Dr. Dinh Tran Ngoc Mai, from the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City, states that the golden rule for effective weight loss is to reduce calorie intake. However, instead of adopting a scientific diet, many people choose extreme solutions like fasting, hoping to quickly "burn" excess fat daily.
Fasting is defined as abstaining from food for an extended period, rather than maintaining regular meals. Recently, intermittent fasting (IF) has become popular for weight loss. Its mechanism involves maximizing the burning of stored fat for energy.
Evidence suggests that alternating fasting with eating periods can aid weight loss. However, IF's weight loss effectiveness is not greater than reducing the same amount of calories daily while still eating regular meals.
The core effectiveness of fasting stems from reduced food consumption, leading to a decrease in total calorie intake, and ultimately, weight loss.
Beyond weight loss, fasting or intermittent fasting offers other health benefits. It allows the body time to "heal," thereby reducing factors that can harm cardiovascular health, including: lowering blood pressure, decreasing blood sugar levels, and reducing blood cholesterol content.
Despite certain benefits, fasting is not suitable for everyone. Some groups should absolutely avoid this method. Pregnant or breastfeeding women should not fast. For individuals with diabetes, fasting can dangerously lower blood sugar levels, leading to hypoglycemia. People recovering from illness or undergoing cancer treatment need to maintain or gain weight to ensure nutrition and physical strength; they should not fast.
Unscientific fasting can lead to serious health consequences, including: stomach ulcers, vitamin and mineral deficiencies due to malnutrition, body weakness, fatigue, hypoglycemia, and memory impairment.
Instead of fasting or starving to lose weight, the most sustainable and safe solution is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a scientific diet.
Dr. Mai advises prioritizing regular meals; diversifying food types, choosing healthy foods; consuming enough fiber and protein, and reducing sweets as well as saturated fats (such as animal fat, organ meats, and vegetable butter).
"Always remember, the key to weight loss is reducing calorie intake and increasing expenditure through movement and exercise," Dr. Mai said, adding that any other supportive measures like intermittent fasting only make calorie reduction easier but also pose many potential harms if not applied correctly.
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