Wie gesund ist Intervallfasten? Besser als andere Ernährungsformen?

Is interval fasting really that healthy? Is it more effective than other diets? And what is it anyway? You will find out everything in this video. I am Viola Brandt, nutritionist and today I would like to give you the important information on the topic of interval fasting. First I would like to briefly explain to you what interval fasting actually means. Interval fasting means in a certain period of time neither eating nor drinking anything that has calories. So that means not eating anything at all because everything you eat somehow has calories. And even if it's just an apple or other fruit, it has calories. And for drinking you are only allowed water, unsweetened tea or black coffee. So no smoothies, coconut water or milk. Because it all has calories and you are not allowed to eat during this fasting period. Otherwise it doesn't work. How long you don't eat depends on the method of interval fasting. With the most well-known, the 16 to 8 fasting, you don't eat anything for 16 hours, for example from 19 o'clock in the evening until 11 o'clock the next day. Then you oversleep most of the time and you don't even notice that you are fasting. But what advantages does interval fasting have for our body? Previous scientific studies on interval fasting showed a reduced risk for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, chronic heart diseases and also neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. That means I can reduce the risk of getting sick by interval fasting. That doesn't mean I can cure the disease, but only reduce the risk, which is not bad either. For example, it was found that interval fasting increased insulin sensitivity, which is especially good for type 2 diabetics. Because we need insulin to get the sugar out of the blood into the cells. But if insulin doesn't work at all, it doesn't work. We have an increased blood sugar and that damages the vessels, so it's not good. If we are insulin sensitive, this means that our cells react well to insulin, can bring the sugar into the cells and produce energy from the sugar. Interval fasting makes our cells more sensitive to insulin and that's good, especially as prevention for type 2 diabetes. Another health advantage of interval fasting is the increased rate of so-called autophagy. Autophagy is a process in the cells where waste products can be removed. This autophagy occurs more often during longer fasting periods and keeps our cells fit and healthy and frees them from waste. But is interval fasting now more effective than other diets? The answer is yes and no. The most important thing with every diet is the calorie restriction. This means that you should generally take fewer calories with you than you consume. If you want to do interval fasting to lose weight, you should still eat healthy and low-calorie during the time you can eat. However, a study found that with the same calorie intake during interval fasting, more fat was lost than with the same calorie intake through a normal diet. A calorie restriction diet simply means taking fewer calories with you than you consume and thus a so-called calorie deficit. Because you only really lose weight through a calorie deficit. So if the study found that with the same calorie deficit or energy deficit more fat was lost through interval fasting, then that speaks for interval fasting. But this could not be confirmed by other studies. Therefore, it is said that interval fasting in terms of losing weight is not better or worse than other calorie reduction diets. Basically, it is important for you to decide what best suits your lifestyle. Because when it comes to nutrition, it is not about doing a 4-week crash diet, but always best to change your diet in the long term. Otherwise, the yo-yo effect will always come. You can be absolutely sure of that, I promise you. The yo-yo effect will definitely come. Therefore, it is important to find a diet that you can last longer and that you can integrate into your life. So don't just do 4 weeks, but really change your diet. No matter if this diet in the lab was a little better or worse than another diet. Ultimately, every single day you eat healthy and balanced and take a step in the right direction. No matter if this is the perfect diet. So if interval fasting suits you, then do it. The health aspects of fasting, regardless of whether with or without calorie restriction, are still there. So even if you don't want to lose weight and you don't have a calorie deficit, it can still have positive effects on your health. So far, that was only positive on the topic of interval fasting. But are there any side effects of interval fasting or negative aspects? In general, there have been no significant side effects in previous studies that would outweigh the positive effects. However, there have only been a few human studies and, above all, no long-term studies. Therefore, it is not yet clear what influence interval fasting can have on physical flexibility, mood or cognitive abilities or the development of an eating disorder. So listen to your body to see if interval fasting is something for you. Try it out for a few weeks and give your body time to adjust. So don't give up too early. If you still can't get used to it after several weeks and you always feel weak, then interval fasting may not be the right method for you. Nevertheless, make sure to eat healthy, balanced and rich in protein during the eating period. Have you ever tried interval fasting and how was it for you? Feel free to write me in the comments. If you want to learn more about interval fasting, check out my video here. There I talked to Teresa from Topsports about the topic and also cooked a delicious chickpea curry. And if you want to read yourself a little bit, then I have linked all links and sources from me in the info box. Thank you for watching and see you next time.