. . . recent study sheds light on benefits of fasting to overall health Historically, fasting has been associated with religious rituals, political protests, and fad diets. However, research over the past decade suggests a larger, more significant role of fasting—commonly referred to as intermittent fasting (IF)—for losing weight and improving overall health. Scientists have known since the 1940s that IF promotes weight loss. Yet, it has only recently become popular as a diet plan since it’s re-introduction to the public in 2012 after the release of a book on the subject. Intermittent fasting does not equal “skipping a meal” IF is a form of calorie restriction. The premise isn’t to simply reduce calorie intake daily, or skip a meal here or there. But rather, to alternate days of eating one’s normal food intake with days of eating a reduced amount of calories during a specific window of your day…while choosing not to eat during the rest of that day. Two popular types o…

Do you eat to live or live to eat? Neither could be called a healthy relationship with food. Eating to live—using food simply as fuel—takes the joy out of one of life’s great pleasures. On the other hand, giving food too much importance, either by living only for our next meal or obsessing lest we eat too much or eat the wrong things, isn’t a joyful or healthy relationship either.In a healthy relationship, we would look forward to our encounters with food. We would respond appropriately to our hunger cues by supplying ourselves with nourishing and tasty food (in the words of nutrition expert Mark Hyman, MD, “foods we love that love us back”), and we would eat until satisfied and no more. We would trust our body cues to maintain a weight that is perfect for us (although it might not conform to the latest fashion). But according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), almost 10% of our population is struggling with one or more of the thre…