The Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting
The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting are two practices that work well together and can help improve your health in a number of ways. If you’re interested in combining the benefits of maintaining ketosis with intermittent fasting, here’s how to do it safely and effectively.
One way to enhance the effects of the keto diet is through intermittent fasting, which involves alternating periods of eating and fasting. This can help to increase weight loss and improve overall health by giving the body a break from constant eating and allowing it to burn through stored fat.
There are several potential benefits to combining the keto diet with intermittent fasting. For one, it can help to speed up weight loss by increasing the body's fat-burning capabilities. When the body is in a state of ketosis, it is more efficient at burning fat for energy, and intermittent fasting can further enhance this effect.
Additionally, the keto diet has been shown to have numerous other health benefits, including improving heart health, reducing the risk of diabetes, and even potentially treating certain types of cancer. Intermittent fasting can also have a number of health benefits, such as reducing inflammation and improving cognitive function. Combining the two may provide even greater health benefits.
There are several different ways to incorporate intermittent fasting into a keto diet. One popular method is the 16/8 method, where you fast for 16 hours and eat all of your daily calories during an 8-hour window. This can be done by skipping breakfast and only eating during lunch and dinner, or by having an early dinner and skipping breakfast the next day.
Why Intermittent Fasting?
Various fasting practices have been shown to promote numerous health benefits. Much of the research on fasting has been performed on animals, not humans, but results are promising: fasting has been shown to improve markers associated with disease, reduce oxidative stress, and preserve cognitive function.
Fasting also promotes autophagy -- the process in which aging or damaged cells are destroyed. This may sound like a bad thing, but when damaged cells die off, it allows healthy new cells to grow. Autophagy plays a key role in preventing diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and neurological conditions.
The good news is, you don’t have to go completely without food to experience the benefits of fasting. Intermittent fasting has become a popular practice that uses a carefully timed eating schedule to help reduce the risk of disease, increase energy, and promote weight loss.
How to Do Intermittent Fasting
When people talk about intermittent fasting, they are often referring to the practice of time-restricted feeding. This involves eating all of your meals for the day within a smaller window. The most common method is 16:8 intermittent fasting, in which you fast for 16 hours and restrict all of your food to an 8-hour period. For example, you could eat all of your meals between noon and 8 pm, and fast the rest of the day. This gives your body more time and energy to devote to cellular repair and rejuvenation.
During your fasting period, you can drink water or tea. You may also drink coffee with a small amount of cream. Consuming more than 50 calories will break your fast.
Getting Started with Intermittent Fasting
If you’re just starting out on a keto diet, don’t worry about adding intermittent fasting right away. After you become keto-adapted, you will likely find that you naturally aren’t as hungry as you used to be. This is because fat is a more sustained energy source, and your body is no longer subject to marked fluctuations in blood sugar. You may find that you don’t need to eat first thing in the morning, which makes fasting easier.
To get accustomed to intermittent fasting, start with a 13-hour fasting window, and gradually increase it as you become more comfortable with the practice. Over time, you may find that you can fast longer than 16 hours.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to practice intermittent fasting every day. If your schedule makes it difficult to do every day, don’t sweat it! Try it a few days a week and see how you feel.
If you have any medical conditions or are taking any prescription medications, it’s always a good idea to discuss any major dietary changes with your doctor first.
