Buddhist Diet: new book points out benefits of intermittent fasting

Writer and scientist Dan Zigmond has compiled the teachings of Buddhism and modern science in his new book, The Buddha’s Diet: The Ancient Art of Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind. free), so you can change the way you look at meals once and for all.

The secret to eating like Siddhartha Gautama, religious master and founder of Buddhism in the sixth century BC, is, contrary to what many may imagine, in intermittent fasting and not in the foods that are consumed during the day. We explain: the important thing in the Buddhist diet is to pay attention to the intervals of time that we spend ingesting food. “This measure provides a detoxification of the body”, says Gabriela Cilla, nutritionist at Estima Nutrição, in São Paulo.

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The idea is to start by limiting the window of food consumption to 13 hours a day – that is, if you have breakfast at 8 am, dinner should be served no later than 9 pm. Each week, you should reduce this interval by 1 hour until you reach a 9 hour window. In this case, if the first meal of the day is eaten at 9 am, the last one should be eaten at 6 pm.

Despite the fact that the method goes against the sacred teaching of eating every three hours, Zigmond guarantees that prolonged fasting is safe and effective for those who want to burn extra calories. According to him, our metabolism needs time away from food to function at full steam.

Clarify: After all, does eating every three hours make weight loss easier?

When choosing what to put on your plate, keep in mind that you can eat anything – except junk food. “Give preference to natural and organic products”, suggests the specialist. And, in order not to let the body get used to this new routine, choose one day a week to be cheat day. On that day, eat normally, without worrying about fasting.