Intermittent Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet

Intermittent Fasting and Ketosis Diet "Intermittent fasting" is a regular eating plan that has been adopted by an increasing number of people in recent times. Intermittent fasting is a highly effective method for weight loss, weight management, and staying in shape. While many diet types focus on which foods can be eaten, intermittent fasting focuses on when food is eaten. During intermittent fasting, food is consumed only at specific times. Fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating only one meal several days a week can help your body burn fat. Scientific evidence also points to certain health benefits of this fasting program. As with all diet programs, it is recommended to consult a doctor before starting intermittent fasting. After that, implementation is simple. An approach that limits daily eating to a period of six to eight hours per day can be chosen. For example, fasting for 16 hours and eating within the remaining 8 hours is called 16/8 fasting. Whether these periods are at night or during the day, or which time intervals to choose, is a matter of preference. In an intermittent fasting program, it is permitted to consume zero-calorie beverages such as water, sugar-free coffee, and black tea. Our bodies have evolved to survive fasting for hours, days, and even weeks. Before humans learned agriculture, they evolved as hunters and gatherers capable of surviving long periods without food. Fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating only one meal several days a week can help your body burn fat. The ketogenic diet, combined with the concept of intermittent fasting, is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that has recently become popular for weight loss. During the diet, the body is forced to use fats instead of carbohydrates as a fuel source. When this happens, the body produces compounds called ketones that cells can use for energy. Both intermittent and prolonged fasting can result in ketosis, which enables this condition. Adequate amounts of water should be consumed during fasting to help remove toxins from the body. To understand how fasting works, it is first necessary to recall how the body stores energy. When there is insufficient food to meet the body's current energy needs, either glycogen or fat is converted into stored energy. Glycogen consists of long glucose chains derived from carbohydrates that the body stores in muscles and the liver when we consume excessive carbohydrates. For example, if a person obtains 500 carbohydrate-derived calories from a bowl of pasta, the body converts these carbohydrates into glucose. If the body needs only 200 calories of glucose to meet its immediate energy requirements, the remaining 300 calories are stored as glycogen for later use. The average adult has a glycogen storage capacity of 1,500 calories in muscles and 500 calories in the liver. When the body's glycogen stores are depleted, excess glucose in the blood is stored as fat. Overeating leads to fat storage. There is no upper limit to how much fat a person can store, and it can be stored in almost any part of the body. When comparing the two storage forms, we see that the body prioritizes burning glycogen rather than fat. When glycogen is depleted, the body begins to burn fat. Since glucose will be produced from stored glycogen, a state of ketosis cannot be reached if glycogen is stored. When macronutrients are completely limited, the body must rely on its own reserves for energy. First glycogen, then fat is burned. While following a traditional Western diet, most calories come from carbohydrate-based meals each day, and glycogen stores are rarely depleted. As a result, the body rarely enters a state of fat use, and therefore falls short in burning fat for fuel. The presence of insulin, a hormone that transports glucose from the blood to cells, is triggered by carbohydrate consumption. This prevents lipolysis, the breakdown of body fat into useful energy. Maintaining optimal energy levels relies entirely on glucose and requires frequent eating, and our hunger and satiety hormones dictate the constant satisfaction of this feeding need. The term ketosis refers to a byproduct of fat breakdown into energy called ketone bodies, or ketones for short. This fat can be obtained from foods we eat directly or from fat tissue stored in your body (also known as body fat). Ketones are used directly by the body to power itself. This breakdown of fat into useful energy is similar to the process by which dietary carbohydrates produce glucose to fuel the body. In other words, what glucose is for carbohydrates, ketones are for fats. As a result, intermittent fasting and the ketosis diet can be considered a highly effective method for burning fat and losing weight. Translated and compiled by: B. Serhat Cengiz

References

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work https://charliefoundation.org/diet-plans/intermittent-fasting/ https://www.livescience.com/62659-keto-diet-epilepsy-gut-bacteria.html https://www.livescience.com/keto-diet-vs-low-carb https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet