Intermittent Fasting and Its Potential Effects on Health

This compilation study explains intermittent fasting, ways to practice it, and discusses its potential health effects, studies on intermittent fasting, and when to avoid practicing it. For many years, people have applied various diet models to lose weight, prevent nutrition-related diseases, and maintain high quality of life. Intermittent fasting has recently become a popular nutrition model, and it has been shown to have positive effects on several metabolic processes, particularly on the loss of body weight. Intermittent fasting is the restriction of energy or food intake on certain days of the week, day, or specific time, and there are different ways to perform it. Alternative day fasting is a method in which around 25% of the energy needs are met and then the other meal is consumed after a 24-hour fasting period. In the modified fasting regime, around 20-25% of the daily energy needs are met on non-successful two days of the week. The time-restricted eating model is the most common regime in which the daily energy intake is compacted into 8 hours with 16-hour abstinence. Ramadan fasting is an act of abstinence from all food in & Idot;slam from dawn until sunset. Unlike other fasting methods, fasting is conducted for religious purposes only, where no food or drink is allowed regardless of the energy content. Alternative day fasting, modified fasting regime, time-restricted eating, and Ramadan fasting are some of the intermittent fasting methods. Although intermittent fasting seems like an alternative diet model for losing body weight, it has many positive effects on heart health, insulin resistance, brain health, cancer, metabolic health, inflammation, and aging, all of which can be explained by the various effects of intermittent fasting. Ketone bodies, which are the fuel of the brain and body during fasting and long-term exercise, increase during hunger. They are not only a source of energy but also facilitate many metabolic events in tissues and cells. It also affects the circadian rhythm when intermittent fasting is associated with the circadian rhythm because it limits food intake at certain times. Eating late at night disturbs circadian rhythm and may cause chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes etc. the intermittent fasting also has effects on the microbiota, and studies revealed that intermittent fasting improves the gut microbiota diversity and good gut bacteria with benefits on gut health. Similar to any other diet, intermittent fasting may vary with age, sex, and special condition (pregnancy, breast feeding, adolescents etc., or it is not recommended for specific circumstances.