Craig Peckham MD

Beginners Guide To Intermittent Fasting for Athletes Craig Peckham MD

Intermittent fasting is an increasingly common way of eating popularized over the last couple of years by a variety of people from medical doctors to internet gurus. In essence, intermittent fasting means restricting when you consume food-your eating window-to a set number of hours. The eating window most commonly is eight hours, with individuals eating their first meal at midday and their last meal at 8 pm, therefore fasting for 16 hours. Fasting has garnered a lot of interest over the years since research in animals has shown that those consuming fewer calories (caloric restriction) tended to live longer. Recent research suggests that even in the absence of caloric restriction, regular or semi-regular periods of lower food intake (i.e., a fast) can have some important health benefits. The research on intermittent fasting is somewhat scarce, with intervention studies both low in number and participants. Nevertheless, there are some promising early findings, including behaviors associated with enhanced weight loss in some studies and improved metabolic markers in others. Interestingly, these improvements occur even when calorie intake matches non-intermittent fasting behaviors, suggesting that the improvements are not due solely to consuming fewer calories.