Alternate Day Fasting: Alternate Day Fasting

Alternate Day Fasting – introduction

Welcome to the Alternate Day Fasting .org website.

When it comes to diets, the idea of being able to eat absolutely anything you want one day, then have a reduced calorie intake the next day, but still lose weight and be healthy, is a pretty attractive one isn’t it?

There are a lot of myths and half truths out there about Alternate Day Fasting, so this site is an attempt to separate fact from fiction and give you an frank and detailed overview of Alternate Day Fasting.

Alternate Day Fasting – what is it, in a nutshell?

In a nutshell, Alternate Day Fasting is a method of dieting and calorie control. To summarise, when you are following an Alternate Day Fasting program, you eat whatever food you like on day 1, and on day 2, you consume a very limited amount of calories (typically less than 400 calories for women, and 500 calories for men). Then on day 3, you eat whatever you like again, and on day 4, again consume a limited amount of calories again. This pattern is simply repeated over and over again.

The theory behind this is that, overall, you are consuming less calories than you normally would, therefore, weight loss is inevitable.

Alternate Day Fasting – benefits

The benefits of alternate day fasting are currently unproven in humans, but have been observed much more in animals much more than human subjects. However, the benefits are thought to be as follows –
- Weight loss
- Improved lifespan
- Improved bodily repair function
- Better survival rate after major disease or trauma

Numerous studies have been done on alternate day fasting. One of the most interesting involved mice, which were studied for 20 weeks. They followed the diet, being allowed to eat as much as they liked on one day, and were not fed the next day. The mice lived longer, and it was also noted that their levels of glucose an insulin were lower than those of mice who followed a normal diet.

Another interesting aspect of the study was that another group of mice were also studied – these had their calorie intake reduced by 40% every single day. This group of mice also experienced similar health benefits – but these were improved upon by the mice following the alternate day fasting diet.

The results of the study seem to support the thinking that reduced calorie intake in any form is beneficial, although some forms are better than others.

The big question is – does alternate day fasting work in humans? This is currently unknown – there are a number of ongoing studies taking place which are looking into this, but these are long term studies, so results might not be available for a while.

One of the other benefits of alternate day fasting over normal diets is that, unlike normal diets, you won’t feel hungry every day – you will only feel hungry on fasting days. It also means that you can plan social occasions such as eating out and drinking on non fasting days, and not feel worried that you will be breaking your diet.

Alternate Day Fasting – downsides

No medical downsides have yet been observed in alternate day fasting, however many people who have tried to follow an alternate day fasting diet have struggled, because cutting calorie intake to a minimal level on fasting days can be quite tough psychologically, due to the hunger involved. Some people have found it easier to adjust the diet and take in slightly more food on the fasting days, in the form of low calorie snacks and drinks, to keep hunger at bay.

Like any diet, it is to be expected that the fasting part will be much tougher than the ‘eating what you want’ days!

One of the possible downsides of alternate day fasting is that, on non fasting days, you may end up gorging yourself with food to make up for the hunger felt on fasting days. For example, let’s say you’re a woman, and your normal calorie intake should be 2000 per day – on your fasting day, you would consume only 400 calories. But on the non fasting day, it’s easily possible to consume 3600 calories – for example eating a big takeaway and several large glasses of wine, plus normal meals. This would mean that you’ve eaten your normal 4000 calories over the 2 days, and would cancel out any weight loss.

Alternate Day Fasting – can I expect to lose weight?

Several limited studies (following less than 15 people) have shown that people following the alternate day fasting diet typically experience a weight loss of between 1 – 3 lb per week. However, it should be reiterated that these studies only involved very small numbers of people.

The best way to test alternate day fasting is to try it for yourself. Weight yourself at the beginning of the diet, and note down the results. Then start following the diet, and weigh yourself every week, and note down the difference. You should weigh yourself at the same time of the day every week – and you should also weigh yourself on a non fasting day (the same type of day you started the diet on) – the reason for this is that your weight may fluctuate considerably between fasting and non fasting days. So for example, if you day 1 is a non fasting day, you would weigh yourself at say 9am on day 1, then weigh yourself again on day 7, which is another non fasting day. You would then weigh yourself again on day 13, a week later, and another non fasting day.

Alternate Day Fasting – finally

Alternate day fasting is becoming very popular, and you should definitely give it a go if you are looking to try out a diet, and other diets have failed for you. The method makes perfect sense when analysed in detail, and although there are no large scale studies on alternate day fasting, the small ones that have been done look very promising indeed. Certainly give it a try, but while you’re at it – don’t discount other ways of dieting – and certainly don’t neglect your general health by avoiding exercise.

http://www.alternatedayfasting.org/