People who regularly participate in intermittent fasting are less likely to go to have strokes or develop heart disease, new research has found.
Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating where you eat normally five days a week and fast on the other two days, limiting your intake to 500 calories for women and 600 for men.
Also known as the 5:2 diet, it gained popularity in 2012 as an alternative way of losing weight, as it allows you to eat whatever you like, within reason, on non-fast days.
Supporters of the eating plan claim that as well as weight loss, benefits include a longer life span and added protection against cognitive decline, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The new study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, compared 5:2 fasting with standard dieting, and studied fat metabolism and blood sugar levels after eating.
It found that intermittent fasting was superior to regular dieting when it came to reducing blood fat levels in overweight and obese participants.
The data revealed that people who followed the 5:2 regime cleared fat from their bloodstream after eating a meal faster than those who followed a healthy diet but ate regularly with no fasting.
The patients participating in the research followed the LighterLife fast 5:2 plan, which entailed consuming LighterLife Fast products on their fasting days.
A high level of fat in the bloodstream after a meal is recognised as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The study also found a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure in participants on the 5:2 diet.
High systolic blood pressure is a marker for heart attacks and strokes, as it increases pressure on arteries.
The intermittent fasters had a nine percent reduction after following the 5:2 plan, compared with a small increase of two percent among those who had followed a regular daily diet.
Dr Rona Antoni, Research Fellow in Nutritional Metabolism at the University of Surrey, said the findings could help change the way people eat and decrease their likelihood of developing serious diseases.
“For those who do well and are able to stick to the 5:2 diet, it could potentially have a beneficial impact on some important risk markers for cardiovascular disease, in some cases more so than daily dieting.”
The research revealed that intermittent fasting appears to positively alter a person’s metabolism, no matter how much weight is lost.
Dr Kelly Johnston, head of nutrition and research for LighterLife Fast 5:2 plan said: “We always welcome new evidence from the scientific community with regards to the efficacy of weight loss and maintenance plans and certainly in this case, it appears as though irrespective of the method of weight loss, there does appear to be additional benefits when regularly fasting.
“If you find fasting to be the plan for you, then not only might you lose weight slightly more quickly, it appears as if there may be additional benefits too. Win-win.”
Regular exercise also lowers the likelihood of heart attack and stroke. Even people with a genetic predisposition to cardiovascular disease can lower their risk if they exercise, according to Professor of Medicine Dr Erik Ingelsson at Stanford University.
“Being physically active is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, even if you have a high genetic risk,” he said.
Taking a daily supplement of magnesium could also slash risk of heart problems and strokes, it has been claimed.
You should aim for about 300mg of magnesium a day in adult men, and 270mg in adult women, the NHS recommended.
