Is Intermittent Fasting OK for Women?

It is ok for men and women, unless there has been a history of eating disorders.

There is a bit of controversy with IF and women, mostly because of a blog post done on a paleo blog a while back, that got people's attention. However, there's nothing concrete out there that shows either way, and IF is still a relatively new area that's being studied, so for now it's kind of up in the air. Having said that though, I had tremendous success with several versions of IF (I've done JUDDD, 5:2 and more recently 18:6). I loved doing IF and had no problems while doing it. Why not give it a try and see how it goes?

I have videos about all 6 types including the one I created on my channel. Just click my face lol. But to answer your question most women I know find the 5:2 method to be a bit more ideal for them. This method means you fast for 24-36 hours twice a week, however in that fasted period you can eat but low amounts of food. You dont want to go over about 10-15g of protein in your fasted stated cause this may turn off autophagy (your bodies self cleaning ability). Carbs can also turn off autophagy so be a bit careful with that as well. You can read up more on it if you are more interested I am just skimming the surface here. If you want to know more info just hit me up

Cheers,

Tof

I did a ton of research before I started and also found the info to be confusing and conflicting. I looked at forum posts, blog posts, magazine articles, and the couple scientific journal articles that are out there and wound up even more confused than I started. Most of the (valid) arguments against women and IF revolved around the potential negative impact on hormone levels that can cause a slowed metabolism and weight gain. This however was only referenced as a 'possibility' so I decided to go for it.

Pre-holiday I was doing IF but eating whatever gravy- or chocolate- coated goodies came across my path. I found that IF was SO MUCH EASIER than eating 3-6 smaller meals a day, both psychologically (I too am prone to evening food-binging!) and practically (I prep all of my meals on the weekends... IF = less cooking!!!). I haven't been prone to hunger in the morning but I do work out before work which can suppress appetite. Best of all... I didn't gain a pound.

Post-holiday I've decided to stick with IF but revert to healthier food choices and giving a crap about what my calorie limit it. It's too early to tell if I'll have success at losing weight but I plan to monitor my progress and switch strategies if necessary. If I start feeling sluggish, can't get through my workouts, or can't lose weight... I'll go back to doing it the hard way.

Good luck! I'd love to know how it works out for you!

wait, hasn't this thread already happened? didn't it end in a flame war? I have deja vu....

anyway

1. gender doesn't change whether intermittent fasting is a good idea or not because men and women are not that different to each other (although I probably wouldn't be inclined to recommend it during pregnancy, but I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about for healthy, non-pregnant women)

2. so long as you're getting a suitable amount of calories in your feeding window (i.e. the same amount of calories as are recommended for your exercise goals if you were eating regular meals) then it's safe

3. some medical conditions may make intermittent fasting a bad idea, if that may apply to you check with your doctor

wait, hasn't this thread already happened?

As I said earlier I am sure this has been posted multiple times just like everything else but I am looking for further information than what I found on the search also since it ended badly chances are it was deleted and I could not find it but thank you for the rest of the information.

it wasn't a criticism or a suggestion you shouldn't have posted the thread... I was just reminiscing because some of the flame wars on here are quite amusing. Can't remember if that was an amusing one or a head desk one though, I seem to remember it was hijacked by someone who thought that going for 16 hours without food was horribly bad for the health.... hope this thread turns out a lot better :flowerforyou:

I purposefully tried to stay away from the studies and just gave you a quick definition on the method that some women prefer. The reason is most studies on intermittent fasting was done on rats and can be easily be discredited because of that. But if I was to take that into account, the issue arises when you fast for extended periods of time. It has a slightly different affect on women than it does on men. For both sexes it is basically stress. However physical stress is not necessarily a bad thing in men but in women it can cause undesired results hormonal in the like thats why you hear that conclusion drawn. However what I suggested isn't my personal fasting method but a 5:2 split which allows you to eat during your fasting state. See you cannot look at food in a daily kind of thing if you restrict your caloric intake for a week and you eat 5-6 small meals, that is no different than fasting in terms of food cause the end result if you do the math can actually be the same. But, the time spent not eating is the real benefit and that is why fasting is so popular. I hope this clears the air a bit, I didn't want to get too technical but skimming over some of the responses I felt I should say something

Cheers all and yell if you have questions,

Tof

I do 16:8 or 15:9 most days because it helps me control my calorie intake and eat decent meals without feeling deprived. I don't think that it has any special benefits though. I still need to stay within my calorie limit.

There's an IF group if you are interested.

Best of luck with it.