Is Intermittent Fasting Just a Fad or a Functional Fix?

If you’ve been even remotely interested in health over the past few years, you’ve definitely heard someone say, “Oh, I’m on IF now.”

- Sunil Malhotra

Intermittent Fasting, or IF, has swept through wellness circles like wildfire—touted as a miracle fix for weight loss, better digestion, hormonal balance, and even longevity. But amid all the Instagram transformations and overnight success stories, the question remains: Is intermittent fasting just another health fad, or does it truly offer functional, long-term benefits? Let’s take a deeper look—beyond the buzzwords and bold claims—and see whether intermittent fasting is a practice worth embracing, especially within the context of Indian diets, lifestyles, and of course, our love for food.

WHAT EXACTLY IS INTERMITTENT FASTING?

Intermittent fasting isn’t a diet in the traditional sense—it doesn’t tell you what to eat, but rather when to eat. It revolves around defined eating and fasting windows, with the most common being: 16:8 – 16 hours of fasting, 8 hours of eating 14:10 – a gentler version of the above 5:2 – eating normally for 5 days, and very restricted calories (around 500-600) for 2 days a week OMAD – One Meal A Day (a more extreme form, not recommended for everyone) The idea is that by limiting your eating window, your body gets a break from constant digestion and shifts into a state of metabolic flexibility, burning stored fat for energy and promoting cellular repair through a process called autophagy.