Fasting Day Calorie Control and Food Choice Guide

On a "fasting day," consume 500-600 kcal per day.

An adult needs to consume more than 1200 kcal per day to maintain their weight. From a nutritional point of view, calorie intake exceeding expenditure will lead to fat storage and cause the body to become obese.

Conversely, if calorie intake is less than calorie expenditure, it can promote fat metabolism and help with weight loss.

The minimum safe calorie intake that the human body can tolerate in the long term is 800 kcal per day. However, intermittent fasting only requires two non-consecutive days of fasting. Therefore, male fasters only need to ensure that they do not consume more than 600 kcal on the fasting days, and female fasters do not consume more than 500 kcal. This not only conforms to a low-calorie diet, but also ensures that the body's minimum calorie needs are met.

It is recommended to distribute these calories across breakfast and dinner, using the following meal plan as an example:

[breakfast]

1. Half a bowl of low-calorie staple food (brown rice, oats, pasta, etc., about 140 kcal).

2. One serving of beans, fish, meat and eggs (1 egg, 450 ml of unsweetened soy milk, 1 slice of ham, about 70 kcal).

3. Eat more vegetables (without cooking oil).

[dinner]

1. 2-3 servings of fish, meat, or eggs (approximately 140 kcal for women and 210 kcal for men).

2. One serving of low glycemic index fruit (1 apple, 1 small bowl of seeded and sliced ​​guava, half a banana, about 60 kcal).

3. A small handful of nuts (cashews, almonds, peach kernels, hazelnuts, about 90 kcal).

4. Eat more vegetables (without cooking oil).

What to eat on a fasting day? How to eat it?

On fasting days, the goal of fasters is to consume enough food to satisfy their needs, but they must not exceed the upper limit of 600 kcal for men and 500 kcal for women.

Foods that best fit this principle are those that are high in protein but low in glycemic index (GI).

High-protein foods can prolong the feeling of fullness, while low-glycemic index foods will not cause a spike in blood sugar.

The food options available are

Fish: Tuna, salmon, whitebait, Wuchang bream, crucian carp, ribbonfish, yellow croaker, grass carp, shrimp, etc.

Poultry and eggs: chicken (skin removed), duck (skin removed), pigeon, chicken eggs, duck eggs, etc.

Even so, it is not recommended to completely eliminate carbohydrates on fasting days, nor is it recommended to consume large amounts of high-protein foods, such as various meats and fish.

Eggs are a particularly recommended food here. They are low in saturated fat, rich in nutrients, and won't worsen cholesterol levels. One egg contains only 90 calories. Studies have found that people who consume egg protein for breakfast are less likely to feel hungry than those who only eat wheat protein for breakfast.

Therefore, having eggs as the main breakfast on a fasting day is a very reasonable choice.

It's best to choose poached or hard-boiled eggs to avoid unnecessary calories.

It's worth mentioning that although nuts are high in calories, they are mostly low in glycemic index (GI) and have a high satiety level, making them a top choice for fasting days.

Why choose low glycemic index (GI) foods?

The glycemic index, also known as the glycemic index, reflects how quickly and effectively a food raises blood sugar levels.

Elevated blood sugar levels lead to higher insulin concentrations, which cause the body to store fat, thus increasing the risk of cancer.

There is another reason why you must abstain from foods that cause blood sugar spikes on fasting days: blood sugar will inevitably plummet after it spikes, and once it plummets, you will feel extremely hungry.

Carbohydrates have the greatest impact on blood sugar, but not all carbohydrates are the same.

Anyone who diets knows that to find out which carbohydrates cause blood sugar spikes and which don't, one way is to check the glycemic index (GI) of the food.

With 100 as the highest value, each food has an index, and foods with low values ​​usually do not cause a spike in blood sugar.

Therefore, we should choose foods with a low glycemic index.

Besides the type of food, the amount of food consumed also has a close relationship with the rise in blood sugar.

Who would have thought that eating a baked potato would have the same effect on blood sugar as eating a tablespoon of sugar?

Therefore, we will introduce a method for estimating glycemic load (GL).

GL = (G × grams of carbohydrates) / 100

Like GI, GL can predict future health (people who follow a low-GL diet have a lower chance of developing diabetes, heart disease, and various cancers). Generally speaking, a GI above 50 or a GL above 20 is not good; the lower the values ​​of both, the better.

Surprisingly, soy milk has a higher GI and GL value than cow's milk, so we recommend choosing dairy products as beverages.

In addition, many people may think that ice cream has a very high GI and GL value, but this is not the case.

If calories are taken into account in a diet, low-calorie ice cream with strawberries would be a wonderful way to end a meal.