It’s an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating, it allows you to control your weight and helps prevent or reverse some disease. Most diets talk about what to eat, but intermittent fasting is about when you eat. You will only eat during a specific time. Fasting for some hours each day can help you to burn fat. Many scientific studies show many health benefits because of intermittent fasting.

Research shows that the periods of fasting does more than just burn fat. Many things also happen during the fasting period that can protect your organs against chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases and many cancers. Studies have discovered that intermittent fasting boosts verbal memory. There are improvements in heart health and blood circulation. People who fasted for 16 hours show fat loss and that it also helps with maintaining muscle mass. Intermittent fasting will help with weight loss and regulate your levels of insulin. It helps to increase stress resistance and longevity.

Some people use intermittent fasting for weight management and others use it to treat chronic conditions such an irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol or arthritis. But intermittent fasting isn’t for anyone. It is important to talk with your doctor before starting intermittent fasting and especially children and teenagers under 18, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, people with diabetes or blood sugar problems, and anyone with eating disorders.

How to create an Intermittent fasting plan involves the period of fasting. Normally we fast around 12 hours every day, after dinner and while we are sleeping. The easy way to start is to add one hour without eating breakfast, if you normally have breakfast at eight in the morning, you change your breakfast time to 9, and then later move it to 10. You keep moving the breakfast time backwards until you reach 15 or 16 hours of fasting hours since your last meal the evening prior.

Studies show that the benefits of intermittent fasting start with 15 hours of fasting. As an example, if you choose the plan 16/8 fasting. This would be eight hours of eating and fasting for 16 hours. During the time you are not eating you can drink water, teas and black coffee. During your eating periods you can eat normally, and it’s best to always eat healthy.

-Patricia Chirino Cabrera (Health & Life Coach)