Intermittent fasting has recently become a health trend. It’s said to cause weight loss, improve metabolic health, and even extend your lifespan.

Intermittent fasting means that you don't eat for a period of time each day or week. Some popular approaches to intermittent fasting include the 16:8 method and the 5:2 diet. First, the 16:8 method means you fast every day for 14–16 hours and restrict your daily eating window to 8–10 hours. Next, the 5:2 diet means eating normally for five days of the week while restricting your calorie intake to 500–600 for the other two days of the week.

According to a number of foreign media reports, the meta-analysis research paper published in the ‘New England of Medicine’ (NEJM) reviewed the two intermittent fasting methods and found that they were not only effective in dieting but also delayed various diseases. So, how does the intermittent fasting specifically affect our bodies?

You only eat during a specific time with intermittent fasting. Fasting for a certain number of hours each day or eating just one meal a couple days a week, can help your body burn fat. This works by prolonging the period when your body has burned through the calories consumed during your last meal so it begins burning fat.

Intermittent fasting also improves your health by providing the benefits of ‘metabolic switching’ from glucose to ketone. This improves glucose regulation and metabolism, activates cell reactions that suppress inflammation, and increases stress resistance. Medical experts claim that this improves or prevents a wide range of disorders including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and brain disease. In other words, this can contribute to extending lifespan.

However, it depends on the individual to find out if these methods work well. People with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, and pregnant women are advised not to try this intermittent fasting unless closely supervised by a doctor. Therefore, it’s a good idea to check your health condition and then try intermittent fasting without straining your body.

L.L.F reporter Hyeon-Bin Song