Cardiometabolic effects of intermittent fasting in women

Abstract

Introduction Intermittent fasting is a dietary pattern characterized by alternating periods of total or partial fasting and ad libitum food consumption. During prolonged fasting, the body uses the ketone bodies formed from lipolysis of body fat, which also leads to some metabolic modifications with positive effects on health. In this sense, nocturnal intermittent fasting could contribute to properly synchronize the circadian system making the physiological, hormonal, energetic and metabolic processes work correctly and keeping to the individual in homeostasis. Thus, according to the results of different studies, intermittent fasting, in the short-medium term, seems to improve body composition, as well as the values of several cardiometabolic parameters such as insulin and HOMA-IR index, among others. These effects have been observed in both pre- and postmenopausal women (no differences have been found between both states) and are similar to those found in interventions with caloric restriction diets.