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Home » Diets that Work » Nutritionist weighs in on intermittent fasting – WRVO Public Media

There have been a lot of fads over the years that claim to help people lose weight. Right now, some of those fads include things like the Paleo Diet, Whole 30 and Keto, and a very popular one right now is intermittent fasting.

Keri Gans, a registered and certified dietician nutritionist, joined Take Care to talk about intermittent fasting and the effects of practicing it.

Gans, who is also author of the book The Small Change Diet, said there are two popular types of intermittent fasting. The first is the 5:2, where a person eats whatever they want for five days per week and then fasts for the remaining two, eating no more than 500 calories. The second type is when a person eats during a set time throughout the day, usually a period lasting eight hours. Outside of that time period, the person fasts, going possibly 16 hours without food per day.

Its the restricting of calories, so basically, when theyre fasting, theyre not eating, and theres only so many calories that most people will consume in that set eight hours of eating, Gans explained the latter.

Gans said that intermittent fasting is a type of diet, as it applies restriction to work, but its restricting something different from the typical diet.

It is like a lot of diets in that theres the word restriction there, Gans said. It might not be restricting your food choices, but it is restricting the quantity that you eat when you eat.

As far as health benefits go, Gans cautioned that, though a person who fasts in this way may lose weight, due to the restrictive nature of the diet, its very difficult to maintain it long enough to keep the weight off.

The bottom line is can you keep it up? Gans said. Thats what makes a lot of these just another fad diet. It makes it that an individual cannot continue it, and therefore, they fail, and then, theyre looking for the next fad diet.

There are some additional drawbacks to this diet, particularly when it comes to possibly introducing some unhealthy eating habits. This is why Gans cautions that somebody who has a history of any eating disorder should not intermittently fast.

It would not be recommended because of the idea of restricting when you eat and literally fasting, she said. So, thats not necessarily a healthy concept for many people.

But some have found success, she said. Gans supports a modified version of the daily intermittent fasting, where a person might stop eating after a certain hour of the evening, like 8 p.m., to cut out late-night snacking.

"Some people have been successful, but the question is for how long, and that's the bottom line."

Long term, Gans said intermittent fasting doesnt pay attention to the quality of the calories consumed, leading to the perpetuation of unhealthy eating habits and a decrease in nutrients.

If youre intermittent fasting, but the foods that youre choosing are not healthy foods, well then, at the end of the day, youre going to be lacking in certain nutrients that would be important to, lets say, build your immune system, Gans said. So, we need to step away from the actual concept and look at the foods that a persons actually eating.

These are all things Gans keeps in mind when advising people about intermittent fasting. If someone approached her wanting to try out the diet, she said the first question is why they want to make their life difficult when healthy eating doesnt have to be so hard.

I dont think that a person has to restrict themselves in order to have a healthy eating routine, she said. I would encourage them to see if we could teach them about portion sizes and how to eat more fruits and vegetables and still eat the foods they love -- because thats important -- but maybe in a healthier way, maybe not as often, maybe in a smaller serving.

If a person still insists on trying intermittent fasting, Gans said she is far more comfortable with the daily fasting than the weekly if the person is healthy and isnt on any medication.

One way some practice the eight-hour fasting is skipping breakfast, and though thats a relatively small restriction, Gans cautioned that breakfast is important in its own right.

Im a huge breakfast fan, Gans said. Now, research doesnt necessarily support -- believe it or not -- those that eat breakfast are thinner. However, I would argue those that eat breakfast are getting certain nutrients they might not get throughout the rest of the day.

Gans said that a persons success is often highly dependent on the persons lifestyle, psychology and personality. And diets are typically not as effective as lifestyle changes.

Some people have been successful, but the question is for how long, and thats the bottom line, she said.

The often failure of diets is why Gans supports lifestyle changes instead, and she said those lifestyle changes have to be tailored for the individual.

I like to talk about as a lifestyle change, and its important for me to get to know the individual and know what their lifestyle is, she said. Theres all different factors that can affect somebodys eating, and its important to get to the bottom of that in order to help a person.

In The Small Change Diet, Gans describes these lifestyle changes, advocating for small, habitual changes that people can make to have an impact on their weight. This method helps a person ease into healthier eating without the all-or-nothing approach dieting typically takes, she said.

Small changes can include a variety of things. Gans used the example of a person who doesnt eat breakfast starting with the goal of eating breakfast every day. That might start with one banana in the morning. Then, as that becomes a habit, add yogurt or whole-grain cereal until the person is eating a well-balanced breakfast every morning. Similarly, a person who doesnt eat any vegetables may start by eating one serving of vegetables per day.

Lets find a way to make it inclusive into what youre presently doing, get it so it becomes second nature, then move on, then tackle something else, she said. Too many diets ask somebody to change their entire lifestyle all at once, and that sets them up for failure.

Focusing on how to improve rather than what to cut out can encourage the person to keep at it, helping to create a healthier lifestyle to find long-lasting success.

Its more about what you should be doing more of and not what you shouldnt be doing, and if you create some of these better habits, maybe some of the lesser, the habits that arent as healthy for you, they start to naturally fall by the wayside, she said. Were focusing on improvement, and then with that, everything falls into place.

Originally posted here:
Nutritionist weighs in on intermittent fasting - WRVO Public Media

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Home » Diets that Work » Nutritionist weighs in on intermittent fasting – WRVO Public Media