Intermittent Fasting: A Simplified Approach for Body Reset

In a context of revising their lifestyle and aspiring to better health, some are trying intermittent fasting. While its utility and benefits remain debated within the scientific community, this culinary asceticism has never been more appealing, especially its "intermittent" version. "It is part of the therapeutic arsenal of a healthy lifestyle, just like diet and physical activity," says Sarah Merran, a general practitioner specializing in nutritional and functional medicine. Its interest? To put the digestive system at rest, the doctor suggests, and "allow the body to 'recycle' itself, relearning how to deplete its stores, something it cannot do if it is regularly provided with food." According to the doctor, intermittent fasting could even help high-level athletes improve their performance. Unlike classic fasting, which implies at least three consecutive days without consuming solid food, the intermittent option involves not eating during a defined time frame. Less daunting, less constraining. There are several variants: fasting every other day, one day a week, the "5:2 diet" (five days of balanced eating and two days of caloric restriction), or the "nighttime" fast, meaning 16 hours without eating. This last alternative is the most accessible (between dinner and breakfast, we already fast on average 8 to 10 hours). How to go about it? Instructions below.

Before delving into this topic, we suggest you check out our article related to The Question of Nighttime Herbal Teas: Do They Really Aid Sleep?

A 16-hour Fast

This method involves either dining very early and not eating until lunch the next day, or not dining and resuming eating at breakfast. "It is important not to experience this as a frustration, but to keep in mind the well-being goal. It's better not to think 'I'm skipping a meal,' but rather to see it as putting one's digestive system to rest," emphasizes Dr. Sarah Merran. For those who cannot do without the evening meal, they can opt for a very light and mostly vegetable dinner, favoring vegetables over fruits, which are less caloric and easier to digest.

If no solid food is consumed, it's crucial to stay hydrated by drinking liquids throughout the fast. The menu includes no stimulating beverages but water, broths, infusions, for example, with milk thistle to stimulate the liver, illustrates Sarah Merran. "One can also use the broth from cooking one's vegetables, well washed and peeled beforehand. Season it with fresh herbs with digestive virtues like thyme, antiseptics with sage, or digestive properties with anise," advises Éléonore Guérard, fasting specialist and creator of the fasting and detox retreats Sources.

One to Two Times a Week

For breakfast, you will of course have to give up scrambled eggs with feta and opt instead for an infusion, a painful directive for some. Hence the importance of making the moment appealing. "One can embellish the infusion with pressed fruits (like slices of orange), small pieces of turmeric or ginger, sage, or rosemary," mentions Éléonore Guérard. She recommends sweetening it with honey or coconut sugar, which have a very low glycemic index. Upon resuming eating at lunch, Sarah Merran recommends listening to one's body and cravings, eating little if the feeling of hunger is not significant, and of course, avoiding meals that are too heavy, too fatty.

As for the regularity of intermittent fasting? It can be practiced once to twice a week, and one can engage in it over the weekend if it seems easier to implement. One can also fast after a few days of excess. If some panic at the idea of not eating for 16 hours, Doctor Sarah Merran reassures and reminds that "the body has reserves to last on average 40 days."