By depriving your body of food for several hours, intermittent fasting aims to purify your body and lighten it by a few pounds. What are the benefits? Are there any health risks? How do you get started?

For millennia, for spiritual or religious reasons, men have deprived themselves of food for atonement. Today, this practice, which has become fashionable, is done for the sake of well-being and health. “The purpose of intermittent fasting is to purify the body of junk food, its excesses and the toxins generated by putting the emunctory organs on hiatus, which are the liver, kidneys and skin”, explains Raphaël Gruman, nutritionist *.

Principals of Intermittent Fasting

The principle is to go without food for 12 to 16 hours maximum, which is like skipping a meal. “During this fast, the body uses the glucose circulating in the blood or in the liver to continue to function well, indicates Raphaël Gruman. If it continues beyond 3 days, it comes to draw from the reserves of lipids and proteins, mainly muscles “. The key is a renewal of the body, but also weight loss and a way to fight against certain diseases.

How does it work ?
Also called “fasting” in English, the principle of intermittent fasting is to stop eating for 12 to 16 hours at a time. “For example, we have dinner, but we skip breakfast the next morning, only to eat again at lunch,” specifies our expert. But it’s up to everyone to adapt it according to their convenience. So, if you have an activity intense during the day or when breakfast is your favorite meal, you can easily skip dinner. The fast is then organized as follows: breakfast, lunch and snack. The food intake stops around 5 pm hours, not to resume until around 7-8 am the next morning “. If solid food is removed, it is important to maintain good hydration, ie the consumption of 1.5 to 2 liters of liquid (water, tea, herbal tea, broth, etc.).