Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

bopav via Getty Images For years, we’ve been told it’s important to eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, to rev up our metabolism and get our day started right. “Intermittent fasting is allowing the body to have a prolonged period of rest without calorie intake,” explained Dr. Adam Perlman, an internist at the Duke Center for Integrated Medicine in Durham, North Carolina. “What makes intermittent fasting different from dieting is that you are regulating when you eat, not what you eat,” said Dr. Luiza Petre, a board-certified cardiologist and weight management specialist who follows the principles herself. Perlman said that for people with such a history, any type of dieting or food restriction program “runs the risk of increasing the focus on food and exacerbating an already challenging if not unhealthy relationship with one’s diet.” Axe noted that eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia, “can lead to malnutrition, which has a variety of negative effects on hormonal balance and someone’s metabolism.” Intermittent fasting can make those problems worse if someone is already undereating and struggling to produce sufficient hormones. She emphasized that the goal is to maintain a healthy amount of calories for your body, not to “rebound eat.” “If intermittent fasting is incorporated, it should be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle change and under the supervision of a health care provider.” - Lisa Cooper The bottom line, Cooper said, is that “if intermittent fasting is incorporated, it should be included as part of a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle change and under the supervision of a health care provider.” For those starting out, Petre suggested implementing a 12-hour fasting/12-hour eating window and building up from there, eventually finding the schedule that works best for you.