Human Diet
A number of individuals are experimenting with different varieties of intermittent fasting as a dietary regimen. In this context, shorthand such as "20/4" is used to denote a repeating pattern of 20 hours of fasting followed by 4 hours of non-fasting. For example, "Fast-5" is a book promoting a regimen equivalent to "19/5". Other alternatives include "16/8" and "15/9".
The phase of the fasting period may also be specified. Practitioners often start the fasting period at the commencement of nightly sleep.
In common usage, intermittent fasting describes any diet that includes a period of fasting and a period of non-fasting, even if the diet involves consuming a limited amount of calorie-containing beverages such as coffee or tea during the fasting period. This contrasts with scientific usage of the term, in which no calories are consumed during the fasting period.
Another variation on intermittent fasting is to consume limited calories (e.g., 20% of normal) rather than none at all on fasting days – so-called 'modified fasting'. This regimen may provide many of the benefits of intermittent fasting while being much more acceptable and likely to be adhered to.
Another possibility is eating only one meal per day without caloric restriction. When overall calorie intake is not reduced, this diet worsens some cardiovascular disease risk factors.
The BBC2 Horizon documentary Eat, Fast & Live Longer showed another plan: during days of fasting, people eat 400–500 kcal (women) or 500–600 kcal (men), and during feed days, the diet was unrestricted. This was done either alternately (one day fasting, one day feeding) or by fasting two days per week: the 5:2 diet.
Read more about this topic: Intermittent Fasting
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