JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --- Wouldn't it be nice to eat whatever you want and be able to keep off the pounds? It sounds too good to be true, but a new study from UF Health backs this idea up.
The study recently published in the journal Obesity provides statistics that support a growing trend known as "intermittent fasting."
Lead author Dr. Stephen Anton looked at two common forms.
The first is referred to as time-restricted feeding. That's where you control your eating through a certain window of the day. For example, fast for 16 hours and then you can eat whatever you want in the remaining eight hours.
The second form of fasting is more restrictive, known as alternate-day fasting or limiting their meals on one day, usually 500 calories and then "feasting" on the next day and continue to rotate.
UF Health researchers say this idea can be a reliable way to lose weight while actually optimizing our ability to think and function.
Researchers at UF Health say when we fast, our bodies essential hit a metabolic switch. The switch means the body moves from burning glucose or sugar, for energy to fatty acids and their byproduct, ketones.
"It's a graduation in which your metabolism over time shifts to use higher and higher amounts of ketones for energy," Anton said.
According to the research, ketones are the preferred fuel for the brain and body during periods of fasting and extending exercise.
Anton said that byproduct is less likely to disrupt how fast your burns off food compared to glucose.
Anton and UF Health found people lost significant body fat in 10 out of 10 trials where people rotated eating and fasting days. Three out of four showed fat loss only eating in certain windows of the day.
"So in my mind, it's not a question of whether it works at producing fat loss," Anton said.
So maybe it’s time you try something new if you want to shed some pounds and still eat your heart out.