Ways Intermittent fasting can mess with your mental health

Top celebrities swear by it, fitness influencers recommend it, but did you know that intermittent fasting impacts mental health? Despite myriads of benefits it has in offer, intermittent fasting has a major effect on the mental wellness of an individual, experts say.

Intermittent fasting is an eating-fasting pattern where in a day one fasts for a longer duration before eating anything. One can fast for 8 hours, 16 hours or 18 hours or for any duration.

"Studies in humans, almost across the board, have shown that intermittent fasting is safe and effective, but really no more effective than any other diet. In addition, many people find it difficult to fast," says Harvard Medical School.

"If our cells don’t use it all, we store it in our fat cells as, well, fat. But sugar can only enter our cells with insulin, a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin brings sugar into the fat cells and keeps it there. Between meals, as long as we don’t snack, our insulin levels will go down and our fat cells can then release their stored sugar, to be used as energy. We lose weight if we let our insulin levels go down. The entire idea of IF is to allow the insulin levels to go down far enough and for long enough that we burn off our fat," Harvard Medical School explains about intermittent fasting in a report.

The report, which says that intermittent fasting is difficult to carry on, also suggests to start with a simple form of the fasting. "Limit the hours of the day when you eat, and for best effect, make it earlier in the day (between 7 am to 3 pm, or even 10 am to 6 pm, but definitely not in the evening before bed)," it says.

While intermittent fasting is useful to cut down high blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and burns excess fat, it does have an adverse effect on the mental health of the individual.

As per experts, intermittent fasting can affect one's moods. During fasting due to drop in blood sugar level, the cortisol or the stress hormone of the body increases. Restricting food can also affect the level of serotonin or the happy hormone in the body. This is why one should consider simple forms of fasting. Keep the fasting window small so that it doesn't affect your mental well being.

Another startling fact that experts point out in intermittent fasting is that it can affect those who are diabetic. The sudden drop in blood sugar during fasting and the sudden spike after having food can disturb the biological and mental wellness of diabetic patients.

Due to commitment to intermittent fasting, one often misses out meeting friends. This in a way cuts off the individual from social interaction and it may snowball into depression and loneliness.

This eating-fasting pattern can affect those with serious eating disorders. Experts suggest those who have had eating issues in the past should never try intermittent fasting. This vigorous, fasting method, will trigger the eating issue and may disturb the biological functions of the individual.

If one cannot continue fasting, then there are other approaches to weight reduction that one can opt for. For many people, exercising is a game-changing strategy and for many others having a nutritious diet helps in shedding weight. If you are planning to reduce your weight, start from controlling it first. Stop the weight gain first and then start on reducing what you have gained extra.

Eat fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, be active throughout your day, build muscle tone, limit the hours of the day when you eat, avoid snacking for better and sound health.