Fasting diets; is this a better way to stay healthy and lose the weight? - Charschan Chiropractic in North Brunswick, NJ and Scotch Plains, NJ

Fasting diets; is this a better way to stay healthy and lose the weight?

Fasting diets are the new rage. Celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian and the musical artist Moby have been telling their twitter feeds about the benefits of their fasting protocols.

Science is trying to catch up with the craze and there are benefits which may include more cells being renewed within the body which is healthy for us, lower rates of cancer and of course lower body fat. People who calorie restrict also claim that it helps them improve their mental clarity as well.

There are different types of fasting diets including intermittent fasts, time restricted feeding, periodic fasts and a fast mimicking diet.

Our bodies are designed to run on less food and the idea of breakfast, lunch and dinner is actually something that developed from the industrial age. Prior to this, meals were often at irregular times and required a lot of energy to prepare. Imagine what was involved with making a chicken sandwich, which requires you prepare a live bird, make the bread, add the lettuce that you just picked. You get the idea.

A recent article in Vox magazine talks about the science, the types of diets and the benefits that are being touted by fasting. For myself, I had done a diet a few years ago that included some two days fasts that actually lowered my body set weight. Check out the article below

Fasting diets are going mainstream — ahead of the science. Here’s why.
Some people lose weight fasting but many others can’t stick to it.
By Julia Belluz

When John Kane was approaching 50, he noticed his weight had crept up to 275 pounds. At 6-foot-2 and medically obese, he turned to the gym to slim down, doing an aerobic workout five days per week.

But the regular gym sessions became tiresome after a few years, and when Kane stopped exercising, he gained back all the weight. That’s when he decided to experiment with something else: fasting.

Kane’s fasts have evolved over the past year and a half, but for a while, he was eating only one meal a day six days per week, and abstaining from food altogether every Friday. A couple of weeks ago, he decided to try “alternate day fasting” — eating whatever he wants every other day, and nothing in between.