Nikitha Raj

Project

Presentation

Progress Log

Capstone Essay

Nikitha Raj

Mr. Coussens

English 8

5 May 2020

Intermittent fasting is a diet that will help you lose weight along with giving you several health benefits. Many people have tried different diets and have resulted in little to no weight loss. But this diet can help you with building up your health, reducing your weight and help with toning on top of giving you more! As someone who cares about everyones’ health, I have decided to film a video of my parents going on this journey of intermittent fasting. I will be interviewing them on their energy levels a couple times throughout the video. I will also be filming the foods they eat and measuring their weight. I decided to base my capstone on this topic because I want to help people understand what is best for them health wise. For my research, I was curious about the different types of health benefits mentioned along with the variety of ways you can go with this diet. I hope that through my knowledge, I can educate people in what to do when fasting and help them take the right approach towards the betterment of their health.

When people think of fasting, the first thing that probably comes to mind is “not eating”. But people take on fasting for many reasons, some health related and some not. Christians are expected to fast during the Lenten period of the calendar to replicate the sacrifice that Jesus made in the desert for 40 days. Muslims fast for 30 days a year during Ramadan because it has been written in the Quran (Why). But many people also fast because they want to be healthy. They might want to lose weight, they might want to tone, or maybe they just are doing it for the major health benefits. Fasting not only helps people lose weight but gives them several health benefits such as a stronger immune system along with speeding up their metabolism. Fasting also helps with rejuvenating the skin and preventing acne, improving someones’ insulin sensitivity, boosting their brain function, promoting longevity and detoxification and even preventing them from cancer (Belyh). Fasting overall is very good for your body to help you strengthen your body.

But there are many diets out there; one being intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is a diet that does not require much exercise but mainly requires people to consume healthy foods and to refrain from eating as much as they did before. There are many ways to go when trying this diet. Two of the most popular methods are known as the 16/8 method made by Martin Berkhan and the 5:2 method made by Brad Pillon (Lansverk). The 16/8 method requires someone to fast 16 hours of the day and then conservatively eat for the other 8 hours. The 5:2 diet is to eat regularly yet healthy for 5 days of the week and then fast for two consecutive or non-consecutive days throughout the week (Gunnars). Some of the other methods are the Eat Stop Eat method, Alternate-Day Fasting, the Warrior Diet and the Spontaneous Meal Skipping. The Eat Stop Eat method is quite similar to the 5:2 method where it is only required to fast once a week. The Alternate-Day Fasting is to alternate between fasting and eating. Eat 24 hours, then fast for 24 hours, then eat, etc. The fifth method which is the Warrior Diet is to eat small snacks or small amounts of fruits and vegetables throughout the day and then to have one big meal at night. The time to eat is usually between a 4 hour window. And finally, the Spontaneous meal skipping method. This way is a little bit different than the others because it does not follow a specific plan. Spontaneous meal skipping is overall just skipping meals time to time randomly whether they are just not hungry or they do not have time to cook or make a meal (Gunnars). These are some options that are helpful when doing this diet.

Intermittent Fasting is a diet that requires a lot of patience and motivation. This diet is not recommended for everybody, but is highly recommended for men, people who already monitor what they eat, and people who exercise. It is most successful for these people because they already have experience of maintaining their health. For people such as women, people who are married or people who compete in sports, this diet will have an impact but not as clearly as the others. Many researches have shown that men lose weight a lot quicker than women. Finally, it is recommended not to try intermittent fasting for people who are pregnant, people who get easily stressed and if they have eating disorders. This is because fasting when pregnant can impact the baby’s health and people who are stressed or have eating disorders will suffer quite a lot when doing due to the many sacrifices they have to make (Berardi).

This diet has many health benefits which is one of the reasons why many people do it even if they are fit. Intermittent Fasting can help with weight and body fat loss. It can also help with the increase of burning fat, lowering blood insulin and sugar levels. It can help prevent someone from type 2 diabetes, improve someone's mental concentration, increase someone's energy and possibly even increase their growth hormone over the short term (Fung). But although the diets’ results are amazing, as mentioned earlier it is quite hard and requires lots of discipline and motivation. So here are some tips when doing this diet. Eat lots of nuts and fruits and drink a lot of water because usually when people claim they are hungry, they are just thirsty. Drinking black tea or coffee, and cinnamon or licorice herbal teas will help fill the stomach. It is recommended to watch less TV because when watching, people are distracted by the different advertisements containing a variety of delicious foods. These can make someone feel hungry when in fact they are not hungry at all. When exercising, try to aim to do it before eating because people tend to start feeling hungry about a half an hour after exercising. Make sure to drink black coffee because it helps improve concentration and increases energy levels and has no amount of calories in the beverage. And finally, take a deep breath and take a break setting aside some time to meditate (Pawlowski). These tips will help and hopefully make the diet a little easier.

There have been many researches and experiments conducted on intermittent fasting. Researchers reviewed more than 70 studies on the most popular intermittent fasting methods which is the 5:2 method and the 16:8 method. They found out that all intermittent fasting methods can help with slow-aging and age related issues like cancer, heart disease as well as diabetes. Researchers also found that this diet is not only noticed in the people who have lost weight but in an additional process that occurs, called metabolic switching, which is the cause of the majority of intermittent fasting’s benefits. Metabolic switching is the repetition of cycles of a metabolic change that influences ketosis as fasting and exercise, followed by a recovery period such as eating, sleeping or resting. This may optimize the brain; function and resilience throughout a person’s lifespan, with a focus on the neuronal circuits that are involved in perception and mood. Studies have shown that intermittent fasting can also help with athletic endeavors. One young man found that those who fasted for 16 hours straight a day were able to reduce their body fat but still maintained their muscle mass over two months of resistance training (Lansverk). Many of the researches have shown successes on health benefits and weight loss.

If intermittent fasting might not be the right diet, try to stay healthy by eating lots of proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and carbohydrates. Along with that, it is encouraged to substitute water with sugary drinks and reduce health concerns such as salt, sodium and alcohol. Not only in the eating aspect, but make sure to stay active and exercise. Most importantly, focus on the types of carbs, fats and protein entering the body (What). Throughout my research on intermittent fasting, I have learned a lot about not only this specific diet but fasting in general. I have learned why people go on diets, what benefits diets give apart from weight loss, and why it is important to fast. Now that I have a very detailed knowledge in this field, I plan to use it when helping my parents out in this diet. I will tell them what types of food to eat, types of beverages to drink, when they should exercise and some tips when doing this diet. My ultimate goal is to be able to educate people in the world of health, diet and nutrition and hopefully help them take the next steps towards improving their health and fitness.

Works Cited Page

Belyh, Anastasia. “10 Benefits of Fasting That Will Surprise You” Cleverism, 26 May 2019,

https://www.cleverism.com/10-benefits-of-fasting/. Accessed 6 April 2020.

Berardi, John. “Intermittent Fasting: Who’s It For? (And, if It’s Not for You, What to Do

Instead).” Huffpost, 2 February 2015,

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/intermittent-fasting-whos_b_6236712. Accessed 8 April 2020.

Fung, Jason. “Intermittent Fasting for Beginners.” Diet Doctor, Diet Doctor, 28 Jan. 2016,

www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting. Accessed 22 April 2020.

Gunnars, Kris. “6 Popular Ways to Do Intermittent Fasting”

Healthline, 1 January 2020,

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-ways-to-do-intermittent-fasting. Accessed 2 April

2020.

Lansverk, Gabby. “Intermittent fasting may help slow aging and diseases like cancer and

diabetes- even if you don’t lose weight.” Insider, 30 December 2019,

https://www.insider.com/intermittent-fasting-slows-aging-cancer-diabetes-heart-disease-study-2019-12. Accessed 8 April 2020

Pawlowski, A. “4 tips to keep an intermittent fasting diet on track” Today, 18 November 2019,

https://www.today.com/health/how-lose-weight-intermittent-fasting-16-8-diet-t132608.

Accessed 2 April 2020.

”The Top 7 Reasons Why People Go on Diets.” Nutrient Rich, 11 September 2013,

https://nutrientrich.com/1/the-top-7-reasons-why-people-go-on-diets.html. Accessed 8

April 2020.

What Should I Eat.” School of Public Health, Harvard, n.d.,

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/. Accessed 6 April

2020.

“Why Do Muslims Fast?” CBN.com, 14 Oct. 2013,

www1.cbn.com/onlinediscipleship/why-do-muslims-fast?. Accessed 22 April 2020.