一、什么是间歇性断食？

间歇性断食是一种在断食和进食之间循环的饮食模式。它着重于什么时候吃，要求只能
在特定时间进食。常见的间歇性断食方法有以下几种： 1、16/8（每天断食 16 小时，8 小
小时进食）；2、5：2（一周中不连续的两天只摄入 500-600 卡路里，其他 5 天正常饮食）；
3、24 小时断食（每周一次货两次断食 24 小时）。4、隔日断食（一天正常饮食，第二天
要么完全断食，要么一天摄入少于 500 卡路里）等。
二、间歇性断食的原理
在几个小时没有食物的情况下，身体会耗尽其储存的糖分并开始燃烧脂肪。如果一天
吃三顿饭，外加零食，而且他们没有运动，那么每次他们吃东西时，消耗的只是这些摄入
食物的卡路里，而不是燃烧他们储存的脂肪。间歇性断食的作用是延长您的身体消耗最后
一餐所消耗的卡路里并开始燃烧脂肪的时间。断食期间身体会发生以下变化：
HGH（Human Growth Hormone ）升高（有利于减脂和增肌）；胰岛素敏感度提高，胰岛素
水平下降；细胞修复（细胞会启动细胞修复过程。这包括自噬，细胞消化并去除在细胞内
积聚的旧的和功能失调的蛋白质）；
三、间歇性断食计划
研究表明，身体可能需要两到四个星期才能习惯间歇性断食。当您习惯新的日常生活
时，您可能会感到饥饿或暴躁。但是熬过调整期的研究对象往往会坚持计划，因为他们发
现自己感觉更好。如果想开始尝试可以从延长断食时间开始，16/8 是最简单且可持续的方
式，你可以先从不吃零食开始，逐渐从三餐变为两餐。如果您在断食期间发现它很容易并
且感觉良好，那么可以尝试进行更高级的断食，例如每周 1-2 次 24 小时断食（Eat-Stop-
Eat）或 1-2 天只吃 500-600 卡路里每周（5:2 饮食）或者逐步缩短进食期 18/6→20/4 直至
one meal a day
四、断食期间可以吃哪些东西？
水、零卡路里的饮料，如咖啡、茶。并且在你的进食期间并不意味随便吃。如果你在
进食时间里摄入过多的劣质脂肪及快碳（如高热量的垃圾食品、油炸食品和零食等），你
可能会减肥失败（因为无热量缺口产生）或不健康。未加工的粗粮、优质脂肪、蛋白质、
蔬菜永远是第一选择，另外可以补充营养剂。
五、间歇性断食的好处
可以保护器官免受慢性疾病的影响，如 2 型糖尿病、心脏病、与年龄相关的神经退行
性疾病，甚至是炎症性肠病和许多癌症。
以下是迄今为止研究演示一些间歇性断食的好处：增强记忆力及思考（会增加大脑激
素 BDNF，并可能有助于新神经细胞的生长。它还可以预防阿尔茨海默病）、保持心脏健
康（可能会降低“坏”低密度脂蛋白胆固醇、血液甘油三酯、炎症标志物、血糖和胰岛素
抵抗——所有心脏病的危险因素）、缓解二型糖尿病和肥胖、（帮助人们减轻体重并降低
空腹血糖、空腹胰岛素和瘦素水平，同时降低胰岛素抵抗、降低瘦素水平和增加脂联素水
平。）、抗衰老
六、间歇性断食的不良反应及不适用人群？
可能出现的副作用：饥饿、疲劳、失眠、恶心、头痛、脱水症状、尿酸增加、脱发，
但它们通常会在一个月内消失。且可以通过服用盐、海盐、钾、镁及综合维生素片、柠檬
水、苹果醋来缓解。
间歇性断食不适宜以下人群：18 岁以下的儿童和青少年；怀孕或哺乳的妇女；有饮食
失调史的人；体重过低的人；服用胰岛素的 1 型糖尿病患者；肾结石、胃食管反流患者；
其他正在服用药物或接受治疗的人。如果您有健康问题，您应该在尝试间歇性断食之前咨
询您的医生。
七、其他问题
1.不吃早餐会不会导致胆结石？胆结石形成的机制极为复杂，受性别，年龄和其它很多因
素影响。减肥过快的人，胆结石风险更大。
2.空腹时可以吃营养补充剂吗？可以，但是一些补充剂（如脂溶性维生素）在随餐服用时
可能效果更好。
3.断食期可以运动吗？可以
4. 断食会导致肌肉流失吗？所有减肥方法都会导致肌肉流失，这就是为什么无氧训练和保
持高蛋白质摄入量很重要的原因。 2011 年的一项研究表明，与常规卡路里限制相比，间
歇性断食导致的肌肉损失更少。
5.断食会减慢我的新陈代谢吗？不会。较早的研究表明，短期断食实际上会促进新陈代谢。
但是，3 天或更长时间的断食会抑制新陈代谢。

Here’s how to start intermittent fasting.

Stage one:
Consume three meals a day without snacks.

Stage two:
Skip breakfast. Try to have your first meal at 12 pm and your last meal at 6 pm. Ideally, you
wouldn’t have any snacks. But, if you had to, you would want to snack during your eating window
(12 pm to 6 pm).

Stage three:
Start having your two meals closer together, so you have a four-hour eating window instead of a
six-hour eating window. Have your first meal at 2 pm and your last meal at 6 pm.

Stage four:
Start having one large nutrient-dense meal a day, and try to have it by 3 pm. This will give you 23
hours of fasting.

Stage five:
Start adding periodic prolonged fasting. Once a week or once every two weeks, try a 48 to 72-
hour fast. You could even try a 120-hour fast, which can produce incredible health and weight
loss benefits.
Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that switches between fasting and eating on a regular
schedule. Research shows that intermittent fasting is a way to manage your weight and prevent
— or even reverse — some forms of disease. But how do you do it? And is it safe?

What is intermittent fasting?

Many diets focus on what to eat, but intermittent fasting is all about when you eat.

With intermittent fasting, you only eat during a specific time. Fasting for a certain number of
hours each day or eating just one meal a couple days a week, can help your body burn fat. And
scientific evidence points to some health benefits, as well.

Johns Hopkins neuroscientist Mark Mattson has studied intermittent fasting for 25 years. He says
that our bodies have evolved to be able to go without food for many hours, or even several days
or longer. In prehistoric times, before humans learned to farm, they were hunters and gatherers
who evolved to survive — and thrive — for long periods without eating. They had to: It took a lot
of time and energy to hunt game and gather nuts and berries.

Even 50 years ago, it was easier to maintain a healthy weight. Johns Hopkins dietitian Christie
Williams, M.S., R.D.N., explains: “There were no computers, and TV shows turned off at 11 p.m.;
people stopped eating because they went to bed. Portions were much smaller. More people
worked and played outside and, in general, got more exercise.”

Nowadays, TV, the internet and other entertainment are available 24/7. We stay awake for longer
hours to catch our favorite shows, play games and chat online. We’re sitting and snacking all day
— and most of the night.”

Extra calories and less activity can mean a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease
and other illnesses. Scientific studies are showing that intermittent fasting may help reverse
these trends.

How does intermittent fasting work?

There are several different ways to do intermittent fasting, but they are all based on choosing
regular time periods to eat and fast. For instance, you might try eating only during an eight-hour
period each day and fast for the remainder. Or you might choose to eat only one meal a day two
days a week. There are many different intermittent fasting schedules.

Mattson says that after hours without food, the body exhausts its sugar stores and starts burning
fat. He refers to this as metabolic switching.

“Intermittent fasting contrasts with the normal eating pattern for most Americans, who eat
throughout their waking hours,” Mattson says. “If someone is eating three meals a day, plus
snacks, and they’re not exercising, then every time they eat, they’re running on those calories
and not burning their fat stores.”
Intermittent fasting works by prolonging the period when your body has burned through the
calories consumed during your last meal and begins burning fat.

Intermittent Fasting Plans

It’s important to check with your doctor before starting intermittent fasting. Once you get his or
her go-ahead, the actual practice is simple. You can pick a daily approach, which restricts daily
eating to one six- to eight-hour period each day. For instance, you may choose to try 16/8 fasting:
eating for eight hours and fasting for 16. Williams is a fan of the daily regimen: She says most
people find it easy to stick with this pattern over the long term.

Another, known as the 5:2 approach, involves eating regularly five days a week. For the other two
days, you limit yourself to one 500–600 calorie meal. An example would be if you chose to eat
normally on every day of the week except Mondays and Thursdays, which would be your one-
meal days.

Longer periods without food, such as 24, 36, 48 and 72-hour fasting periods, are not necessarily
better for you and may be dangerous. Going too long without eating might actually encourage
your body to start storing more fat in response to starvation.

Mattson’s research shows that it can take two to four weeks before the body becomes
accustomed to intermittent fasting. You might feel hungry or cranky while you’re getting used to
the new routine. But, he observes, research subjects who make it through the adjustment period
tend to stick with the plan, because they notice they feel better.

What can I eat while intermittent fasting?

During the times when you’re not eating, water and zero-calorie beverages such as black coffee
and tea are permitted.

And during your eating periods, “eating normally” does not mean going crazy. You’re not likely to
lose weight or get healthier if you pack your feeding times with high-calorie junk food, super-
sized fried items and treats.

But what Williams likes about intermittent fasting is that it allows for a range of different foods to
be eaten — and enjoyed. “We want people to be mindful and take pleasure in eating good,
nutritious food,” she says. She adds that eating with others and sharing the mealtime experience
adds satisfaction and supports good health.

Williams, like most nutrition experts, regards the Mediterranean diet as a good blueprint of what
to eat, whether you’re trying intermittent fasting or not. You can hardly go wrong when you pick
complex, unrefined carbohydrates such as whole grains, leafy greens, healthy fats and lean
protein.

Intermittent Fasting Benefits

Research shows that the intermittent fasting periods do more than burn fat. Mattson explains,
“When changes occur with this metabolic switch, it affects the body and brain.”

One of Mattson’s studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed data about
a range of health benefits associated with the practice. These include a longer life, a leaner body
and a sharper mind.

“Many things happen during intermittent fasting that can protect organs against chronic diseases
like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, age-related neurodegenerative disorders, even inflammatory
bowel disease and many cancers,” he says.

Here are some intermittent fasting benefits research has revealed so far:

Thinking and memory. Studies discovered that intermittent fasting boosts working memory in
animals and verbal memory in adult humans.
Heart health. Intermittent fasting improved blood pressure and resting heart rates as well as
other heart-related measurements.
Physical performance. Young men who fasted for 16 hours showed fat loss while maintaining
muscle mass. Mice who were fed on alternate days showed better endurance in running.
Type 2 diabetes and obesity. In animal studies, intermittent fasting prevented obesity. And, in six
brief studies, obese adult humans lost weight through intermittent fasting. People with type 2
diabetes may benefit: Most of the available research shows that intermittent fasting can help
people lose body weight and lower their levels of fasting glucose, fasting insulin and leptin while
reducing insulin resistance, decreasing levels of leptin and increasing levels of adiponectin.
Certain studies found that some patients practicing intermittent fasting with supervision by their
doctors were able to reverse their need for insulin therapy.
Tissue health. In animals, intermittent fasting reduced tissue damage in surgery and improved
results.
Is intermittent fasting safe?
Some people try intermitting fasting for weight management, and others use the method to
address chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, high cholesterol or arthritis. But
intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone.

Williams stresses that before you try intermittent fasting (or any diet), you should check in with
your primary care practitioner first. Some people should steer clear of trying intermittent fasting:

Children and teens under age 18.

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
People with type 1 diabetes who take insulin. While an increasing number of clinical trials have
shown that intermittent fasting is safe in people with type 2 diabetes, there have been no studies
in people with type I diabetes. Mattson explains, “Because those with type I diabetes take insulin,
there is a concern that an intermittent fasting eating pattern may result in unsafe levels of
hypoglycemia during the fasting period.”
Those with a history of eating disorders.
But, Williams says, people not in these categories who can do intermittent fasting safely can
continue the regimen indefinitely. “It can be a lifestyle change,” she says, “and one with benefits.”

Keep in mind that intermittent fasting may have different effects on different people. Talk to your
doctor if you start experiencing unusual anxiety, headaches, nausea or other symptoms after you
start intermittent fasting.