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Wellness
LifestyleHealth & Wellness

A diet for the new year? Intermittent fasting might be better for you than calorie counting, research shows

  • Multiple studies suggest intermittent fasting can increase resistance to stress and improve blood sugar regulation
  • It’s not for everyone, though, and may not be a good diet for diabetic patients on medications and/or insulin

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A new study suggests that intermittent fasting offers health benefits, but it's not for everybody. Photo: Shutterstock
Tribune News Service

Trading holiday feasts for intermittent fasting could yield health benefits from lower cholesterol to reduced stress, according to a new study.

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The dieting method requires patience, researchers wrote in a review published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, but doctors can help patients reach the scientifically proven benefits or warn at-risk groups to avoid it.

While intermittent fasting diets vary, the practices of alternating between certain periods of eating and not eating fall into two categories, said co-author Mark Mattson, a neuroscience professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the US state of Maryland. One restricts eating to six to eight hours per day and another limits people to one moderate-sized meal two days each week.

The eating patterns can increase resistance to stress and improve blood sugar regulation, while decreasing blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates, Mattson wrote. Multiple studies on humans and animals have reported those results, he said, bringing legitimacy to the practice.

According to a new study, intermittent fasting could yield benefits from lower cholesterol to reduced stress. Photo: Shutterstock
According to a new study, intermittent fasting could yield benefits from lower cholesterol to reduced stress. Photo: Shutterstock
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“We are at a transition point where we could soon consider adding information about intermittent fasting to medical school curricula alongside standard advice about healthy diets and exercise,” Mattson said in a release statement.

Even so, committing to intermittent fasting for long periods of time is often difficult, said Dr Guy Mintz, director of cardiovascular health and lipidology at Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in New York. Some studies show patients eating more than recommended on fasting days and less on feast days, said Mintz, who did not participate in the review.

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