6 out of 10 Singaporeans consume more calories than what is necessary. So is going on a diet plan the most effective way to eat better?
With the explosion of social media, and its daily bombardment of a myriad of diets that influencers swear by, we have become more health conscious than ever before. But which diet works best for us? Paleo? Keto? Many of you whom I’ve met last year and this year, know that I do not practise dieting as I personally find it impossible to permanently adhere to any food restrictions. E.g. no carbs, no sugar, no processed food. This year my colleague has suggested for me to adopted Intermittent Fasting (IF) as it is very much a lifestyle change, and not a dietary change. She seem to appear healthier. So I decided to sink myself deep into research to understand about the effectiveness of IF.
The Science behind IF
IF is a regimen that typically involves fasting for certain hours of the day (usually 14-16 hours). It became popularized in 2012 after BBC broadcast journalist Dr. Michael Mosley’s documentary on it. Healthcare professionals believe that IF works for 2 main reasons.
1) The calories we consume are reduced as a result of the restricted eating window. It is estimated than people who adopt the 16-8 method (fast for 16 hours, and eat only within an 8 hours window), consume about 300 fewer calories each day.
2) Having an 8-10 hours eating window helps to align our eating patterns with the circadian rhythm (the body’s internal clock). This then helps to improve metabolic health and burn more fats, because when we are fasting, our insulin levels will go down and this allows our fat cells to release any stored sugar and be used as energy.
Of course, the effectiveness of IF also varies depending on how ‘clean’ you choose to be during your eating window.
How you break fast has a significant impact. Do you break fast with a carbo-loaded meal like a bowl of noodles or cai fan? Or do you break fast with something light yet packed with protein such as 2 hard boiled eggs and a glass of unsweetened soy milk. A carbo-loaded meal can cause a blood sugar level spike which will result in more insulin produced to store these sugars. But a lighter meal with protein-rich food can slow your digestion and rise your blood sugar steadily after meals.
Are you more mindful about your overall intake of sugar (in the form of drinks, desserts, pastries), trans fats (fast food, snacks), and salt (seasonings, preserved food)
Do you consume healthier options/versions of the food you love? E.g. I love carbs. But instead of white rice, I make an effort to switch out some of my carbs to brown rice, whole grains such as quinoa, and sweet potato; and rice noodles instead of yellow noodles. I love my meat but I make an effort to switch out some of my seasoned meat for steamed/soup fish/chicken/pork.
Not all foods are made the same
And to add on to my last point, take the effort to read the nutritional value of so-called ‘healthier’ choices that we might be considering to use as replacements, as they can actually be as bad as or even worse than the food that we are already eating. Because although such ‘healthier foods’ can be lower in the unhealthier contents such as saturated fats, sodium, and sugar, but they can also be calorie-dense. Here are 2 more common examples:
1: Jane decides to cut down on her daily dose of milk tea with brown sugar pearls (regular cup) and replaces it with avocado milkshake since it is considered as a superfood.
2: Jack decides to switch from snacking on a small bag of chips, to a bag of nuts and fruit instead, consisting of baked macadamia, cashew, almonds, pistachio, walnuts and dried
cranberries, because they are cholesterol free and are high in dietary fibre.
How and what we eat should be a Lifestyle Choice and not a temporary diet
Ultimately, 2 of the most important reasons why IF works for me is because it’s convenient and flexible.
Flexible because if my eating window is 12pm – 8pm, I still get to enjoy lunch with colleagues and dinner with clients. And suppose I have a wedding dinner to attend and it ends at 10pm. I simply adjust my eating window that day to 1pm-10pm (9 hours instead of 8), and the next day’s to 1pm-9pm (15 hour fast instead of 16).
Convenient because I can still easily order food off almost any restaurant’s menu.
If you have additional questions about Intermittent Fasting or other diet fads that you may be considering, you are welcome to contact me. Otherwise, stay tuned for next month’s issue, where we discuss about ways to include physical activities (exercise) into our hectic weekly schedules.
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