fasting DIETS

Fasting diets have been in the spotlight in recent times, with everyone from Hugh Jackman to Kourtney Kardashian endorsing them. Given the attention focused on fasting diets, now is a good time to understand how suitable they might be for people living with diabetes. Baker Heart and Diabetes Institue dietitian Cindy Shea investigates.

-  Cindy Shea

religious and cultural fasting practices have been around for centuries, but more recently, there has been a growing trend towards using fasting to reduce weight and potentially improve blood glucose levels for people living with diabetes.

The theory behind fasting is pretty simple. Your body stores glucose or sugars in your liver. After 10 to 12 hours, your liver is depleted of its glucose stores, so it needs to switch over and use your fat cells as a source of energy. Essentially, an individual will have an overall reduced energy intake and be in negative balance with energy output, which can lead to reductions in weight.

When you fast, your body reduces secretion of insulin so fasting can potentially reduce the need for insulin medication to manage blood glucose levels (BGLs), as opposed to when you are eating a meal containing carbohydrates.

There are many types of fasting diets, including time-restricted eating, alternate day fasting or periodic fasting.

Time-restricted eating: you eat within a specific time window. The most popular regimen is 16 hours of fasting and an eight-hour eating period.

Alternate day fasting: every alternate day you are limiting your intake to 500-600 calories or 2100-2500kJ, then the next day you resume your usual diet.

Periodic fasting: you fast for one to two days a week then normal eating on other days. The most common periodic approach is 5:2 fasting. This is when you have two days a week of fasting, consuming only 500-600 calories or 2100-2500kJ on those days (not necessarily consecutive days), and the other five days of the week is a regular dietary intake.

IS IT SAFE TO DO FASTING IF I HAVE DIABETES?