Intermittent Fasting

“Eat like a king in the morning, like a prince for lunch, and a pauper for dinner.”

This is great diet advice and consistent with the intermittent fasting strategy that is becoming so popular. Intermittent fasting may be the best way to lose and then maintain healthy weight. It has roots in religious traditions and interestingly, some religious communities such as the Seventh-day Adventists in Utah have been found to be very healthy and to live up to seven years longer than the average American. Data like this tipped off researchers that there may be some real health benefits to fasting above and beyond any religious and spiritual gains obtained.

Early morning, large portion breakfasts have been shown to curb appetite and promote fat burning. New evidence has shown that eating frequent small amounts throughout the day may not be the best advice. It appears that having a period of time of at least 16 hours from a late afternoon meal to the following morning can in fact decrease your appetite.

There is a hunger hormone called ghrelin which is actually lower late in the evenings if you have a large breakfast. You’ll therefore have less of a desire to reach for unhealthy snacks in the evening because you just don’t feel as hungry.

Simply giving your system a break May yield further great benefits. Cells at rest leads to better regeneration when they are not constantly working on activities of digestion and metabolism.