Weight loss guru, Dr Michael Mosley popularised the 5:2 diet, The Fast 800 and Intermittent Fasting, helping thousands of people reach their weight loss goal. Intermittent fasting is an excellent weight loss tool. In addition, it also boasts as many as eight other health benefits.
Intermittent fasting requires a person to extend their overnight fast.
Dr Michael said: “If you stop eating at 8pm and don’t start eating again until 10am, that is a 14-hour fast,” in a piece he wrote for Science Focus.
This does not require you to change your diet at all, just that you change when you consume your calories.
He referenced a study where 16 volunteers were randomly asked to follow either a Time Restricted Diet (TRE) or to eat at regular times.
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The TRE people, who ate their breakfasts 90 minutes later than usual and dinners 90 minutes earlier, lost more weight than the control group.
After just 10 weeks, those who had stuck to intermittent fasting had dropped around 3.1 pounds (1.6kg) of body fat each.
Their blood sugar levels and levels of cholesterol also fell.
Although recruits were asked to eat as much food as normal, “many of them said they were eating less, due to the shorter eating window”.
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Dr Michael concluded: “We can prevent people with pre-diabetes from developing diabetes by adapting their fasting window.”
This is an easy weight loss method that everyone can try: use your extra time in the morning to go for a walk or read a book, and use your extra time in the evening to get some well-deserved extra shuteye.
Dr Michael fans will be delighted to hear that weight loss isn’ remotely the only benefit of intermittent fasting.
There are eight more key benefits to the regime, The Fast 800 official Instagram revealed today.
Prepare to look and feel younger, as intermittent fasting sees “a fall in levels of Growth Factor 1, which can promote ageing”.
You will also enjoy an “improved cognitive performance”.
Those who decrease their food window will see their blood pressure and cholesterol lowered.
Finally, they will have “better energy levels” and be in a “better mood” – which is good for everyone.