Intermittent fasting? «Not having late and very dense dinners would be a great step to lose weight and maintain it»

El intermittent fasting -that is, not eating any type of food for a variable period of time (at least 12 hours)- it has become fashionable to lose weight as an alternative to calorie reduction. A few days ago, the film director and actor Safe Santiago stated in the program 'El Hormigero' that he fasts for 36 hours ("which I do not recommend to anyone," he warned) or the politician Jose Bono He confessed in 'The Sixth Night' that he practices it five days a week (he doesn't have breakfast, which means he hasn't eaten for twelve hours since dinner the previous day). "In the wild world, lions eat when they have food, and if not, they don't eat," said the former Minister of Defense. These are just two examples of famous faces that follow him. But what do Aragonese nutrition experts think of this dietary style that is gaining popularity?

She is also an honorary academic of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition. does not recommend this fast and opts for the Mediterranean diet following, yes, some schedules in which dinner would be until 20.00:20.30-XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. at most. Marqués explains that the importance of the circadian rhythm that our digestive, hormonal and metabolic system has is being studied and it is "proven" that dining late is "a very strong impediment" to losing weight. "Every day it is being demonstrated how the biological clocks of our organs must be in sync with the central clock of our hypothalamus, which is governed by the cycles of light and darkness.. More than doing intermittent fasting, taking into account not having late and very dense dinners - difficult to digest or very caloric - would be a great step to lose weight and maintain it. For example, have dinner before and then go for a walk, watch a series or practice a hobby. Not the other way around, don't leave dinner for the last thing you do before going to sleep. In addition to eating most of the food during the day," he details.

In turn, the dietitian-nutritionist Juan Revenga He emphasizes that he is against dietary fads, "this time personified by intermittent fasting." "If you talk to me about the Dukan diet, dissociated, keto... we would be exactly the same. Well-understood nutrition goes far beyond fads. What we need in our context to redirect our eating habits is to change the paradigm (in reference to a diet with less ultra-processed foods), do not look for 'influencers', 'trending topics', 'hashtags' and nonsense called intermittent fasting. The problem is not in when you pick up and, in an artificial way, choose to open and close your mouth, but in choosing the foods well," he says.

For a personalized diet

For Revenga, intermittent fasting does not focus on the causes and "frivolizes" with weight. "Science today has many doubts regarding its use. and when he is in favor, in certain circumstances and characteristics, he always does so in a health context and not through a Sunday newsletter or self-help book," highlights this nutritionist, who is committed to personalized nutrition at the hands of "a true" professional. and "be honest."We are absolutely particular, not individual, in eating. There are many ways to do it well and one of them is not to take a break from your usual life to do things in an extravagant way, such as intermittent fasting, the dissociated diet, keto, dukan... ", he adds. he.

While the doctor specializing in endocrinology and nutrition Beatriz Lardiés It does not recommend intermittent fasting 'per se', although it does not demonize it either. "It may be a useful tool for weight control in certain patients in whom other measures have failed., but as long as it is done in a controlled manner and that during the hours of intake the diet is balanced, calories are controlled and no essential nutrient is restricted. If you eat whatever you want, you will not lose weight and it is not healthy. The most typical is the one in which you fast for 16 hours. In my experience there are very few people who can put up with this long term. People who follow it do not have anxiety or much desire for food, and the opposite happens in obesity," he reports.

What the member of the Aragonese Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition does make clear is that You are never I would recommend it to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, the elderly, in times such as childhood or adolescence and in people with serious pathologies. "It can be counterproductive to both eating disorders and malnutrition," she explains.

Also Iva Marquis gives some guidelines in case someone follows intermittent fasting, warning that the same type does not work the same for all people. "Apart from consulting a specialist to personalize and adapt this intermittent fasting therapy to the characteristics of each patient, it should be taken into account that Foods eaten during feeding hours must be of high nutritional density", that is, rich in essential nutrients to cover the needs of these nutrients and not give rise to nutritional deficiencies," he recommends.

Beatriz Lardiés points out that many patients ask her about this dietary practice. "Offer it, I don't do it. We endocrinologists usually set the guidelines of 5 meals a day, having a snack mid-morning or mid-afternoon Because if we don't see that if you leave people without eating all afternoon they will go snack. I prefer that they eat a fruit. The Mediterranean diet is what we include, which is rich in vegetables, with olive oil as a fundamental source of fat, with vegetables, legumes, more fish than meat...", details this endocrinologist, who advances that as "fashion" it is the Intermittent fasting is something "temporary".