Intermittent fasting’s most obvious benefit is weight loss. However, there are a many potential benefits beyond this, some of which have been known since ancient times.
The fasting periods were often called ‘cleanses’, ‘detoxifications’, or ‘purifications’, but the idea is similar – e.g. to abstain from eating food for a certain period of time, often for health reasons. People imagined that this period of abstinence from food would clear their bodies’ systems of toxins and rejuvenate them. They may have been more correct than they knew.
Some of the health benefits of intermittent fasting include:
- Weight and body fat loss
- Increased fat burning
- Lowered blood insulin and sugar levels
- Possibly reversal of type 2 diabetes
- Possibly improved mental clarity and concentration
- Possibly increased energy
- Possibly increased growth hormone, at least in the short term
- Possibly an improved blood cholesterol profile
- Possibly longer life
- Possibly activation of cellular cleansing by stimulating autophagy
- Possibly reduction of inflammation
Where diets can complicate life, intermittent fasting may simplify it. Where diets can be expensive, intermittent fasting can be free. Where diets can take time, fasting saves time. Where diets may be limited in their availability, fasting is available anywhere. And as discussed earlier, fasting is a potentially powerful method for lowering insulin and decreasing body weight.
Here are even more reasons to try it, along with more details: The 7 practical benefits of intermittent fasting
https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting