5 Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting for Women: Complete Guide 2024
In a world of fad diets influenced by Tiktok, dangerous weight loss teas promoted by influencers, and crash diets, weight loss through healthy means is becoming a tough goal to reach. For women, who are disproportionately more affected by unrealistic beauty standards, disordered eating has been one of the biggest consequences.
Statistically, more women have been affected by disordered eating disorders than men. This has led to widespread health issues, including low blood pressure, loss of menstrual cycle, mood swings, compromised reproductive health, and a whole range of heart diseases.
One of the buzzwords in the world of weight loss is intermittent fasting. Now, the word “fasting” may put people at unease, but rest assured, repeated scientific studies have shown that intermittent fasting reduces 3–8% of body weight after 3–24 weeks.
However, intermittent fasting diets work differently for women than they do for men, simply because they are biologically different. Add to it factors such as the menstrual cycle, different calorie intake levels, reproductive hormones, and lifestyle habits, and the approach to how intermittent fasting works is altered significantly.
Intermittent Fasting For Women Overview
As the name suggests, intermittent fasting is not so much a diet but rather a method of fasting for effective weight loss. Unlike most common diets aimed at losing weight, intermittent fasting does not involve regularly tracking your calorie intake or macronutrients.
Surprisingly, it has no requirements about what bracket of foods to eat or avoid, which is what makes it so popular. This means it involves eating fairly normal, easily accessible, and affordable food.
Compared to diets like keto, OMAD, or veganism, it saves you a whole lot of time and money which you would have otherwise spent on buying groceries and preparing your meals.
What Is Intermittent Fasting?
As the name suggests, it is a method of fasting during interim periods. When your body runs out of normal glucose to generate energy, it turns to the fat reserves of the body, effectively reducing the visceral fat in your body.
There are several ways to do this. The most popular method is the 16-8 method, in which you fast daily for a 16-hour fast with an 8-hour eating window where you eat two or more nutrient-dense meals.
Alternatively, there is the 5:2 diet involves eating as you normally do 5 days the week and restricting your calorie intake to 500–600 on the remaining 2 days.
Another way to do it, which is perhaps less strenuous on your body, is alternate-day fasting. What you do here is eat normally on one day and fast during the other day, or restrict yourself to 500-800 calories on that day. Alternate-day fasting is more beneficial for women as it is less intense on your body.
How Is Intermittent Fasting Different for Men and Women?
Intermittent fasting focuses on weight loss by regulating hormones, particularly hunger hormones. However, the problem is that most of the scientific studies have been done on men, which is why the effects of the fasting window on women and their health risks have to be taken with a grain of salt.
During intermittent fasting, the energy intake is low, which can reduce the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which in turn alters the production of two other hormones found in human females- the luteinizing hormone (LH) and the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH).
Prolonged reduced levels of LH and FSH can not only cause irregular periods, reduced periods, and infertility but compromised bone health as well. As a result of this, pregnant women should NOT do intermittent fasting, and for other women, non-fasting periods must be carefully monitored with more non-fasting days involved.
So, in conclusion, such fasting affects women differently, but there is a lot of debatable data.
5 Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting?
All the hype around an intermittent fasting plan is not without reason. Various studies have repeatedly alluded to its many potential health benefits.
1. Hormones
Apart from improved insulin sensitivity, it also regulates the Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which facilitates muscle formation, and fat burning and regulates body weight. With more regulated hormone production, cellular repair and regeneration happens faster and more effectively, leading to even more health benefits.
2. Eating Disorders
It is psychologically safer for people suffering from eating disorders or unhealthy relationships with food. Because intermittent fasting for women does not promote continuous calorie restriction over prolonged periods, it has lesser chances of psychologically adverse effects and triggers.
3. Inflammation
It has been known to effectively reduce chronic inflammation by improving the body’s natural immune system. Simultaneously, it helps the body fight against the free radicals in the system, which sometimes react with other important compounds and organs in the body to break them down faster.
4. Heart health
Some studies suggest that intermittent fasting helps women’s heart health. This is because it affects other risk factors such as cholesterol, ghrelin, visceral fat, high blood pressure, low blood sugar, insulin resistance, and triglycerides, all of which significantly affect women’s heart health.
5. Cancer
Although more studies are needed to conclude, some scientific evidence suggests that intermittent fasting (or any kind of regulated fasting) can reduce the risk of cancer in women. This is so because diets with such fasting periods have positive effects on metabolism, leading to reduced cancer risk.
Is It Safe? Can It Be Done By Anyone?
For most overweight adults, intermittent fasting is fairly safe. However, pregnant women or new moms who are breastfeeding are strictly told not to do intermittent fasting because skipping meals can reduce breast milk production, lead to loss of energy, and brain fog, or can even affect the development of the unborn baby.
It is also advised that people who are trying to put on muscle mass, weight lifters or bodybuilders; simply out, people who are putting their bodies through rigorous routines and require more energy and calories than usual, should not do intermittent fasting because it tampers with your body’s natural muscle repairing process.
People with bulimia should not try intermittent fasting as it can trigger their binge-purge cycles.
How To Start Intermittent Fasting?
If you are new to the whole intermittent fasting thing and are a little unsure about going to a dietitian, an easier, anxiety-free alternative would be to opt for programs that have been specifically designed for intermittent fasting.
Today, our experts have taken a brief look at the most effective, affordable, and popular program to bring you the best. We encourage you to do more research on each before deciding to take on it.
Recommended Program For Intermittent Fasting
Best Diet Protocol For Extreme Weight Loss: Intermittent Fasting Formula Strategy
It offers a sustainable way to achieve your long-term fitness goals without having to spend a fortune or putting your body through crash diets. It is a health protocol that has been written by two health professionals after years of research.
You can download the Digital version, which allows you instant lifetime access to all steps of the program. Unlike most programs, it is very lucid, and the instructions are easy to follow, making it accessible for people of all ages.
Additionally, you can download the program on all of your tech devices, like laptops, tablets, or smartphones, and carry them with you. Therefore, even when you are on vacation or away from your everyday routine, you cannot deviate from the intermittent fasting routine.
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Full Article: Intermittent Fasting Formula Reviews 2024: Does it Really Work?
Why Is Intermittent Fasting Formula The Most Popular IF Guide?
Given the number of positive reviews, it’s no wonder why it stands out.
Health professionals, after thorough research, compiled their findings into a value-dense blueprint for weight loss.
Given the number of weight loss pills that their clients had to consume in the past, the makers of this program were motivated to create something that helps reduce body fat for good and also targets chronic diseases that lead to abnormal blood sugar levels.
What happens during intermittent fasting is that the body burns up all the sugar to produce fuel. During the fasting period, when no more sugar is available, it turns to body fat for fuel, effectively leading to weight loss.
This helps promote insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing your risk of developing diabetes, and also regulates blood sugar.
So whether you follow a low-carb diet, are someone who refuses to eat breakfast, looking for weight gain, or simply reduce your food intake, Intermittent Fasting Formula ensures that you do not have to drastically alter your routine.
This is particularly helpful for moms who have their hands full with taking care of the family, and are left with little time to themselves.
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>>Related Article: Easy Keto Recipes for Dinner Tonight: Complete Guide 2024
Conclusion
When it comes to weight loss, most fad diets in the market are targeted at young, impressionable women, and they end up significantly affecting their metabolic health in the long run. This leads to overall health issues with long-term risk factors such as heart disease.
Intermittent fasting plans, because of their flexibility with each fasting window, help to not only lose weight, but also improve insulin sensitivity, blood sugar control, burn fat, irregular periods, and gut health.
Although there are several intermittent fasting plans, each geared towards fat loss, Intermittent Fasting Formula, as reviews suggest, is the most popular among women and obese adults.
Perhaps the reason for its popularity is its flexibility and simplicity. Women lose weight differently than men, and most women have a different body composition than men, with different requirements for calorie intake and calorie restriction.
Intermittent Fasting Formula is designed keeping in mind the fast-paced contemporary lifestyle that women have, and also takes into account the effect that female hormones have.
Intermittent Fasting for Women FAQs
Are there any side effects of intermittent fasting?
Unfortunately, during the early stages of this, you can experience some side effects as your body has been, thus far, used to its normal eating patterns. Such side effects as nausea, fatigue, and random pangs due to hunger hormones, chills, headaches, and brain fog are normal.
At the same time, because this kind of diet involves meal skipping, it is not suggested for people with acid reflux or gastrointestinal issues.
Is the intermittent fasting diet the same as the ketogenic diet?
Yes!
The first isn’t a diet but more like a pattern of eating. There are no limitations on what food you can eat, but at what time you can eat them.
A ketogenic diet, on the other hand, is about fewer carbohydrates and more healthy fats in your diet to enter a state of ketosis, wherein the body uses fat stores to make energy.
What foods are commonly suggested in intermittent fasting diets?
To regulate your blood sugar levels during fasting periods, it is suggested that you consume nutrient-dense foods during the eating window.
Therefore, protein-rich foods such as eggs, chicken, Seeds and nuts, seafood, fruits, beetroots, berries, etc. are highly recommended.
The list, of course, is endless. The main goal is to make sure that you do not suffer from nutrient deficiencies during the fasting period.
