The main dietary regimes that provide for intermittent fasting are three: fasting every other day, fasting for 2 days a week and daily fasting (the period of the day during which the individual eats is limited to 8-12 hours and remaining 12-14-16 hours are fasting).
Dietary pattern of intermittent fasting
The food pattern of intermittent fasting consists of 3 daily meals and 1 training session with a fasting window of 16 hours.
- 1st meal to be consumed as soon as you get up: protein source and carbohydrates with a medium-low glycemic index; low in fat
- 2nd meal - breakfast: complete
- Training (bodybuilding or in any case high intensity training)
- 3rd meal (to be done IMMEDIATELY after training) - lunch: complete
- Fasting window from 1:00 pm or 3:00 pm approximately until the following morning.
Several studies have highlighted the health benefits of the body of intermittent fasting. Not only weight loss and the contrast of free radicals, which translated can seem like an elixir of life, but also resources capable of regulating the level of sugars in the blood and inflammation. From a cardiovascular health perspective, intermittent fasting improves blood pressure levels, resting heart rate, blood triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and reduces oxidative stress related to the development of atherosclerosis.
Benefits for athletes and muscle mass
Always in body-building, to increase muscles and decrease fat mass, it is essential to combine diet and training to achieve both objectives. Intermittent fasting generates an improvement in body composition in a bilateral way (for increase in muscle mass and for weight loss).
for our organism they are sugars (in particular glucose) and fatty acids. After meals, excess fats are accumulated in the adipose tissue in the form of triglycerides which are broken down into glycerol and fatty acids during fasting. The liver converts fatty acids into ketone bodies, which provide energy to many organs (during fasting: the levels of ketone bodies increase in the blood of humans approximately 8-12 hours after their last meal). The change in metabolism it affects the regulation of glucose levels, blood pressure, heart rate and abdominal fat loss., reduction in abdominal circumference, better insulin sensitivity and therefore a lower risk of developing diabetes, greater muscular endurance and increased cognitive abilities. However, there is a lack of scientific validation capable of defining whether these effects are related to intermittent fasting or only calorie deficit.
The Okinawa case
The island of Okinawa (south of Japan) holds the absolute record for the number of ultra-centennial inhabitants in full shape. Here intermittent fasting is practiced regularly, mainly vegetables, seaweed, goya, tofu, fish (very raw, even of large size such as tuna) and very little meat. Another very important aspect that characterizes the dietary style of the inhabitants of this Japanese island is caloric moderation; in this regard, a famous local saying suggests eating about 80% of the food necessary to feel full.
. Before starting intermittent fasting it is necessary to ask for the help of a nutritionist or dietician to ensure a balanced intake of macro and micro nutrients.
