Intermittent Fasting Re-Examined - New Research by Lumen Suggests Over-Fasting May Result in Potential Weight Gain

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Oct 22, 2020, 13:29 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lumen, a health tech company at the forefront of metabolic tracking, has uncovered data that changes industry assumptions on intermittent fasting.

Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolism tracker, which works by measuring your body's carbon dioxide concentration in just one breath. By using Lumen, you can understand if you're burning fats or carbs for fuel on a daily basis.

Fasting Hours Distribution among Lumen Users

According to polls, 24% of US adults have tried intermittent fasting for weight loss, but Lumen data engineers are now seeing that an overwhelming number of their users are experiencing what they call a stress response to fasting too many hours.

"People can reach great results by using fasting as a tool for weight loss and achieving a healthy metabolism, however, optimizing your fasting routine is crucial since each one of us has a different metabolism. Therefore, some will need longer fasting windows than others in order to optimize the result of their fast," says Barak Alon, Head of Data at Lumen.

With over 1 million monthly metabolism measurements made by Lumen users, the Lumen data team found insights to help users optimize their fasting and avoid a counteractive stress response.

While the ideal is to be in a constant fat burning state during a fast, over 27% of Lumen users that fasted more than 10 hours experienced a carb burn state even though their morning measurements indicated they were burning fat, which can be described as a stress response.

This happens when your body has overextended its fat burning state and the opposite result is triggered, as carbs are used rather than fat as fuel.

However, the data still supports the benefits of intermittent fasting. According to data experts at Lumen, users that fasted progressively in an optimized and measured framework were able to successfully achieve fat burn.

Lumen encourages intermittent fasting, but with a personalised and optimized approach that keeps metabolic health in mind. Extreme hunger pangs, restlessness, and agitation are physiological indicators of a stress response. Therefore, taking a post-fast metabolic measurement is a recommended solution to avoid cancelling the many benefits of fasting. Just by creating more awareness of physiological symptoms, intermittent fasters can safely optimize their fat burn.

About Lumen
Lumen helps people improve their health and fitness through technology on the forefront of personalized nutrition and metabolism. Conceived and designed by twin sisters, physiology PhDs and Ironman winners, Lumen harnesses the power of our breath to measure metabolism, which is closely linked to weight, fitness and metabolic health. The Lumen device measures metabolism in a single breath, in less than a minute, which previously was only possible through an hour-long lab test. Available at Lumen.me, Lumen devices ship globally, with the app available on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Lumen is headquartered in Israel, with offices in the United States.

Contact:
Kyla Blumenfeld
+972548161939
[email protected]

SOURCE Lumen