Intermittent Fasting: A Trendy Flex or a One-Way Ticket to the Afterlife?

Let’s examine this without fanaticism.

Intermittent fasting is when you voluntarily do what students do out of poverty and yogis do for enlightenment. But what is it really — a clever biohack for your body, or a shortcut to gastritis and obsessive food cravings? Let’s break it down calmly.

The Boring but Necessary Part: What Is It, Actually?

Stripped of mysticism and Instagram pseudo-science, intermittent fasting (or “fasting”) is not a diet — it’s an eating schedule. You don’t necessarily change what you eat (though that wouldn’t hurt); you change when you eat. You simply alternate between periods of feeding and fasting.

As the old joke goes:

“Doctor, I’m going to fast from 8 p.m. to noon!”
“That’s called sleeping, you idiot.”

But, of course, there’s more nuance to it.

The Schemes: From “Beginner Level” to “Samurai Mode”

Think of fasting as a customizable challenge — pick your difficulty setting like in a video game:

• 16/8 (for beginners).
  The classic model: 16 hours of fasting (sleep included — yes, that’s cheating) and an 8-hour eating window. For instance, eat from noon to 8 p.m. Perfect for breakfast-haters.
• 18/6 (for the advanced).
   Same idea, tighter window. This is where real discipline begins.
• 20/4 or OMAD (“One Meal A Day,” a.k.a. “The Warrior Diet”).
  One single meal per day — the hardcore version. Ideal for those who fancy themselves action heroes too busy saving the world to bother with lunch. In practice: one enormous dinner, after which you’re immobilized.
• 5/2 (for the weekend lovers).
  Eat normally five days a week, and for two non-consecutive days, either fully fast or limit yourself to 500–600 kcal (roughly two meatless, cheeseless burgers). Just don’t do the two fasting days back-to-back, or your inner crocodile won’t hunt, and your coconut won’t grow.
• 36-hour fasting (for extremists).
  Eat Monday morning, next meal — Tuesday evening. At this point, it’s less about losing weight and more about a spiritual pilgrimage.

Officially: only under medical supervision, unless you want your last thought to be of a juicy cutlet.

Micro-insight:
 “To avoid counting hours, just skip your first or last meal — or download an app that tracks fasting intervals for you.” Genius. In the 21st century, even hunger comes with an app.

The Pros: Why Everyone Is Obsessed

(Spoiler: It’s not just about weight loss)

This isn’t simply “I’ll get thinner.” The benefits list reads like the back of a Hollywood miracle-pill bottle:

• Your body eats itself (in a good way).
  Autophagy kicks in — a cellular clean-up process where your body devours old junk and toxins. Imagine a sadistic maid working inside you.
• Inflammation reduction.
  Fewer inflammatory processes mean lower risks of everything from arthritis to asthma. Your body stops being a battlefield.
• Insulin finally relaxes.
  Sensitivity improves — meaning a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
• Your brain goes full Sherlock.
  Cognitive function and mental clarity rise, with potential protection against Alzheimer’s. A hungry brain is an alert, efficient brain.
• Immunity gets a power-up.
  Studies on mice (thanks, mice!) show immune cell levels not only recover after fasting but actually increase. Hunger as a reboot for the body’s defense system.

The Cons and Contraindications

Now for the less glamorous but crucial section that everyone skips — read carefully unless you’d rather swap weight loss for a hospital bracelet.

Contraindications (not a joke):
Underweight, pregnancy, breastfeeding, eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia), thyroid disorders, type 1 diabetes, gallstones.
If any of these apply — don’t even think about it. Your body will rebel.

Common side effects for beginners:
Hunger (surprise!), fatigue, dizziness, headaches. Your system doesn’t understand why it’s been deprived of its usual noodle fix and starts a riot.

Hormonal chaos:
Extended fasting (48 hours or more) may reduce thyroid and sex hormone production. Want to be thinner but lose your libido? That’s rhetorical.

Expert reality check:

“In the long term, intermittent fasting makes little sense. The longer you fast, the harder your body fights weight loss... This won’t promote active fat burning and often leads to breakdowns later.”
 — Dr. Yulia Etlis, therapist, nutritionist, Ph.D.

Intermittent fasting is a powerful tool — but like any tool, you can use it to build furniture or nail your hand to the floor.

Does it work? 

Yes, it does — if you’re overweight and maintain a calorie deficit. But the golden rule remains:

“It’s not the fasting window that matters, but your total calorie intake.”

You can declare a food window from noon to 8 p.m. and still cram in three pizzas. The result will be tragic.

It’s not a magic wand — more like a disciplinary stick for your eating habits. It can help you rebuild your relationship with food, stop constant snacking, and rediscover what true hunger feels like.

But it’s not for everyone. As always, truth lies in moderation: listen to your body, consult a doctor, and don’t turn this into a cult. Otherwise, instead of a dream body, you’ll earn a ticket to the gastroenterology ward.

Fast wisely. And if, after all that mindful fasting, you crave something delicious — visit our site: we have more restaurants than you have excuses.