Maximize Your Intermittent Fasting Results: The Top 10 Foods and Drinks to Include
Doctor explains the best foods to eat during intermittent fasting for optimal health and weight loss. Discover key food groups like lean proteins, healthy fats, and nutrient-rich vegetables that can enhance your fasting results.
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Topic Breakdown
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. While the major focus is often on the time windows—such as the popular 16-8 method, where you fast for 16 hours each day and then have an eight-hour eating window—optimal intermittent fasting also includes giving consideration to the best foods to incorporate into your diet during that eating window.
For instance, if you were only to focus on fasting for 16 hours and then use the eight-hour eating window to consume lots of ultra-processed, unhealthy foods like chips, chocolate, and soda, you're probably not going to see great results both in terms of weight loss and general health. That's why in this video, we're going to cover 10 key health food and drink groups that you should consider incorporating into your diet.
The first major food group you should incorporate into your diet is lean protein. Protein is vital to your overall health, immune system, and maintaining muscle mass. Muscle is necessary to optimize blood sugar balance and keep our metabolism high. A lack of muscle can promote weight gain, higher blood sugar, and frailty. Great sources of lean protein include salmon, eggs, and chicken breast. Other protein sources are cottage cheese, plain yogurt, legumes, as well as almonds, cashew nuts, and seeds like pumpkin seeds. If you're considering using protein powder, make sure there is no added sugar. Personally, I wouldn’t use protein powder because it's ultra-processed, and if you have a well-balanced diet, you'll be able to meet your protein requirements from natural food sources.
The second food group is healthy fats. Healthy fats are crucial to optimal health, yet many people have a fear of fat. Healthy fat is necessary for cellular health, energy, hormone production, insulation to keep us warm, and protection for our organs. Adding good fats to the diet is required to metabolize fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamin D or even herbs and spices such as turmeric. Sources of healthy fat include olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, avocados, chia seeds, flax seeds, and olives.
The third food group is fish and seafood. Seafood of any type is an excellent choice during your feeding window. Fish such as wild-caught salmon or sardines are very high not only in protein but also rich in omega-3 fats, which are necessary for optimal health and reducing cellular inflammation. Fish and seafood to integrate into your diet include wild-caught salmon, rainbow trout, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, mussels, lobster, and shrimp.
The fourth food group to integrate into your diet is vegetables. Vegetables are vital to optimal health, and adding them to your diet while intermittent fasting is an excellent strategy. Nutrient-rich vegetables to eat include spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. You might also want to try cabbage, celery, and asparagus.
The fifth food group to incorporate into your eating window is fruits. Fruit can be a welcome source of nutrient-rich food while intermittent fasting. However, choosing low or medium sugar fruits is important because an excess amount of fruit sugar or fructose can promote metabolic health issues and undo many of the benefits accrued while fasting. The best fruits to choose are raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, grapefruit, apples, strawberries in moderation, lemons, limes, avocados, and tomatoes.
The sixth food group to consider is whole grains. Whole grains are unique in that for many people, they have no increased blood sugar response, inflammation, or gut distress. But for others, they can cause these issues. If you can't tolerate grains, such as those with celiac disease, you should avoid them. Healthy whole grains that help optimize intermittent fasting are oatmeal, millet, quinoa, and brown rice.
The seventh group is legumes and beans. Beans and legumes are excellent choices for your intermittent strategy meal planning. They are often disregarded but are true powerhouses packed with fiber, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals. They help balance blood sugar, keep hunger and cravings at bay, reduce LDL cholesterol, and promote gut health. Beans and legumes to consider include black beans, chickpeas, green beans, lentils, and kidney beans.
The eighth food group is herbs and spices. They have a potent, powerful anti-inflammatory impact on our health and can make some of the more bland foods taste better, keeping you motivated to continue this strategy. Top herbs and spices include turmeric, ginger, rosemary, cinnamon, and sage.
The ninth food group is probiotics. Foods rich in probiotics include kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Probiotics help restore the natural balance of bacteria in your gut when disrupted by illness or treatment. There’s evidence that probiotics may be helpful in cases of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
The final important group is drinks. A good rule is that anything with calories is likely to break your fast. Avoid soda, juice, or coffee and tea with milk, creamer, or sweetener during the fasting window. You can have water, unsweetened coffee, or tea without milk or creamer. Coffee and tea, especially green tea, can help boost the benefits of intermittent fasting. The best drinks to consider are black coffee, herbal teas, green teas, and water.
If you have any top tips on particular foods that you found beneficial, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section. I hope you found this video useful. Check out the other videos on intermittent fasting on this channel if you'd like to know more about it. If you're interested in scaling your medical brand on YouTube or sponsoring these videos with your products, please reach out.
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