A Weekly Fast May Work for Weight Loss

Excess weight is taking the size of a pandemic in the United States. At any point in time some one we know have taken steps toward losing weight because they are overweight or blatantly obese. I, myself, have tried many diets on the market because of my excess weight (my Body Mass Index is 32). Recently, I have been trying a method of fasting a day a week to lose weight. It has been about 2 months on this method and I have to say that I am not sure if I have lost weight because of that or because I have been adopting better eating habits. However, I came across this study made by Dr. David Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology, at Cornell University, which tested the hypothesis that a weekly fast may work for weight loss.

The first thing they found is that fasting for one day does not lead to overeating the next day. This is good news because if you overate the next day you did a fast then you will be doomed to fail in your weight lost efforts.

More specifically , 22 healthy women were divided into three groups: one group was chosen to fast on Mondays, one to consume only 1200 calories, and one to eat freely as they wish. They all at the Cornell Human Metabolic Research Unit for four weeks.

The results of the study showed that the group who fasted or ate a restricted diet on Monday had a decline in body weight the following day. The unrestricted eaters did not lose weight. However, by the end of the week , fasters and dieters recovered their lost weight but did not increase food consumption beyond normal levels. It was calculated that after 10 days fat, bone and muscle tissue returned to pre-fast levels.

The study suggests a new strategy for losing weight: a weekly fast might a way lose weight consistently. Since it takes 10-14 days to recover the body tissue lost from a one-day fast having no food for one day would produce " a significant reduction in body weight over time ," wrote Levitsky in the paper published in Physiology and Behavior.

Source:

One day of food restriction does not result in an increase in sub sequent daily food intake in humans. Physiology & Behavior. Volume 99, Issue 4,

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2009.12.020