Intermittent fasting can essentially be described as an eating pattern whereby eating takes place for a certain period of hours and then fasting (not eating) for a set number of hours.
It doesn’t specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat them.
The theory behind intermittent fasting is that our ancestors did not have access to food 24 hours a day like we do now — rather they existed in an environment where food was relatively scarce, and they had to function at their best physically and mentally often in a fasted state.
In modern times, this translates to limiting your meals during the day to a shorter number of hours than your fast.
One example of this is the 16:8 intermittent fasting diet which limits eating to 8 hours a day.
The theory is to wake and work out in a fasted state, which forces your body to draw upon fat stores for energy and for you to consume reasonable meals throughout your 8 eating hours.
TOP 2 benefits of Intermittent fasting are as follows:
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it has shown to be effective in limiting calorie intake to reduce fat while still maintaining performance and muscle tissue
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a strict eating schedule can prevent unnecessary calories that can lead to weight gain. Particularly for those that struggle with mindless snacking throughout the day or boredom eating at night
