{"id":9414,"date":"2024-06-25T08:48:53","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T00:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=9414"},"modified":"2024-06-25T08:49:14","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T00:49:14","slug":"myths-about-intermittent-fasting-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/myths-about-intermittent-fasting-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths about intermittent fasting, debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Emily Stone<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new article, researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago debunk four common myths about the safety of intermittent fasting.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intermittent fasting has become an increasingly popular way to lose weight without counting calories. And a large body of research has shown it\u2019s safe. Still, several myths about fasting have gained traction among clinicians, journalists and the general public: that fasting can lead to a poor diet or loss of lean muscle mass, cause eating disorders, or decrease sex hormones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a new commentary in Nature Reviews Endocrinology<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> UIC researchers debunk each of these. They base their conclusions on clinical studies, some of which they conducted and some done by others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been studying intermittent fasting for 20 years, and I\u2019m constantly asked if the diets are safe,\u201d said lead author Krista Varady<\/a>, professor of kinesiology and nutrition at UIC. \u201cThere is a lot of misinformation out there. However, those ideas are not based on science; they\u2019re just based on personal opinion.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two main types of intermittent fasting. With alternate-day eating, people alternate between days of eating a very small number of calories and days of eating what they want. With time-restricted eating, people eat what they want during a four- to 10-hour window each day, then don\u2019t eat during the rest of the day. The researchers conclude both types are safe despite the popular myths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a look at their conclusions: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intermittent fasting does not lead to a poor diet:<\/strong> The researchers point to studies showing the intake of sugar, saturated fat, cholesterol, fiber, sodium and caffeine do not change during fasting compared with before a fast. And the percentage of energy consumed in carbohydrates, protein and fat doesn\u2019t change, either.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intermittent fasting does not cause eating disorders:<\/strong> None of the studies show that fasting caused participants to develop an eating disorder. However, all the studies screened out participants who had a history of eating disorders, and the researchers say that those with a history of eating disorders should not try intermittent fasting. They also urge pediatricians to be cautious when monitoring obese adolescents if they start fasting, because this group has a high risk of developing eating disorders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intermittent fasting does not cause excessive loss of lean muscle mass:<\/strong> The studies show that people lose the same amount of lean muscle mass whether they\u2019re losing weight by fasting or with a different diet. In both cases, resistance training and increased protein intake can counteract the loss of lean muscle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intermittent fasting does not affect sex hormones:<\/strong> Despite concerns about fertility and libido, neither estrogen, testosterone nor other related hormones are affected by fasting, the researchers said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other authors of the article are Vanessa Oddo<\/a> and Sofia Cienfuegos<\/a> at UIC and Shuhao Lin, formerly at UIC and now at the Mayo Clinic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several myths about fasting have gained traction among clinicians, journalists and the general public: that fasting can lead to a poor diet or loss of lean muscle mass, cause eating disorders, or decrease sex hormones. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[801,1096,1484],"class_list":["post-9414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-diet","tag-dietary-supplements","tag-low-carb-diet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9415,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9414\/revisions\/9415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}