Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
1. Maximizes the benefits of eating less.
You lose weight when your caloric intake is less than your caloric output. But when you fast, the body thinks it's starving and starts to use up stored fat for energy.
But if you eat a lot of calories on non-fasting days, then the fasting days are useless. In fact, they can be harmful because they increase insulin levels which tells the body to store more fat. So instead of losing weight, you gain it back.
However, if your fasting days are combined with lower caloric intake (as described in point #2 below) then this is not true and you will lose weight even on non-fasting days as long as your total caloric intake is less than your total output.
In other words, IF works but only in conjunction with other lifestyle changes such as lowering calories or increasing exercise or both. This is why people who fast regularly often report health benefits even though they don't necessarily lose weight from it.
For instance, I tend to fast one day a week but I've gained about ten pounds over the last year despite that fact because my diet has been terrible during that time (see point #2). But my blood pressure has gone down and my brain function has improved so much that I don't care about the extra pounds (plus, I'll probably lose them anyway once I start exercising again).
There's no magic bullet here but there are many little bullets that can add up to big results over time if done consistently and correctly. And IF is one of them . . . albeit perhaps not THE most important one but still important nonetheless.
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