weight fast. All without pills, weird diets that have you eating in a way that is uncomfortable for you.

I personally lost 52lbs and have stayed within my goal weight ( +/- 5lbs ) for 2 years after stripping off 52lbs in 3 months. So you can do this, you don’t need things outside of yourself, you just have to start and execute. PERIOD deep down we all know that.

Finally be free of the feeling that it will never happen for you, that you are just going to have to accept the way things are, and cry tears of joy knowing that you succeeded.