Intermittent Fasting May Be Effective for Steady Weight Loss

Intermittent Fasting (IF) or consuming only 600 calories on fasting days is one diet that is gaining popularity these days, according to the LA Times.

Upon its introduction, the IF diet is receiving a good word of mouth from proponents who claim that it will only make you thinner, it will also help make you healthier as well. However, not everyone is ready to jump on board yet. "I would say that the jury is still out," says Susan B. Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and co-author of "The 'I' Diet". "Some good studies are needed", she suggests.

Nutrition counselor John Berardi cites a number of issues that have to do with the IF diet in his book entitled "Experiments With Intermittent Fasting". These issues include now knowing exactly how often one should fast, how long should the fasts be, how strict should one be about them and whether or not you can cheat and eat a little in case you get hungry. Other than this, Berardi also asks questions in relation to what should people eat when they are not fasting.

A number of leading IF plans have proposed fasting 16 hours a day, some have claimed that fasting 20 hours a day will be better, still others proposed that fasting for an entire day at least once or twice a week is the best recourse. The most well-known version of IF is the one developed by Dr. Michael Mosley. The diet calls for eating as one would usually do five days a week but 600 calories are to be consumed on two other days of the week.