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by distantaidenn 1264 days ago
I've been doing IF for 20 years. I read the science way back when, and it made sense to me -- I never looked back. Early breakfast always made me feel queasy, anyway (since childhood), so it wasn't much of a jump. I typically don't eat until dinner. I'll alter this for special occasions, or if I didn't eat enough the day prior. Sometimes I'll just plain forget to eat until 21:00 or so, if I'm busy on a project. I follow this pattern about 5-6 days a week.

As for my blood glucose levels, based on the continuous monitoring devices I've used, it's pretty stable. I may see a slight dip in the afternoon, then returns to baseline and stabilizes. After a meal, it will rise for about 30 minutes (within normal parameters), then back to baseline.

IF is anything but a fad diet and shouldn't be lumped in with such. If anything, one could argue that IF is one of (if not) the original eating patterns based on the lifestyles our hunter/gatherer ancestors and modern nomadic cultures. The modern concept of 3 squares a day might in fact be the fad.

Food has only been plentiful since the agriculture revolution about 12,000 years ago. Before then, it was feast and famine.

For anyone on the fence, I say give it a try (after consulting with your physician). The more studies we are seeing about this pattern, the more benefits we are discovering.

2 comments

Can I ask which continuous monitoring device you use? I'm looking for one to see how my blood sugar fluctuates throughout the day. The good ones seem to be behind a prescription wall, so I was considering the freestyle libre.
Freestyle Libre : https://www.freestyle.abbott/us-en/home.html

They're a bit pricey if you buy them direct (sans insurance). It feels like you have an additional sense when wearing it.

There are also a few startups (in the US e.g. Levels, Veri) which offer more insights than just using the libre sensor „as it is“. Unless you already know a lot about metabolic health, I'd recommend going that route over just getting the sensor.
I don't mean to sound negative, do what works for you, and everyone else should absolutely give IF a try.

But "works for me" and "there are many studies that prove it's useful" is what everyone says about whatever diet they are currently doing.

I have seen the same (on this forum too!) for keto, paleo, vegetarian, piscitarian, vegan, carnivore, mediterranean. The "it's how our ancestors ate!" claim is also applied to all of the above.

Only time will tell which diet sticks, and which one was a fad.