Eating healthy is simple, but it can be incredibly hard to maintain. One of the main obstacles is all the work required to plan for and cook healthy meals. Intermittent fasting can make healthy eating simpler. There are fewer meals you need to prepare, cook and clean up after.

Some of the most popular methods include:

Alternate day fasting: This very strict fasting method involves 24-hours complete fasting followed by a 24-hours non-fasting period.

Whole-day fasting: This method involves regular one or two fasting days per week. For example the 5:2 diet includes 2 fasting days in a week, when the total daily energy intake is restricted around 500-600 calories or about 25% of regular daily energy intake. The remaining five days of the week are non-fasting days, with no specific dietary guidelines. With the 5:2 approach it is typically recommended not to schedule the 2 fasting days as consecutive days.

Time-restricted feeding: This method involves eating only during a certain number of hours each day. An example can be 16:8 diets which advocate 16 fasting hours cycled by 8 non-fasting hours. Many people find the 16:8 method to be the simplest, most sustainable and easiest to stick to. It’s also the most popular.

By reducing your calorie intake, all of these fasting methods should cause weight loss as long as you don't compensate by eating much more during the eating periods. It is also suggested that giving your body a longer break from digesting food has a beneficial effect on energy, fat and carbohydrate metabolism. Some studies show reductions in markers of inflammation, fasting blood sugar and fasting insulin levels. 

Intermittent fasting is not something that anyone needs to do. It’s simply one of many lifestyle strategies that can improve your health. Eating real food, exercising and taking care of your sleep are still the most important factors to focus on.

Intermittent fasting is great for some people, not others. The only way to find out which group you belong to is to try it out. Especially if fasting drives you to binge and eat massive amounts during your eating periods, fasting is not for you. People who are underweight or have a history of eating disorders are recommended to not try fasting.

Hunger is the main side effect of intermittent fasting. You may also feel weak and your brain may not perform as well as you're used to. This may only be temporary, as it can take some time for your body to adapt to the new meal schedule.

If you feel good when fasting and find it to be a sustainable way of eating, it can be a very powerful tool to lose weight and improve your health.