Jahnavi Sarma
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Written By: Jahnavi Sarma | Published : August 8, 2020 10:17 PM IST
Intermittent fasting diet and keto diet are by far the most popular choices of many. @Shutterstock
Weight loss is serious business and there are many fad diets in the market today. But two among them stand out in terms of popularity. Intermittent fasting diet and keto diet are by far the most popular choices of many. Both these diets promise quick weight loss and it comes with proven results. But what happens if you combine the two? This is one question that most weight watchers ask. Will it help you lose weight even faster? Both these diets are different and come with their own advantages and disadvantages. Experts also give differing views on this.
There are many variations of intermittent fasting diet. Here, you eat in a time bound manner and fast for the rest of the time. You may eat during 8 hours in a day and fast for the other 16 hours. Or, you may eat what you like on five days of the week and severely restrict your calorie intake for the other 2 days. There are other variations too. There are no food restrictions and you can eat what you like during your 'eating' hours. This is what makes this diet popular. It is less restrictive, and you will feel less deprived.
Keto diet, on the other hand, is a high-fat, low-carb diet. Here, you have to drastically cut down on your carb intake. Though it helps you lose a lot of weight, it is highly restrictive. You are allowed less than 50 gms of carbs per day. In this diet, your body breaks down fats to use as energy. For this, you have to reach the state of ketosis. It comes with many health benefits including rapid weight loss and improved blood sugar control.
Intermittent fasting may actually pave your way to ketosis. When you fast, your body maintains its energy balance by using fats for fuel. This is the basic tenet of keto diet. Also, during fasting, your insulin levels and glycogen stores decrease. This induces the burning fat for fuel in your body. If you are on the keto diet and struggling to reach ketosis, then pairing it with intermittent fasting may make the process quicker. You may also end up burning more fat. Intermittent fasting induces thermogenesis, or heat production, in your body. This stimulates metabolism and your body burns fat faster as a result. Intermittent fasting also preserves muscle mass during weight loss and improves energy levels. This will help greatly when you are on the keto diet.
If you combine these to diets, you need to keep a few things in mind. This is safe for most people. But pregnant and breastfeeding women must avoid this combination as should people with a history of eating disorders. Patients of diabetes or heart disease must consult a doctor before starting either of these diets. So, you need to do this when you combine the two also. Moreover, for some people intermittent fasting on the keto diet be too restrictive and this may lead to overeating on non-fasting days, irritability and fatigue. Intermittent fasting on a keto diet may help you reach ketosis faster than a keto diet alone. It may also result in greater fat loss. But it is not necessary to do so. Following one of the two is good enough.
