As the rich and famous Hollywood and Silicon Valley-promoted diet plan has been promoted, the alternating fast has gained great popularity in recent years.
But experts fear the restrictive regime – a quasi-religion followed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and actresses Jennifer Aniston and Vanessa Hudgens – could be a dangerous cover for an eating disorder.
“It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” registered dietitian Tammy Beasley told The Post. “I wish there was an intermittent warning on it.”
MOST Americans feel older than their biological age, and study demands
The buzzing fad, considered a weight loss and maintenance strategy, suggests that you should eat at certain times of the day or in one of its stricter forms during the week. It was the most-googled diet of 2019 and the second-most-searched diet, after keto, in 2020.
The program makes people lighter and improves their health, according to a 2019 review published in the New England Journal of Medicine. But more recent research published by JAMA Internal Medicine last year found that it is no more effective than the average diet to combat flab
Intermittent fasting has earned praise in the past, but more recent research suggests that is not all.
(iStock)
Yet the conflicting information has not deterred the growing number of fans, and many take it to the extreme. Variations include fasting of alternate days, periodic fasting and so-called time-limited feeding. For example, it is known that Dorsey eats only one meal a day between 18:30 and 21:00, and regularly goes through food throughout the weekend, claiming that he is therefore more focused.
The intense habits of the 44-year-old billionaire have partly inspired event planner Kristin White to try alternating fasting in November 2018.
“I’m easily influenced and think, ‘If this works for a tall businessman like him, I should do the same,'” the 54-year-old Seattle resident said.
While eating only between 15 and 22 hours, she ate the same price daily: a hard-boiled egg with an apple, fried chicken and vegetables for dinner, followed by a protein bar or a little peanut butter before bed .
The 5-foot-9 self-described perfectionist shed 15 pounds in six weeks and weighed 112 pounds. But her ‘success’ came at a price.
“I struggled with my focus and was pretty awful to be there,” White said. Worse, the doctor noticed an alarmingly low heart rate during her annual checkup and advised her to seek help.
“I struggled with my focus and was pretty awful to be there.”
In April 2019, she entered a residential center in Alsana, California, where her eating disorder was addressed by staff, including Beasley, vice president of clinical nutrition services. Fortunately, the surviving anorexia and orthorexia now have a much healthier weight and mindset.
“Intermittent fasting was another excuse for me to become profound with controlling my body,” White said. “But it all accelerated for me.”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Indeed, Lynn Slawsky, executive director of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, said the trendy diet can lead to risky behaviors.
“Your body starves when intermittent fasting occurs,” Slawsky said. “As a result, people can develop an eating disorder or bulimia, which can lead to all sorts of other physical and psychological problems.”
She added that it could particularly lead to vulnerable populations who are already susceptible to disorderly eating – and for whom the diet is a cover.
“It’s an easy way to explain why you do not want to go to a party or use calories,” Beasley pointed out. “You can time-stamp it with, ‘I’m persistently fast and this is not my window.’ It detracts from the cause of the reason why you are afraid to eat or take part in the event. ‘
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE NEWS OF VOSLIFSTYL
The former Alsana client, Maria Rupprecht (26), quickly fell into the trap of applying alternating fasting, which she said effectively masked her dysfunctional approach to food.
“I thought, ‘This is socially acceptable,'” she told The New York Post. “The whole world did what the professionals told me was unhealthy.”
The 5-foot-6 babysitter refused all meals and snacks between 7pm and the following afternoon and shed 40 pounds in three months. In 2016, she recorded her lowest weight of 125 pounds.
“I missed my friends’ birthdays and graduation parties because I did not want to eat outside my time window,” Rupprecht said.
The newlywed St Louis, now recovering and with a healthy weight, is successfully managing her relationship with food and will qualify as a licensed professional counselor in October 2022. Meanwhile, she warns how the potential risks associated with intermittent fasting are likely exacerbated by the competitive nature of his type A disciples.
“I would compare myself to others,” Rupprecht said, describing how she felt pressured to extend her hours without food. ‘My window would end at 7pm, but then I would have a friend who would just do it [eat] between 13 and 15 hours
‘Some friends of mine are in that world and are [still] not diagnosed. ‘
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
This article originally appeared in The New York Post. If you or someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, you can get help. Call the National Eating Disorder Association Helpline at (800) 931-2237 or visit nationaleatingdisorders.org. Or call the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders helpline at (630) 577-1330 or visit anad.org.