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Intermittent fasting is becoming increasingly popular. A study has examined how useful intermittent fasting is to lose weight – and found the answer to the question of whether you can still drink your coffee with milk in the morning.

Doing intermittent fasting correctly: You should pay attention to this

Many people can easily integrate intermittent fasting into their everyday lives. The body is given a break for a certain period of time during which it is not supplied with any calories.

Intermittent fasting is becoming increasingly popular for weight loss or general health and wellness. There are almost no regulations as far as eating is concerned – except that breaks have to be taken in between. Another form of fasting, for example, is therapeutic fasting, which involves fasting for several days or even weeks at a time.

For example, it is possible to eat only eight hours a day and fast for the remaining 16 hours (8:16 method).
Alternatively, one can eat normally five days a week and be largely starved two days a week, that is, consuming no more than about 500 calories (5:2 method).
With alternate-day fasting, you alternate between fasting on one day and eating without restrictions on one day (1:1 method).

Rules for intermittent fasting: is coffee with milk allowed?

For many, coffee in the morning is indispensable. But does the stimulant have to be left out during the fasting phase?

Basically, fasting people can drink coffee, unsweetened tea and water at any time during intermittent fasting. Caffeine even helps you get through “hunger time” by curbing your appetite.

But if you don’t drink your coffee black, you have to say goodbye to it during Lent: Milk and sugar are taboo during this period. Because the body should not be supplied with any calories during the rest phase.

Autophagy: Cell cleaning through intermittent fasting strengthens the immune system

In addition to its function as a diet, intermittent fasting should also strengthen the immune system of the person losing weight. dr Matthias Riedl explains to the NDR how regular breaks in eating can promote so-called autophagy.

Autophagy is the self-cleaning of cells, an intercellular process that breaks down defective or damaged proteins and organelles.

The temporary renunciation gives the body a break in which autophagy is stimulated and stimulated. Degradation can be understood as the body’s own recycling program, which generates energy from cellular waste. The more autophagy that occurs in an organism, the older it gets and the healthier it stays.

Study proves positive health effects

A recent study by researchers at the University of Graz, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, also shows that intermittent fasting has a positive effect on health. Not only did it lead to weight loss after four weeks, but it also regulated cholesterol levels, had a positive effect on blood pressure and abdominal fat, and reduced inflammation.

As part of the study, 60 healthy volunteers were divided into two groups. One fasted intermittently for four weeks, the second maintained the current lifestyle. “The study was supplemented by a further 30 subjects who had been doing alternate day fasting for more than six months,” the study directors explain. “It also gave us a first, unique look at the long-term effects of alternate day fasting.”

The goal of the research team was to study the effects of intermittent fasting on both body weight and molecular mechanisms in healthy volunteers. The strict observance of the fasting days was closely monitored by continuous glucose measurement.

Lost 3.5 kilos of body weight in four weeks

The results of the study paint a clear picture: “Within just four weeks, the study participants reduced their body weight by an average of around 3.5 kilograms, with the average starting weight being 76 kilograms,” reports Thomas Pieber. The researchers not only observed a significant weight reduction in the fasting participants, they also recorded an increase in ketone bodies. “These arise as a by-product of fat burning in the event of a carbohydrate deficiency and are suspected of having age-protective effects. In addition, the fasting cohort showed a reduction in specific amino acid levels, cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, abdominal fat and inflammation parameters .

These effects are associated with positive health consequences, Frank Madeo summarizes the insights into the molecular mechanisms. In addition, the researchers found a mild reduction in the thyroid hormone T3 in the fasting people while the thyroid-stimulating hormone TSH increased – a status that has already been linked to longevity in numerous studies.

“Intermittent fasting is a very simple but extremely effective dietary principle,” says Harald Sourij. Building on these results, the researchers will begin their second study in the fall, which will examine intermittent fasting in patients with type II diabetes mellitus who already require insulin therapy.

Intermittent fasting as a therapy for diabetes

In addition, the research team at the German Institute for Human Nutrition (DIfE) discovered a connection between the diet method of intermittent fasting and type 2 diabetes. The positive effect of intermittent fasting could be a promising therapeutic approach against blood sugar in the near future.

In contrast, another study found that there is not much of a difference between intermittent fasting and a regular weight-loss diet. Criticism can also be leveled at the study by the Graz researchers: It is not clear whether the positive effects of intermittent fasting are really due to the meal breaks or solely to the reduction in the number of calories. In addition, the study with almost 100 participants is not representative. This leaves the question open as to whether it is really better to fast or whether it is enough to eat less.

This method is supposed to help you lose weight: The Coburg chief physician Prof. Dr. Johannes Kraft recommends the 3×16 method. In this article we reveal what’s behind it and why it doesn’t just improve your weight.

Intermittent Fasting: Get rid of belly fat with the 3×16 method

Unhealthy fats and proteins are only burned if no carbohydrates are consumed for at least twelve hours. Specifically, a 3×16 fast means that no carbohydrates are allowed to be consumed on at least three days per week for a period of 16 hours each. For example, you can skip breakfast or dinner on these days.

On the other days you can eat normally. But in order to successfully and consistently avoid carbohydrates, you have to know where they are found:
All grain products such as bread, muesli and flakes
All fruits, fruit juices and sodas
Alcohol and any kind of sugar
milk, potatoes and rice products
Processed products such as sausage or finished products
Play it safe with these products, which are guaranteed to contain no or hardly any carbohydrates:
Lettuce, cucumber and Chinese cabbage
Broccoli, zucchini, oils and nuts
Lactose-free dairy products such as hard cheese, eggs, fish and lean, unbreaded meat or ham
Seitan, lupins and tofu

For most people, the easiest thing to do is to drink only black coffee, tea, or water in the morning three times a week and skip the rest of breakfast. If carbohydrates were last consumed at 9 p.m. in the evening, fat burning does not start again until 9 a.m. In order for belly fat to be burned to a relevant extent, carbohydrates should not be eaten again until 1 p.m. at the earliest. Alternatively, instead of breakfast, dinner can be omitted. All that matters is that you get a 16-hour carbohydrate break.

The 3×16 method has a preventative effect against diabetes. But even if you already have diabetes, you can benefit from this fasting method. A significant reduction in the medication required is often achieved. However, before you start fasting, you should discuss your approach with your doctor. A fasting guide for diabetes can also be supportive. However, you don’t have to do without the enjoyment and joy of eating with friends and family. On the days when you are not fasting, you can eat normally.

Previous successes of the 3 x 16 method

Prof. Dr. Johannes Kraft observed benefits of “3 x 16” intermittent fasting are many. In addition to reducing abdominal fat and reducing insulin resistance, there are some other positive effects that should not be ignored. These are the advantages of the method:
Fast visible and noticeable success
Great reduction in belly fat
Physical and mental performance improvement
Simple fasting method that is individually adaptable
No ping pong effect
According to the current state of science, the risk of vascular diseases, dementia and certain types of cancer is reduced
The method costs nothing
Prof. Dr. The fasting method developed by Kraft and his team has been proven to be successful. Every year around 300 patients come to Prof. Dr. Kraft, who also gives lectures on the subject to around a thousand listeners a year. The success speaks for itself: the method is successful in over 80 percent of the subjects. Due to this high success rate, it is not only disseminated by patients, but also by doctors and universities.

Intermittent fasting should not only make you fit, but also slim, healthier and more powerful. Proponents argue that the energy that would otherwise be “lost” in digestion would be available to the body for other activities. What’s up with the trend?

In contrast to therapeutic fasting, intermittent fasting does not generally refrain from eating for a longer period of time, but only for certain periods of time. Several intervals are possible with the form of nutrition, also known as “intermittent fasting”. The variants “2:5” and “16:8” are popular. One involves fasting moderately for two days and eating normally for five days. In the second, there is no food intake for 16 hours, and eating is allowed for the following eight hours.

The variants and permitted calorie intake seem endless here, because everyone should be able to adapt their form of intermittent fasting individually. The idea behind this is the notion that centuries ago the human body didn’t have regular access to food either. That is why intermittent fasting is the original form of nutrition.

With intermittent fasting against insulin fattening

Nowadays we have constant access to food. Most of these are far from healthy because they contain too many unhealthy fats or sugars or are made from white flour. The oversupply of food means that the proportion of overweight people is increasing and it is becoming increasingly expensive for us.

Constant supply of calories through snacks, between meals and high-calorie drinks lead to so-called “insulin fattening”. Due to the almost non-stop consumption, insulin is released from the pancreas almost continuously in order to metabolize the food. However, if insulin is constantly available to the body, it builds up fat mass. Many small meals or high-calorie drinks throughout the day therefore lead to excessive body fat being formed.

In addition, a constant release of insulin leads to fatigue of the pancreas. In addition, the body cells are becoming less and less sensitive to insulin, so that over time diabetes type II can also develop from insulin fattening. A constant calorie intake of any kind is really fundamentally harmful.

Intermittent fasting as a way out of the insulin trap?

Proponents of intermittent fasting cite, among other things, insulin fattening as evidence that intermittent fasting is the most original and healthiest form of nutrition. Animal experiments with mice should also show that intermittent fasting could prevent the onset of type II diabetes. However, the extent to which this result can be transferred to humans has not yet been scientifically researched. This also applies to claims that high blood pressure, Parkinson’s disease or dementia can also be prevented with intermittent fasting.

Only: Even nutritional recommendations such as “in the morning like a king, at noon like a king or in the evening like a pauper” have the same positive effect on the pancreas and insulin levels as intermittent fasting. And if you don’t eat from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. with the 16:8 variant of intermittent fasting, for example, you are doing nothing other than the once popular “dinner cancelling”. So the idea of ​​intermittent fasting as a way out of the insulin trap isn’t all that new.

Criticism of intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting therefore has positive effects on the metabolism, but there are also risks behind intermittent fasting. It is suggested that during the permitted “meal times” all foods are generally permitted. Despite the fasting period, the calorie intake can still be higher than is actually healthy. Nor is there any recommendation as to what a healthy meal should look like. Anyone who fasts intermittently does not learn anything about healthy eating apart from not eating.

On the contrary: You run the risk of taking in too many unhealthy calories in the allowed period of time in order to get through the fasting period better. Especially with the 2:5 variant, unhealthy eating habits that can lead to insulin fattening are neither changed nor sensible diets learned.

The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) is therefore very clear about intermittent fasting: “The DGE does not consider this method to be useful for regulating weight in the long term. This does not result in a switch to a health-promoting diet.”

For whom is intermittent fasting nevertheless suitable?

First and foremost, intermittent fasting should not be about losing weight, but about normalizing and optimizing your metabolism. Weight loss is usually a pleasant side effect, but should not be the focus – also to prevent malnutrition or malnutrition.

If you want to do something to prevent insulin fattening and the secondary diseases, you can achieve the first results with the 16:8 variant and “Dinner Cancelling”. However, it is important that the remaining two meals (i.e. breakfast and lunch) are balanced so as not to provoke malnutrition.

At best, however, a healthy diet should consist of three balanced, healthy, wholesome meals with no caloric intake in between: no in-between meals, no snacks, no fruit in between, and no high-calorie beverages. A kind of “mini-intermittent fasting” in the daily rhythm with three wholesome meals.