The Pros And Cons Of Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting involves periods of eating followed by periods of fasting. Intermittent fasting can be as simple as skipping a meal or extending the time between meals to fasting for a day followed by a single day of a “normal” diet followed by another fast day.
Intermittent fasting may seem to be a fad diet, but this method of “feast or famine” has been practiced for centuries, most often unwillingly. As hunters and gatherers, our ancestors would feast when food was plentiful and then endure periods of famine until the next source of food was discovered.
There is research to support this approach to fasting, primarily for weight loss, conducted as far back as the 1930s when Cornell University nutritionist Clive McCay discovered that rats subjected to a severely calorie-restricted diet lived longer, leaner and healthier lives when compared with rats that ate at will.
More recent studies draw a “correlation between restricted diets and periods of fasting reduce body fat, reduce inflammation and chronic disease and promote longer life.”
There are risks involved with intermittent fasting including:
Dehydration. Drink more water while fasting to replace the fluids you are not getting from fruits, vegetables and juices.
Replace vitamins, minerals and electrolytes. You will also be taking in fewer vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, be sure to replace these nutrients.
Be careful not to overtrain during fasting periods. Your anabolic vs. catabolic states will be dependent on your feeding and fasting cycles, overtraining while fasting will force your body to “eat” bone and muscle tissue to survive, reducing or eliminating gains in size, speed or strength.
Avoid overeating. Your feeding periods should not be seen as binge eating periods. To maintain health and a healthy weight, choose healthy servings and portion sizes of natural “clean” foods during your feeding periods.
Additional considerations for young adults and young athletes:
Fasting, that is, severe restriction of calories is not healthy during periods of rapid growth. Children need protein, carbs, and nutrients, including vitamins and minerals to support bone and tissue growth. Wait until puberty or beyond and near-maximal bone length before fasting.
Extremely low carbs resulting from intermittent fasting may leave a young athlete feeling tired and weak, and may even move into a catabolic state, forcing his or her body to break down muscle tissue for energy.
For teens and teen athletes, intermittent fasting with the specific goal of weight loss should not be taken to extremes. Teenagers don’t need to get down to 7 percent body fat, but should stay closer to 10 to 15% and focus on size and strength in the gym.
What’s Next?
There is always something exciting about earning a new coaching certification and applying that new knowledge of how you coach your clients. This also helps you hit the reset button.
Learn how to make youth nutrition games, fun food choices for kids, and how to overcome objections to certain food likes and dislikes with our Kid’s Nutrition Specialist course.
The Youth Performance Coach Certification is designed for new and advanced coaches and trainers who want to specialize in the areas of youth athletics, youth mentorship and leadership for the next generation.
If you are new to youth coaching, training and mentoring, this is a great launching point for your career. You will gain valuable insight that will give you the skills needed to make a positive change in the lives of youth.
Is your recertification coming up? Learn more about earning your CEU credits. You can find the full list of CEU courses here.
NESTA and Spencer Institute coaching programs are open to anyone with a desire to learn and help others. There are no prerequisites.
That’s it for now.
Take action!
PS: Click here to see many helpful business/career resources
