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.