Obesity is a health risk, so is diabetes. One diet has been shown to modify risk factors associated with the two. What is it?<\/p>\n
John Hopkins Medicine neuroscientist Mark Mattson has found the answer.<\/p>\n
Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Mattson writes: \"Intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle.\"<\/p>\n
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern whereby somebody alternates between eating and fasting.<\/p>\n
Specifically, Mattson states intermittent fasting falls into two categories.<\/p>\n
The first category is \"daily time-restricting feeding\" this narrows the time allowed to eat up to eight hours per day.<\/p>\n
Then there's the \"5:2 intermittent fasting\". This is when people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal twice a week.<\/p>\n
The science behind intermittent fasting is that the eating pattern is thought to \"trigger metabolic switching\".<\/p>\n
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This is an age-old adaptation to periods of food scarcity, whereby \"cells use up their stores of rapidly accessible, sugar-based fuel, and begin converting fat into energy in a slower metabolic process.\"<\/p>\n
Mattson adds that metabolic switching improves blood sugar regulation - and uncontrolled blood sugar is symptomatic of diabetes.<\/p>\n
He also confirms that metabolic switching increases a person's resistance to stress and suppresses inflammation,<\/p>\n
Other health benefits associated with intermittent fasting has been recorded as decreasing blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates.<\/p>\n
\"Evidence is also mounting that intermittent fasting can modify risk factors associated with obesity and diabetes,\" said Mattson.<\/p>\n
He based his conclusion on two studies at the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.<\/p>\n
One hundred overweight women showed that those on the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet lost the same amount of weight as women who restricted calories.<\/p>\n
However, those on the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet had better insulin sensitivity and reduced belly fat than those in the calorie-reduction group.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Obesity is linked to various health issues, such as type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.<\/p>\n
The NHS confirms that being overweight can also encourage breast or bowel cancer. And it's a risk factor for having a stroke.<\/p>\n
The health body adds: \"Obesity can also affect your quality of life and lead to psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem.\"<\/p>\n
And it stresses that \"it's very important to take steps to tackle obesity\".<\/p>\n
Mattson noted: \"We are at a transition point where we could soon consider adding information about intermittent fasting to medical school curricula alongside standard advice about healthy diets and exercise.\"<\/p>\n
For those wanting to try out intermittent fasting, Mattson gives a precaution.<\/p>\n
\"Feeling hungry and irritable is common initially, and usually passes after two weeks to a month as the body and brain become accustomed to the new habit.\"<\/p>\n
Instead of going straight into intermittent fasting, Mattson advises people to gradually increase the duration and frequency of the fasting period over several months.<\/p>\n
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Read more: Obesity is a health risk, so is diabetes. One diet has been shown to modify risk factors associated with the two. Continue reading
\nHow to live longer: The diet proven to modify risk factors linked to obesity and diabetes - Express<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"