Whether you fast daily, weekly or for any other stint, one thing is for certain: hunger is on the menu. Although intermittent fasting has been part of the medical world since the time of Hippocrates, and is a common ritual in several religions, such as during Ramadan and Lent, it's only in the past couple of years that the practice has taken the celebrity and fitness worlds by storm. If you haven't tried it yourself yet, no doubt someone you know has – and has told you all about it.
Now studies show there is far more to this fad than shedding weight. Intermittent fasting is being heralded as a quick and natural way to take years off your body, increase your resilience to stress, stave off Type 2 diabetes and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and some cancers. But why would simply skipping meals have such a huge impact on health? Michelle Harvey is a nutritional therapist and recipe developer in Dubai who agrees fasting can be beneficial, if done correctly. "My view is that we should be fat-adapted," she tells The National. "This means that if you wake up, skip breakfast and don't eat until 3pm, your body should be able to make the switch to fat burning without you getting hangry and shaky. We should be able to go for long periods of time without food."
The benefits hearken back to our tribal, nomadic ancestors. "Hunter-gatherer communities wouldn't have had access to food all the time and being hungry and shaky wouldn't have been the optimal state for survival and hunting, so their bodies would have naturally known how to switch to burning fat during periods of no food," Harvey explains. A report in medical journal Ageing Research Reviews, co-written by eminent intermittent fasting researcher Mark Mattison of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, described the biological benefits of fasting as being exactly this. He says o
verconsumption of food often leads to insulin resistance and the excessive accumulation of visceral fat. "Because animals, including humans, evolved in environments where food was relatively scarce, they developed numerous adaptations that enabled them to function at a high level, both physically and cognitively, when in a food-deprived / fasted state."
Mattison says this is because the fasted state prompts cells to regenerate and repair to help the body survive tough times. "Emerging findings are revealing cellular and molecular mechanisms by which intermittent fasting increases the resistance of cells, tissues and organs to stress and common diseases associated with ageing and sedentary, overindulgent lifestyles."
Long periods without food are not common in western countries in 2020. In the UAE, many residents find the longest they have to survive without access to sustenance is the length of the lift journey from their building's car park to their apartment, or the confusing period between the end of Friday brunch and feeling hungry again mid-evening. As such, a set schedule for fasting and feeding can be helpful for finding space to come up for air between the constant rounds of meals and snacks.
One of the most common fasting regimes is the 16:8, meaning 16 hours of fasting, eight hours of feeding. Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Kourtney Kardashian and Halle Berry are all fans, with some skipping dinner and others eschewing breakfast. Some people allow black coffee and green juice during fasting hours, while others don't. Another common fasting style is 5:2, whereby for five days of the week you eat as normal and for two non-consecutive days you eat 500 to 600 calories – or, for the hard-liners, no food at all.
Jordan Imran, from the UK, has practised intermittent fasting six days a week for about 18 months. He says: "I won't eat until 3pm most days and I will have black coffee and water before then. At about 3pm, I will have lunch – with fewer carbs, as they make me sleepy, and more fats, protein and vegetables. I will eat until about 9pm, taking in about 2,000 to 2,500 calories during that time. I tend to have carbs like fruits and pulses later in the day after my gym session."
For Imran, who lives in Dubai, it is less about weight than it is about the mental benefits. "You have much better focus – right up until the moment you eat – and you spend less time thinking about food; it just doesn't factor into your day. Also, you are better able to recognise when you are actually hungry and when you are craving food just because you are bored … and you start to like the feeling of being a bit hungry."
Radio 1 UAE presenter Naima, also from the UK, has lost almost 30 kilograms since starting intermittent fasting in 2018 and has started abstaining for longer. "I fasted during Ramadan and wanted to continue the health journey, so I started eating just one meal a day. It seemed like a good time to start as my body was already used to fasting. I built up to fasting for 20 hours a day and eating two meals within a four-hour window," she says.
"For the last three months I have been doing alternate days of fasting, whereby I eat approximately 1,800 calories one day and then, the next day, don't eat anything at all. It can be hard at first, but I find that by day three, your body starts to get used to it and thinks, 'OK, so there's no food for me today. I get it'. It sounds extreme and it definitely isn't for everyone, but it is for me." It is important to remember that there are health concerns around not eating at all, particularly for those who have or do suffer from a eating disorder.
A flurry of studies has shown the fat-burning benefits, however. One, published in the Journal of Translational Medicine, reported that men who worked out three times a week for two months while on the 16:8 diet lost more fat than those in the control group, while maintaining muscle mass.
As for other health benefits, it isn't only Mattison who believes fasting can help the body stay young, regenerate and protect itself from disease. The New England Journal of Medicine reviewed the results of years of studies of intermittent fasting and found it offered a positive impact on insulin resistance, obesity, high blood pressure, blood lipid levels and inflammation. Another study in the journal suggests it can help you live longer, become more resilient to stress and preserve cognitive ability.
Whether you are after weight loss or anti-ageing benefits, all the experts agree you should ease yourself in slowly, seek professional advice and listen to your body. What is right for your friend, your personal trainer or your favourite celebrity may not be right for you. And if you have certain physical or mental health conditions, such as diabetes, depression or eating disorders, or you are pregnant or breastfeeding, intermittent fasting should be avoided. For others, it seems that squeezing your feeding into an eight-hour period may well be worth it – despite the hunger pangs, tummy rumbling and emotional upheaval. After all, we are only talking about missing one meal a day. Cue tears being spilt over our favourite poached eggs and avocado smashed toast. Breakfast? No, thanks. Just a black coffee here, please.
