Intermittent fasting:
Intermittent fasting or intermittent energy restriction is a broader term in which a person voluntarily restricts the energy intake and fasts for a certain period.
Intermittent fasting is growing it’s importance day by day because it shows immediate results with no possible side effects.
Intermittent fasting works wonders for people who find it doable. It may not suit every single person, especially not suitable for those having any kind of eating disorders.
As people with eating disorders are more prone to crash diet and go crazy with their eating.
Intermittent fasting helps to manage the balance of hormones in your body, which is the ultimate step for losing weight. When a person fasts for 10-12 hours, the body turns to burn the stored fats.
When a person starts fasting, following hormonal changes happen in the body:
Insulin:
When there is no intake of food for a certain period, there is no increase in insulin levels. Lower insulin levels help to burn the stored fats in adipose tissues of the body.
Higher insulin levels in the body prevent the body from utilizing the body fats from adipose tissues for energy.
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline):
During the fasting period, there is an increase in the secretion of norepinephrine in the body.
The hormone secreted by the nervous system reaches to the adipose cells to burn the body fats and convert them into free fatty acids.
These free fatty acids ultimately convert into glucose and are used as energy to meet the body’s needs.
Human growth hormone (HGH):
In obese persons, there is lesser production of human growth hormone. But during fasting, the levels of human growth hormones increase. This hormone is known to burn fat by using fat as an energy source for the body.
Studies show that the human growth hormone not only helps to burn fat but also aids in the gaining of lean muscle mass. HGH is an essential hormone to control to manage your weight, that is why there is now an artificial injection of this hormone.
