jonson/Shutterstock
- Intermittent fasting, a dieting plan that oscillates between defined periods of eating and not eating, has become an overwhelming trend among celebrities, tech moguls, and others.
- Though the benefits of intermittent fasting are still being studied, there’s evidence that the practice has negative side effects, such as hair loss, anxiety, and stress.
- These symptoms could be a sign that it’s time to quit your diet.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more.
Fasting is an age-old practice, but intermittent fasting — a dieting plan that oscillates between defined periods of eating and not eating — became ultra-popular only recently following a slew endorsements from celebrities and tech moguls.
Fasting enthusiasts claim it helps with focus, weight loss, and energy.
There’s some evidence to back that up. A small study published in the journal Obesity found that participants who ate between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. had lower appetites and reduced body fat.
But, like any diet, intermittent fasting can give rise to extreme eating habits. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who subscribes to a fasting routine, eats a single meal on weeknights followed by a weekend-long deficit — what some nutrition experts consider a sign of an eating disorder.
In some cases, the negative side effects of fasting could outweigh any potential benefit. Here are a few signs that an intermittent fasting routine is unsafe or unhealthy.
If you’re always worried about what to eat next, it could be a sign of orthorexia.
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock
Dieting in general can give rise to orthorexia, a disorder that involves an obsession with healthy eating. Some of the signs of orthorexia include the need to talk about your diet all the time and a preoccupation with your next meal.
One overarching sign is when your diet starts to become inflexible, said Alissa Rumsey, a New York City-based dietitian. That includes altering or canceling social outings because they don’t align with your eating habits.
Intermittent fasting can disrupt your sleep, which is critical to health.
lightpoet/Shutterstock
There’s some preliminary evidence that intermittent fasting can improve sleep by keeping you from waking up in the middle of the night. When people start their fast earlier, their eating window also tends to expire well before they go to bed. This helps them avoid nighttime snacking, which can improve quality of sleep.
But Rumsey said intermittent fasting can also disrupt your sleep cycle or lead to restless nights. Multiple studies have shown that fasting can decrease your amount of REM sleep, which is believed to improve memory, mood, and learning capacity.
It could also make you less aware or alert.
Jesús Rodríguez/Unsplash
Jack Dorsey has claimed that his fasting diet keeps him more focused and alert, but some nutritionists attribute these feelings to his body going into starvation mode.
"Animals who are starved shouldn’t feel playful," Jennifer Gaudiani, an internal-medicine doctor, told Business Insider in April. "They should feel concerned and focused. They may interpret that initially as productive, but it’s the brain saying, ‘I don’t have enough food.’"
In the long term, Rumsey said, intermittent fasting can lead to decreased alertness because the body doesn’t consume enough calories during a fasting window to provide adequate energy. Fasting could also lead to fatigue, difficulty concentrating, or dizziness, said Rachael Hartley, a registered dietitian and nutritionist in South Carolina.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- 6 chemicals in food, makeup, and skin-care products that aren’t as dangerous as you think
- 11 Apollo movies and documentaries to watch on the moon landing’s 50th anniversary
- Vintage photos of the Apollo 11 moon mission show why it’s still arguably NASA’s greatest feat, 50 years later
SEE ALSO: What intermittent fasting does to your body and brain
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Aria Bendix)