Fasting to lose weight is not a new idea; However, the intermittent fasting gained more attention in 2013, after British physician Michael Mosley released the book “The 2-Day Diet”. Since then, the diet that alternates periods without eating anything (usually between 12 to 48 hours) with periods of eating has become popular.
However, program benefits must be assessed for each case. This is what Argentine physician Lisandro Garcia believes, a specialist in nutrition and gastroenterology and one of the guests at the 25th Brazilian Congress of Nutrology, an event that takes place between the 23rd and 25th of September online.
During his presentation held today(25), Garcia highlighted the important points of this type of fasting, showing how the adaptive responses produced by the body reduce oxidative damage and inflammation in the body, improving energy metabolism and cellular protection. The expert presented data from a survey of overweight and middle-aged young adults who had good results after fasting, such as glycemic regulation, lowering blood pressure and loss of abdominal fat.
Therefore, says the doctor, the diet would be an important tool in the treatment of obese people or people with a very important metabolic disease. “The evidence also indicates that patients with rheumatoid arthritis, cancer and neurological diseases can also benefit from this type of fasting”, said the doctor, in an interview with Live well.
However, he stresses that scientific evidence is still limited. Therefore, it is important that the need for this diet or not is individually assessed, and that only sick individuals within the age range analyzed are considered eligible. In the case of implementing the regimen, a specialist in nutrition should guide the patient through the entire process.
Garcia also states that fasting for long periods is a difficult program to implement and that may face resistance from the patient, since culturally we are used to eating about four to six meals a day. And, during the adaptation period, symptoms such as hunger, irritability and reduced ability to concentrate are also common.
Therefore, he says that what is important is to consider intermittent fasting to be considered a therapeutic resource for sick people. “As soon as the health parameters return to normal, it is possible to think about returning to normal eating habits”, he explains.
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