Intermittent fasting X traditional diet: which is more slimming –

And if you found out what to do intermittent fasting doesn’t it make you lose weight more or faster? Well, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine evaluated 139 obese people for a year and concluded that there are no differences in the practice of intermittent fasting or the traditional diet.

For 12 months, these people were divided into two groups: the first changed their eating habits to include fasting. The second distributed the calories to be ingested throughout the day, in the classic “eat every 3 hours” scheme. The result: both groups lost the same amount of weight and had the same health outcomes.

“The study evaluated the health benefit of fasting,” explains nutritionist Thiago Monteiroknown online as Nurture Cute. “The practice of fasting has benefits, for example, insulin sensitivity, however, on a conventional diet, with an indication of eating every 3 hours, it is also possible to have this result and lose weight in the same way. That was the conclusion of the study.”

What the study also indicates is that to obtain the benefits of food, it is necessary to have a healthy diet, rich in leaves, vegetables, fibers, proteins and carbohydrates. “The benefits are much more in the choice of foods than in the strategy used, be it fasting or eating every 3 hours”, continues the professional.

AFINAL, IS IT WORTH INTERMITTENT FASTING?

It depends largely. When opting for fasting, some people may experience symptoms such as headache, weakness, hunger, irritability, memory and concentration loss, anxiety… even more so if the person is not used to the practice.

“Fasting can end up generating a peak of hunger, and, when hunger strikes, the person may not be able to control himself and make mistakes in the amounts”, he warns. “The person ends up eating whatever ‘is in front of him’ and in a much larger portion than if he weren’t so hungry, for spending several hours without eating food.”

The result of this process can be a eating disorder and, many times, these patients will need multidisciplinary professional help, with psychologists and nutritionists, for example, to reverse the situation.

“Today it is very easy for us to access anything and, in the same way that the internet arrived to bring good information, it also brings topics with which we have to be a little careful. Fasting is the oldest practice that exists, but this was due to lack of food. Our ancestors needed to hunt and didn’t have food available like we do today”, says Thiago.

People are currently very conditioned to seek quick and immediate answers to their questions, including weight loss. And this “desperation”, as Thiago says, can lead to unhealthy and unsustainable actions over time – such as the adoption of a intermittent fasting without guidance.

“We must lose weight using a strategy that we can take for a lifetime, otherwise the result will be momentary. People are overweight for years, but they want to lose weight in a few days, weeks… It doesn’t work!”, she says.

FASTING AS A FOOD STRATEGY

It is interesting to keep in mind that fasting is not a solution for weight loss, but a food strategy that, in principle, can generate results on the scale.

“People believed it was a good strategy to lose weight. And they actually lose, but this is more related to the restriction, of not eating for a long time and emptying their energy stores, muscle and liver glycogen”, explains Thiago. “When the person submits to fasting, the final weight decreases a lot, especially in the first days, due to the loss of glycogen and water loss.”

After that first moment, however, there is a stabilization of the weight. In addition, it is common for people to regain weight very quickly when they go back to eating “normally”. “Fasting has conquered many people due to this false feeling of short-term weight loss, which is not true”, he continues.

WHAT TO DO TO LOSE WEIGHT?

The conclusion, according to the nutritionist, is to accept that the weight loss process is not fast, but it can be effective as long as you consider the nutritional needs of each one and maintain, above all, balance.

“People have to lose weight eating what they like, knowing how to identify what is unhealthy and putting these ‘foods’ as an exception”, he says. “You can eat a pizza, a hamburger, a sweet, but it has to be sporadic. I like to use the expression: hit 80% and miss 20%. And knowing that you are in a process of losing fat, improving your health and adopting new habits.”

In addition to professional guidance, internalize these new good habits and applying them in everyday life, such as eating well, exercising, drinking water and sleeping well, needs to replace the belief in “false products and tactics”, as explained by the nutritionist, who promise miracles – which includes fasting , shakes, teas and even pills.

“Losing weight goes far beyond aesthetics! Weight loss improves sleep, intestines, disposition, self-esteem and health in general. You don’t have to look at a diet as suffering, you don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight and have the dreamed ideal body and, more importantly, be healthy”, he concludes.