Intermittent fasting: What are the benefits? - Mayo Clinic

What is intermittent fasting? Does it have health benefits? · Alternate-day fasting. Eat a normal diet one day and either completely fast or have one small meal ... COVID-19:Advice,updatesandvaccineoptions FindoutaboutCOVID-19,COVID-19vaccines,andMayoClinicpatientandvisitorupdates. Skiptositenavigation SkiptoContent ThiscontentdoesnothaveanEnglishversion. ThiscontentdoesnothaveanArabicversion. 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RequestAppointment HealthyLifestyleNutritionandhealthyeating Sections BasicsNutritionbasicsHealthydietsHealthycookingHealthymenusandshoppingstrategiesNutritionalsupplementsIn-DepthExpertAnswersMultimediaResourcesNewsFromMayoClinicWhat'sNew Productsandservices Whatisintermittentfasting?Doesithavehealthbenefits? AnswerFromManpreetMundi,M.D. Intermittentfastingmeansthatyoudon'teatforaperiodoftimeeachdayorweek.Somepopularapproachestointermittentfastinginclude: Alternate-dayfasting.Eatanormaldietonedayandeithercompletelyfastorhaveonesmallmeal(lessthan500calories)thenextday. 5:2fasting.Eatanormaldietfivedaysaweekandfasttwodaysaweek. Dailytime-restrictedfasting.Eatnormallybutonlywithinaneight-hourwindoweachday.Forexample,skipbreakfastbuteatluncharoundnoonanddinnerby8p.m. Somestudiessuggestthatalternate-dayfastingisaboutaseffectiveasatypicallow-caloriedietforweightloss.Thatseemsreasonablebecausereducingthenumberofcaloriesyoueatshouldhelpyouloseweight. Canintermittentfastingimproveyourhealth?Losingweightandbeingphysicallyactivehelploweryourriskofobesity-relateddiseases,suchasdiabetes,sleepapneaandsometypesofcancer.Forthesediseases,intermittentfastingseemstobeaboutasbeneficialasanyothertypeofdietthatreducesoverallcalories. Someresearchsuggeststhatintermittentfastingmaybemorebeneficialthanotherdietsforreducinginflammationandimprovingconditionsassociatedwithinflammation,suchas: Alzheimer'sdisease Arthritis Asthma Multiplesclerosis Stroke It'simportanttonotethatintermittentfastingcanhaveunpleasantsideeffects,buttheyusuallygoawaywithinamonth.Sideeffectsmayinclude: Hunger Fatigue Insomnia Nausea Headaches Intermittentfastingissafeformanypeople,butit'snotforeveryone.Skippingmealsmaynotbethebestwaytomanageyourweightifyou'repregnantorbreast-feeding.Ifyouhavekidneystones,gastroesophagealreflux,diabetesorothermedicalproblems,talkwithyourdoctorbeforestartingintermittentfasting. With ManpreetMundi,M.D.   Thereisaproblemwith informationsubmittedforthisrequest.Review/updatethe informationhighlightedbelowandresubmittheform. FromMayoClinictoyourinbox Signupforfree,andstayuptodateonresearchadvancements,healthtipsandcurrenthealthtopics,likeCOVID-19,plusexpertiseonmanaginghealth. Email ErrorEmailfieldisrequired ErrorIncludeavalidemailaddress LearnmoreaboutMayoClinic’suseofdata. Toprovideyouwiththemostrelevantandhelpfulinformation,andunderstandwhich informationisbeneficial,wemaycombineyouremailandwebsiteusageinformationwith otherinformationwehaveaboutyou.IfyouareaMayoClinicpatient,thiscould includeprotectedhealthinformation.Ifwecombinethisinformationwithyourprotected healthinformation,wewilltreatallofthatinformationasprotectedhealth informationandwillonlyuseordisclosethatinformationassetforthinournoticeof privacypractices.Youmayopt-outofemailcommunicationsatanytimebyclickingon theunsubscribelinkinthee-mail. Subscribe! Thankyouforsubscribing OurHousecalle-newsletterwillkeepyouup-to-dateonthelatesthealthinformation. Sorrysomethingwentwrongwithyoursubscription Please,tryagaininacoupleofminutes Retry HowtotracksaturatedfatIscaffeinedehydrating? ShareTweet May05,2022 Showreferences deCaboR,etal.Effectsofintermittentfastingonhealth,aging,anddisease.NewEnglandJournalofMedicine.2019;doi:10.1056/NEJMra1905136. PattersonRE,etal.Metaboliceffectsofintermittentfasting.AnnualReviewofNutrition.2017;doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-071816-064634. CioffiI,etal.Intermittentversuscontinuousenergyrestrictiononweightlossandcardiometabolicoutcomes:Asystematicreviewandmeta-analysisofrandomizedcontrolledtrials.JournalofTranslationalMedicine.2018;doi:10.1186/s12967-018-1748-4. MattsonMP,etal.Impactofintermittentfastingonhealthanddiseaseprocesses.AgeingResearchReviews.2017;doi:10.1016/j.arr.2016.10.005. RakelD,ed.Alzheimerdisease.In:IntegrativeMedicine.4thed.Elsevier;2018.https://www.clinicalkey.com.AccessedApril6,2020. PhillipsMCL.Fastingasatherapyinneurologicaldisease.Nutrients.2019;doi:10.3390/nu11102501. GordonB.Whatisintermittentfasting?AcademyofNutritionandDietetics.https://www.eatright.org/health/weight-loss/fad-diets/what-is-intermittent-fasting.AccessedApril12,2020. 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