Intermittent Fasting: A Two-Month Experiment. Does It Work? | Talking Point | Full Episode

about 11 a.m now this is the time when i started getting a little bit grumpy and cranky because because i'm hungry all this food around me but i can't enjoy any of it they can eat but i can't i've been depriving myself of food for 16 hours a day for two months sounds crazy well let me tell you why i did it two months ago i was told this so based on your height and your weight your bmi well it's just a little more than it should be having just come off production for an episode on bubble tea where i drank the sugar-laden beverage three times a week for an entire month i was worried so i have taken the hit and i have decided to check with the ministry of health's online bmi calculator if i put in my weight and my height it puts me in the oh man moderate risk category now that definitely doesn't sound too good i want to get back into the low risk profile if i need to get there i need to lose wow eight kilograms [Music] we've all heard about intermittent fasting in fact it has been one of the top weight loss trends in the past two years and some people swear by it i use it on and off when i feel fat basically i feel lighter and i don't put on weight as easily so after doing if it helps me become lean and i can do the activities that i want like calisthenics and rock climbing so it seems like intermission fasting may be my answer to weight loss but there have been so many dieting trends out there i wonder if all this really works so for this episode of talking point i decided to go on an intermittent fast to find out if it really works or if it's just another dicing trip so what is intermittent fasting well it's essentially fasting within specific time blocks or fasting windows and there are several to choose from there's 16 8 which means you fast for 16 hours and eat within 8 hours 24 fast for 20 hours and eat within four one meal a day normally eaten within a two hour window alternate day fars where you eat three meals as usual on one day and fast the other day and finally the 5-2 diet eat normally for five days and limit your calorie intake to about five to six hundred for two days in the week before i begin my experiment i wanna know what happens to our body when we deprive it of food and more importantly what kind of a fasting window should i have for some answers i'm meeting dr zokanyan abdul hamid he's an emergency medicine doctor who started intermission fasting three years ago and lost more than 20 kilos in the first year so what happens to our body when we fast okay steve let's imagine our body as a refrigerator with the chiller compartment as well as the freezer we'll take the liver as a chiller all right it stores glycogen which is an easily accessible form of energy storage and will take the fat all over our body as the freezer as a denser form of energy storage is more difficult to access this energy from when we fast our body will first try to extract energy from the liver that is not to say that the energy from the fat is not taken as well but because it is less convenient the rate at which the energy is being taken from the fat is definitely much lesser when we feed we start storing up both the freezer as well as the chiller compartment there's a twist the twist is that the liver has limited storage however the fat or the freezer has unlimited what that means is that any excess energy that is not stored in the liver starts to get stored all over our fat storage and that's how we actually gain fat if we eat too much is there an optimal way to burn the fat we can do that by reducing our storage at the liver and how do we do that by prolonging our fast you start depleting your liver probably after 12 to 24 hours and once you start depleting your liver of its storage now you start to tap on your massive fat storage so i'm thinking of starting this fast but how would i know what would be best for me most of the studies with regards to intermittent fasting have people fasting at 16 hours and above okay based on what dr zulu has told me i'm going to go with a 16-8 fasting window which means every day for 16 hours i will fast and then for the next eight hours i get to have my meals within that time all this for two months let's see i could skip breakfast have lunch and dinner with my family or i could have brunch and an early dinner so actually this this could work it really just might work i'm having my experiment back by science so i'm getting my base health markers before i go on my farce [Music] dr pualing yao is a family physician with an interest in weight management he measures my height weight and body fat percentage my waist circumference liver profile and cholesterol levels were also taken and with that i'm all set to begin my intimates and fast for the next two months wish me luck i start off my challenge feeling optimistic it seems very doable but as the days go by i'm getting headaches feeling cranky and just not too happy about skipping my favorite meal of the day it's tough to get the engine started in the morning it's really tough i've been on an intermission fast i'm doing it to lose some weight and investigating if this diet which seems to be trending right now really works i'm on my way now to my next filming venue it's going to be tough because it's about 10 30 in the morning i haven't had breakfast and i'm going to a hawker center so i've just come off the weighing machine and it's been two weeks and you know what actually there's been no change my weight is still the same except i am feeling a bit more lethargic these days so that isn't great uh well i guess i'm hoping in time soon that i will actually see some kind of results fingers crossed maybe i'm not doing this right i need some help and i know just the person for it cory cruz is a moderator of the intermission fasting lifestyle facebook group that has more than 150 000 members globally the advertising creative says she lost a whopping 15 kilos thanks to intermission fasting and exercise so i need your advice because i'm on this intermittent fasting thing it's early days you know and i find that i'm hungry all the time i'm feeling a bit tired so it's quite normal actually to not feel great the first few weeks really we're just so used to eating so many times during the day so it helps to drink a lot of water so what were some of the things you were doing wrong when you first started fasting so when i first started fasting in 2018 i actually didn't realize that i was breaking my fast early every morning i thought i'd be like oh i'm gonna fast and i'm just gonna have a coffee but i ended up with a large caramel macchiato and i didn't realize that that was 300 calories ah okay okay i'm having my coffee now but it's just black coffee with no sugar no milk yeah that's great that's what you should be taking or you could have black tea or green tea still with no sugar or milk i've been on if for about two to three weeks now but i haven't really seen any results so what you can do if you've already been doing if for a little while and it's not going as fast as you would like you could start taking a look at your diet for instance so in fact i've taken a whole bunch of photos some of the things i've been eating over the last two weeks it really is as you can see quite a plethora of different things that looks delicious unfortunately it also looks like it's very high fat very high calorie and very little protein so what helps with intermittent fasting actually is having a higher amount of protein in your diet because protein is going to help sustain you longer throughout the day so you're not going to be hungry i'm guessing you're going to say skip the carbs right no i actually enjoy carbs you need carbs you need to have a balanced diet it's not about cutting stuff out completely and i don't actually deprive myself of things a lot of us in my facebook group ascribe to the 80 20 rule which is 80 healthy 20 just treats so we're gonna have a cake we're gonna have a pizza if is a lifestyle and you have to integrate it into your lifestyle otherwise it's not sustainable so just because i am on an intermission fast it doesn't mean i can go on a binge if i want to lose some weight i'll still need to watch what i eat but that's easier said than done when you haven't been eating for 16 hours well your mouth rules your head i clearly need help dr mary chong researches weight loss diet interventions and eating behavior in adults and infants she is going to show me how to trick my brain into eating smart hi mary oh hello steve good to see you you too have you had lunch no i haven't and i'm looking forward to eating actually perfect shall we get some lunch can i have one little lunch ah okay i'm all set for lunch so before i tuck in any tips for me before yes hang on actually as part of intermittent fasting it's awesome to be well hydrated okay because people often mistake thirst for hunger so i should have a drink before i start eating um it'd be helpful to have a glass of water or even some clear soup to fill your tummy and this would usually help you reduce hunger and help so in a way i'm tricking my stomach by putting something else in there besides food yes exactly it can be quite challenging when eating out yeah especially when you're trying to break fast so one way is to actually ask for half the portion but i'm just imagining my plate would look a bit empty and a bit sad you know not very visually enticing right but let me tell you a trick uh-huh yes there's evidence to suggest that the sizes of plates or even balls glasses and even spoons can unconsciously influence the amount of food people eat just by changing the size of the plates actually i have some examples here okay so i have two plates here if you put exactly the same amount of fluid into this normal size plate it's the same size and then compared to that in this plate okay see what you mean in a large plate food tends to appear lesser so therefore it encourages people to pile things more right in contrast and smaller plates food appear to be greater an amount and so that can actually help in terms of reducing intake well i am gonna tuck in you should learn to slow down and eat mindfully what do you mean by eat mindfully eating minefully means paying attention to the food you eat and also the feeling of fullness you get from the food and this is important because our brain takes about 20 minutes to register that we are full after eating so if you actually slow down then you get to be aware of the sense of wholeness and that can help prevent overeating i've also heard of some people who have been doing intermittent fasting for so long that they're down to just one meal a day i mean any danger in that there's actually a real danger of becoming malnourished if one takes intermittent fasting too far so for example taking calorie restriction to the next stream or constantly opening certain food groups this can actually lead to that person being deficient in nutrients and causing him or her to be fatigued or have a weakened immune system poor wound healing losing muscle mass or even getting depressed wow yeah besides the danger of overdoing it intermission fasting can also harm those who are pregnant under 18 or have a low bmi now that i know how and what to eat i'm putting all the advice i got into action coffee is ready more black coffee than usual in the morning to stave off the hunger pangs plain black coffee with no sugar and no milk it's lunchtime 12 30 in the afternoon but i'm gonna see if i can push it till at least 1 30 before i have my lunch so that i can enjoy elite dinner tonight [Music] but sometimes the stomach is weak so it's about 9 30 in the evening and i'm only halfway through my dinner so tonight i think yeah forget about the fasting i'm just gonna as the weeks go by i'm inching closer to the big reveal i'll find out if my two months of intermission fasting has produced any results [Music] it's been six weeks since i started intermittent fasting so we're still doing some filming for the show and as you can see i've learned to cope with the hunger pangs during the day it's about eight o'clock in the evening now and we are still filming as you can see in the back but with my irregular working hours it's a challenge to have my meals within the eight hour window every day so it's been a long day of filming i just got home it's about 10 30 in the evening and i was wondering if i could go for the rest of the night without any food well the answer is no since i struggle keeping to the same number of fasting and eating hours every day i wonder if i should pair intermittent fasting with a specific diet to achieve better results there are so many diet trends out there right now from the keto diet a high fat very low carbohydrate way of eating to the vegan diet where you only eat plants or foods made from plants then there's the paleo diet which mimics what caveman would have eaten so you eat only whole foods that could have been hunted or gathered the gluten-free diet simply means not eating anything that has gluten including wheat rye and barley i want to understand the differences between these diets because i wonder if there could be one diet more suited for me while i'm on my intermittent fast [Music] assistant professor varina tan is a dietitian with a research interest in improving health through personalized diets she's going to help me break down the different types of diets out there as you know i am on an intermittent fast so i'm here to ask you how can i maximize the results from that fast is there anything specifically that i should or should not be eating theoretically if you combine intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet which is essentially a low carbohydrate and a high fat diet both of these combined may enhance the effectiveness of you reaching ketosis or the fat burning stage faster but that being said this combined approach has not been studied or proven to work and you may also have the side effects of both diets for ketogenic diet you may have bad breath from what we call halitosis it may have constipation or diarrhea muscle cramps and headaches so these are some of the side effects of following diet trends so if you combine intermittent fasting with a keto diet it sounds like i would be a pretty horrible person to be around yes so see me stopping few steps away from you yeah we try to stay clear of a ketogenic diet not only of the side effects but also we are not sure what are the long-term safety and the sustainability okay then what about these other diets are any one of them better than the other for someone who is fasting let's take a look at the paleo diet so essentially no processed foods okay but one thing to note is that paleo does not allow any cereals grains or dairy products and is that a bad thing yes because for anyone following a paleo diet may be at risk of lower bone density because they are not consuming any dairy products what about a vegan diet so a vegan diet is considered ethical way and a healthy way of eating studies have shown that a vegan diet does improve some of the risk factors for chronic diseases for example your glucose level your cholesterol levels but they can be considered unhealthy depending on the types of food that you choose for example foods that are high in sugar like sugar sweetened beverages processed foods like potato chips are also considered vegan another downside of a vegan diet is that you may run the risk of vitamin and mineral deficiency if you don't choose or plan your meal properly and what what a gluten-free diet so a gluten-free diet was created for people who are formerly diagnosed with celiac disease so it is a condition where people cannot digest wheat containing products for example breads your pastries your cakes but for people who are not gluten sensitive like yourself and me studies have shown that a gluten-free diet does not improve health in any way so to improve health my take home would be less is more less is more less calories less processed food and less time spent eating so that is probably the key to better health every trending diet has its pros and cons and pairing them with intermission fasting may not make me healthier or help me accelerate my weight loss i guess i'll just have to try my best to stick to my fasting and eating windows it's been eight weeks since i started on my intermission fasting experiment it has been challenging to say the least but it's now coming to an end i'm back here at dr paul's clinic and i'm excited to see the results i mean i'm feeling good i'm feeling more energetic so i'm hoping the numbers will back me up [Music] well doctor i am anxious and excited to find out what the results say so please tell me so stephen most are good news okay for you you lost weight you lost 3 kgs and with the weight loss your waist conference also came down from 92 to 86. yes and body fat also reduced quite a significant bit from 24.1 percent to 18. yes and your visceral fat also reduced by one from nine to eight so that literally is the extra fat hugging my organs yes that really reduces your cardiovascular risk in general i see you should really pat yourself on shoulder i will that sounds good the likely cause perhaps some overindulgence in unhealthy hawker food these past two months to make up for missing out on my favorite meal of the day so does intermittent fasting work well from my own experience it sure does but i need to be really disciplined because as results clearly show it's not just about eating less if i want to be healthy i also need to pay more attention to just what it is i'm eating as well

Channel: CNA Insider

Views: 375,460

Rating: 4.8297873 out of 5

Keywords: CNA, CNA Insider, Channel NewsAsia, Asian perspective, Talking Point, intermittent fasting.fasting, health, diet, losing weight, weight management, BMI, weight loss, fasting window, body fat, eating behaviour, portion control, overeating, nutrient, calories, diet trend, keto, vegan, paleo, gluten free, dietician, side effects, Steve Chia

Id: QNJ3fJT2qY8

Length: 22min 32sec (1352 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 22 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/kimmyganny]

Poor Steve, they made him drink bbt 3 times a week for a month and now this to make him lose all of it? CNA is brutal

[u/CSlv]

This man is literally sacrificing his body for the job. Better give him a good bonus for the year.

[u/GiveThatCoffee]

I really like his vintage Mercedes.

[u/backpfe1fengesicht]

Can we make him SG's own mythbuster? Let him try all the diets, all the weird health things, all the random pantang stuff.

[u/Farfaraway94]

Just to clear the air..it does not matter what form of diet (IF, keto or whatever) you are on. What truly matters is calories in vs calories out. Your body does not know what time you are eating/not eating. The bulk of the weight that he lost could be attributed to water weight and not entirely fats. Hell, he did not even exercise and a portion of that assumed ‘fat loss’ could even be muscle loss.

If you are someone who loves to binge eat and can’t control, then maybe IF will be suitable (keyword) for you. So please, do not blindly follow these fanciful/trendy diet plans and expect magical results from it.

Count your calories and macro, be on a caloric deficit and be fking consistent. That’s all.

Tbh, i felt that this show was rather vague and could mislead many people into doing IF and fk themselves over. The dietitian did not even mention anything about calories and macro. Very laughable..

[u/zakuhack]

I thought i came to a TSL 72hour challenge post

[u/horsetrich]

Tldw, did it work?

[u/illEagle96]

Yes it does work, fixed my diet after going cold Turkey but it will only work if you actually stick to it till death.

[u/WhiteMirrorSociety]

Level up : Muslim Fasting, no food and drink from morning to night