New diets pop up almost weekly. The latest trend within weight loss diets is intermittent fasting. This means "alternate fasting. The idea is simple: you fast every few hours and then you have a period in which you can eat.

16/8

The most popular version of this diet is the 16/8 hour schedule. You spend 16 of the 24 hours fasting, and the remaining 8 hours are allowed to eat. Most people begin their "eating phase" at 12:00 noon and end it at 8:00 pm. This is considered the most normal eating schedule, as lunches and dinners together in the afternoon and evening remain possible.

There are several food components that can help an increase in satiety, namely: fiber, protein and fat. The Damhert Slim High Protein meal bars, the Damhert Fibre Fit range and the Biofood seeds, kernels and nuts are suitable for this.

5:2

A second form is a version where there is no 'real' fasting, but there is a clear limit on the number of kcal that may be eaten. This is the 5:2 diet. In this diet, 5 days of the week you are eaten normally and 2 days a maximum of 500-600 kcal may be eaten. These two days in the week do not follow each other, there must be at least 1 "normal" day in between. The Damhert meal bars or meal shakes from the Slim range can also be useful here, when you need to reduce the number of kilocalories. They replace an entire meal with a smaller number of kilocalories! Products that are low in calories, but which provide rapid satiation (Low Carb Fibre Fit range) are also suitable.

24 hour fast

The last variant - and perhaps the most extreme - involves planning 1 or 2 days per week where nothing is eaten for 24 hours. Again, these two fasting days should not follow each other. On days when meals are eaten normally, the kcal intake should not exceed the (calculated) requirement. Not eating for a whole day brings a number of physical changes. In order to get through these 24 hours properly, it is best to choose foods with a good nutrient composition on the previous days. What do we mean by this? Foods that provide a 'boost' such as our products from the entire Fit Food range, Biofood range, the Fibre Fit range and Vegan/Veggie range. These food products are packed with vitamins and minerals that your body craves and needs.

Why does it work?

Lower energy intake than energy consumption causes one to lose weight. It's that simple in theory, but not in practice. Many people find losing weight difficult, either because the temptation is too strong, or because the results are small and the motivation to stick with it slowly disappears. There are countless reasons why a diet may not work for a particular person. The fact that intermittent fasting allows you to eat for 8 hours instead of 12 ensures almost automatically that the kcal intake is lower (unless you start stuffing yourself in these 8 hours!). The meals are much closer together in the eating phase, so the feeling of satiety is more present. When positive results occur more quickly (e.g., weight loss), the motivation to maintain the dietary modification is much greater. With the 5:2 diet and 24-hour fasting, in one week there is a significant reduction in the number of kcal that are absorbed. So, as a result, weight loss will also occur.

Points of attention

The effect of intermittent fasting has been proven in practice. Weight loss through reduction of fat mass is one of its positive effects. However, an increased feeling of hunger in the beginning must be taken into account. If the diet is maintained, this does improve as the body adapts to the new dietary habits.

If you stop the diet once the desired weight has been reached, it is not clear for the time being whether the weight will be maintained. When you start eating 'normally' again as you did before and you consumed more kcal than during the intermittent fasting, it is very well possible that you will start gaining weight again.

Quality over quantity

Although the focus is more on 'when you eat' rather than 'what you eat' and 'how much you eat', choosing healthy foods is still important. That's where Damhert can help, of course, as a partner in healthy eating. In this diet, the focus is not on one but on all the ranges of Damhert nutrition.