It is the diet, energizing and slimming, which at the moment fascinates the imagination and reshapes the bodies and eating rhythms of women and men, especially sportsmen. It is called the 16: 8 Diet , a very simple method that satisfies its adepts.

The concept is this: the numbers stand for the hours - consecutive - in which you have to eat, or not. That is: 8 hours in which we eat, and 16 hours in which we abstain . A sort of short intermittent fasting, punctuated with the timing of feeding. In practice, for many it means skipping one out of three meals.

The diatribe between those who say that it is better to eat little but often, and those who claim the opposite - to leave the stomach and intestines in peace for a good number of hours in a row - is one of the various and significant that for decades have divided experts and non-experts. The 16: 8 diet clearly falls into the second school of thought.

Fasting for 16 consecutive hours would allow you to lose weight, allowing our metabolism to process the nutrients contained in the food we consume, control the correct production of insulin (a protein hormone essential for the metabolism of sugars) and burn calories . All this, without ever being gripped by hunger pangs, as in regimes that provide for much longer fasts.

But what do you eat in the 8 hours dedicated to food? And how much? There is no calorie restriction . The important thing is to choose healthy foods. Of course, the idea is not to overdo it with food, and to be responsible for a good balance between proteins (lean - vegetable and / or animal), many vegetables and lots of fruit, nuts, eggs and dairy products and Whole grains.

There are foods that should be avoided , namely refined sugars and fatty proteins, such as cured meats. And can you only drink water during the 16 hours off ? No, even tea, herbal teas and even coffee. And rather opt for a liquid diet, such as vegetable centrifuges.

The 16: 8 diet is not presented as a diet to be undertaken for purely slimming purposes, but also as a healthy and sporting one . Fasting de-flame - stress and inflammation go hand in hand - and energy rises, fats are used for energy purposes, blood sugar is regulated and muscle recovery takes place.