Intermittent fasting, a popular diet for weight loss, could also help manage and prevent chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, according to a manuscript published this month.
“People who are trying to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle should pay more attention to when they eat as well as what they eat. Time-restricted eating is an easy-to-follow and effective dietary strategy that requires less mental math than counting calories,” said Satchidananda Panda, Ph.D., of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. and one of the authors of the manuscript. “Intermittent fasting can improve sleep and a person’s quality of life as well as reduce the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.”
Time-restricted diets involve eating only during a set time period each day, often within 8-10 hours. While it has become a popular weight-loss diet, the manuscript, published in the Endocrine Society’s journal, Endocrine Reviews, looks at the science behind intermittent fasting.
Recent research suggests genes, hormones and metabolism rise and fall through the day and that matching eating patterns to our biological clocks can have health benefits, the Endocrine Society said in announcing the manuscript.
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“Eating at random times breaks the synchrony of our internal program and make us prone to diseases,” said Panda. “Intermittent fasting is a lifestyle that anyone can adopt. It can help eliminate health disparities and lets everyone live a healthy and fulfilling life.”
Intermittent Fasting Session at NPWH Conference
Intermittent fasting will also be the topic of a breakout session at the 24th Annual NPWH Premiere Women’s Healthcare Conference, being held virtually Oct. 13 to 16.
The Oct. 15 session, The Low Carb Diet with Intermittent Fasting, will be led by Megan Arbour, PhD, CNM, CNE, FACNM; Melissa Stec, DNP, CNM, APRN, FACNM, FAAN; Kelly Walker, DNP, MA, BS, BA, FACNM, and Judith Wika, MSN, CNM,FACNM.
It will “explain various intermittent fasting schedules, describe the mechanism by which individuals lose weight following these plans, and highlight important clinical implications for the clinician caring for a woman on these diets.”
Click here to register for the conference.