Could Intermittent Fasting Work For You? Research and Anecdotal Experience from the Therapy Room

Intermittent fasting (IF) is wellness cool again. Its benefits are celebrated widely on many a credible health podcast and it consistently trends on social media, described as an elixir to youth and offering benefits such as improved memory, blood sugar control, cardiovascular health, fat loss and autophagy. What’s not to love? IF involves eating during specific time windows and there are various ways to practice this. The less-intense approach involves a 12-hour fast and 12-hour eating window, whereas, more hardened fasters might restrict their eating, to only 8, 6 or even 4 hours. Alternatively, you may also have heard of the 5:2 diet, popularised by the late Dr. Michael Mosley, where fasters eat ‘normally’ for five days of the week, whilst fasting on the remaining two (limiting calories to less than 800 on the fasting days). Like most wellness practices, fasting is a tool. For some people it is life enhancing and for others not so. In this episode, I explore IF as a tool and how it can interlink with eating disorders and disordered eating. I hope that you find it helpful.   Harriet's Substack: https://substack.com/@theeatingdisordertherapist   Harriet Frew's current offers: - Online 10 Steps to Intuitive Eating Course https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/online-courses.html Online Breaking Free from Bulimia  https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/bulimia-nervosa-online-course.html Eating Disorders Training for Professionals https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/eating-disorders-training-with-harriet-frew.html Body Image Training for Professionals https://www.theeatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/body-image-training-with-harriet-frew.html