An article recently published by the Los Angeles Times focuses on a trending new diet regiment known as intermittent fasting. The story follows a few successful housewives throughout the United States who report that shortening their window of feeding time has decreased their hunger levels, helped them sleep better, increased their energy levels and, most importantly, helped them lose TONS of weight (Fulmer, 2019). With majority of Americans obsessing over the latest and greatest diet plan, this article likely sold several magazines throughout the California area. However, the concept behind fasting as a means for burning fat has been understood by the science community for a long time.
When our bodies are deprived of food for an extended period of time, we no longer have incoming carbohydrates, lipids and proteins available to produce energy. As a result, our body must turn to its energy stores in order to meet its metabolic needs. In the case of a diet plan, the goal is to burn as much adipose tissue as possible without decreasing muscle or bone mass. In other words, we want to increase our metabolism of fatty acids. Intermittent fasting is an effective approach for this because as our body runs out of free energy, a hormone called glucagon signals for the hydrolysis of TAGs into glycerol and fatty acids (among other things) for energy (Ferrier & Harvey, 2011). This breakdown directly decreases our adipose tissue content, leading to weight loss—YAY!
While this is all great news for dieters world-wide, there is one tiny caveat that is often overlooked: intermittent fasting diets do NOT encourage people to stop eating all together. With over 30 million people of all ages and genders suffering from eating disorders in the United States alone (Hudson et al., 2007), writers of major magazines are responsible for portraying their diet fads in a way that emphasizes a healthy approach—aka: if you want to do intermittent fasting, make sure you eat well-rounded meals during your feeding time and that you ACTUALLY EAT. Especially in cities like Los Angeles, writers must adhere to the principle of non-maleficence, making sure that they inform their readers in a way that will not cause them harm.
References
Ferrier, D. R., & Harvey, R. A. (2011). Lippincotts illustrated reviews: biochemistry (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Fulmer, M. (2019, November 30). Intermittent fasting for weight loss: What you need to know. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2019-11-30/intermittent-fasting-weight-loss-what-you-need-to-know.
Hudson, J. I., Hiripi, E., Pope, H. G., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). The prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Biological Psychiatry,61(3), 348-358.
I found this an interesting read because my friend actually did intermittent fasting for about 6 months before eventually stopping. While she would eat healthy during her meal times, she developed an unhealthy relationship with food. Intermittent fasting could be helpful to reduce food intake, but I think it is dangerous for one's mental health and overall obsession with body image. It would be interesting to do a study on those who participate in intermittent fasting and look at their mental health before and after.
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