Tag: SAFETY

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Pet Food Safety | Healthy Pets, Healthy People

Pet Food Safety | Healthy Pets, Healthy People

We all want our puppies and cats to have the best and healthiest foodstuff. However, just like our foods, pet food and treats can from time to time be contaminated with germs. These germs can make animals and men and women unwell.

The excellent information is that you can choose techniques to continue to keep your pets and relatives wholesome.

Risk-free foods for pet dogs and cats

There are many risk-free foodstuff selections for your doggy or cat.

Safe and sound pet foodstuff not often induce foods poisoning in animals. These foodstuff have been cooked or heated to a significant more than enough temperature to kill germs.

Choose pet meals that give the correct volume of nutrition your pet requires. When acquiring food items for your dog’s or cat’s most important food plan, search for the phrases “total and well balanced” on the solution label.

Major forms of risk-free pet food stuff

  • Kibbles are cooked and shaped in advance of being dried. They are then coated with flavors. (Notice that some kibbles are coated or blended with raw pet meals – these merchandise would be regarded as raw pet foods and would very likely have the word “raw” on the packaging.)
  • Canned pet foodstuff are sealed just before being sterilized (heated to a higher temperature).
  • Contemporary pet meals are cooked food stuff with fewer or no preservatives. These goods are typically delivered to your residence as aspect of on line pet foods subscription companies. They might also be offered at pet merchants and grocery outlets. Mainly because fewer or no preservatives are utilised, fresh new pet foods need to be refrigerated, and they do not preserve as very long as kibbles or canned pet meals.

Some people make meals for their animals using components from the grocery shop. If home made pet foods are your pet’s primary diet program, talk to your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist to make absolutely sure you are providing a full and balanced food plan for your pet.

Comply with pet meals security methods

Illustration of family pets and dog

Hold your animals secure

  • Continue to be up to day on food stuff recollects and outbreaks. Don’t feed your pet any recalled or contaminated food stuff.
  • Thoroughly clean pet foods and drinking water bowls, food stuff scoops, take care of toys, feeding mats, and placemats commonly.
  • Observe storage directions on pet food labels.

Keep on your own and your loved ones harmless

  • Wash your palms with soap and drinking water right before and soon after dealing with pet food items or treats. Make sure kids clean their arms correctly.
  • Don’t let your pet lick your open up wounds or spots with damaged skin, and check out not to allow your pet lick your mouth or deal with immediately after they try to eat.

Uncooked pet food and treats can make your canine or cat sick

Uncooked Pet Food stuff (Print Version)

What is uncooked pet meals?

Raw pet food items have protein from an animal, like rooster and beef, and have not been cooked or heated to a superior sufficient temperature to eliminate germs. Plant-primarily based meals, like fruits and veggies, are much less most likely to be contaminated with germs and are not regarded as uncooked pet meals.

Notice that some pet food businesses use substantial-vitality beams (irradiation) and pretty large stress (large force processing) to kill germs without having warmth. Nevertheless, we presently do not have adequate details about how properly pet food items processing facilities are employing these procedures, and for that reason even now take into consideration these products to be uncooked pet meals.

Typical components in raw pet foodstuff incorporate

  • Uncooked muscle mass meat (like thigh and breast)
  • Uncooked organ meat (like liver and kidney)
  • Raw bones
  • Raw eggs
  • Unpasteurized milk

Raw pet foodstuff come in lots of distinct kinds, these types of as

  • Uncooked (like the uncooked rooster you get from the grocery retail outlet)
  • Uncooked frozen
  • Freeze-dried (frozen and then dried in a vacuum)
  • Dehydrated (dried employing heat air)

Even treats and meals toppers (food that is included to or mixed in with your pet’s regular foods) can be raw. Some illustrations are rawhide chews and freeze-dried treats.

Illustration of raw milk and meat

Raw pet foods can trigger food poisoning

Raw pet food stuff can make your canine or cat unwell. This is because uncooked meat and other uncooked protein from animals can have germs like Salmonella and Listeria. These germs have been located in several uncooked pet foods. Raw pet foods can also make you and your spouse and children ill when these germs spread all around your kitchen and home.

Freeze-drying, dehydrating, or freezing raw protein from animals only lowers the sum of germs. These processes do not kill all germs that may possibly be on the food stuff.

Uncooked pet foods is not essentially healthier

Uncooked is not automatically more healthy. Both of those uncooked and cooked pet food items can be produced with large-top quality or minimal-top quality components. Each can be nutritionally well balanced or inadequate. And equally can be digestible some nutrients can be additional simply digested after the foods is cooked, when some vitamins and minerals may perhaps be more digestible in uncooked food items. (For example, cooking breaks down thiaminase in seafood and prevents thiamine deficiency in cats.)

Some men and women may perhaps say that raw pet food items is the organic, ancestral, or instinctual diet regime of pet dog and cats. However, diet plans that are best for wolves and wild cats are not the best for pet puppies and cats that live at residence and reside extended life. In simple fact, pet puppies prefer and need meals that are lower in protein and greater in excess fat and carbs than wolves.

If you‘re considering about feeding raw foods to your pet or cat

If you’re contemplating about feeding uncooked pet food stuff to your pet or cat, discuss to your veterinarian very first. They can aid you come to a decision what is finest for your pet and household.

When talking about with your veterinarian, look at some of these inquiries:

  • Is anyone in your domestic, or any individual else your pet interacts with, more possible to get pretty unwell from foodborne germs? This contains little ones underneath 5 years aged, grown ups 65 a long time or more mature, folks with weakened immune devices, and people today who are pregnant.
  • Do you have a pet that is additional probably to get unwell from foodborne germs? This features young animals (like puppies) and pets who have a weakened immune procedure or other overall health situations.
  • Is the uncooked diet you plan to feed your pet full and balanced? Will it enable your pet prosper?
  • Are you in a position to clean up additional regularly if you use uncooked pet foods?

If you feed raw food to your pet dog or cat

If you opt for to feed uncooked pet meals to your canine or cat, consider these steps in addition to the standard pet food basic safety measures:

  • Consider purchasing from organizations that have substantial food stuff safety specifications. You can ask them:
    • Does your organization examination all your last products and solutions for popular foodborne germs like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria?
    • What does your enterprise do to destroy germs in your raw pet food items products and solutions?
    • How often does your enterprise thoroughly clean and disinfect the production facility?
    • Does your enterprise have veterinary nutritionists?
  • Chat to your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist if uncooked food is your pet’s key food plan.
    • They can assist you make positive your pet’s uncooked food items diet has all the nutrition your pet desires.
  • Thoroughly clean generally.
    • Wash your palms with cleaning soap and drinking water right before and immediately after handling raw pet foods.
    • Clean up items and surfaces that touched uncooked pet foods.
  • Thoroughly chill and shop raw pet meals that wants to be kept chilly.
    • Freeze it right up until you are prepared to thaw and use it.
    • Thaw frozen uncooked pet food stuff in the fridge.
    • Preserve it in a sealed container in the freezer and fridge, independent from other food items.
    • Throw away leftovers that have been out at area temperature.
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USDA Recommends Food Safety Tips, Additional Resources Before Potential Flooding in California

USDA Recommends Food Safety Tips, Additional Resources Before Potential Flooding in California

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2023 – With significant storms forecast for northern and central California, the U.S. Section of Agriculture (USDA) is reminding communities in the region to get ready and to be conscious of USDA plans to guide subsequent flooding and other disasters.

Foodstuff security steering:

Extreme climate forecasts typically current the possibility of ability outages or flooding that could compromise the basic safety of saved meals. USDA encourages individuals in the possible flood space to just take the following safeguards to get ready:

If you expect or expertise a electrical power outage

  • The fridge will retain foodstuff at a protected temperature (below 40°F) for up to 4 hrs if it is unopened. A entire freezer will maintain a secure temperature for close to 48 hours (24 several hours if it is 50 {35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} complete and the doors continue being closed). Maintaining fridge and freezer doorways shut stops cold air from escaping.
  • Preserve an appliance thermometer in both equally the fridge and freezer in the party you do will need to verify the fridge or freezer temperatures.
  • Freeze drinking water in tiny plastic storage luggage or containers prior to a storm. These containers should be small sufficient to suit about the food in the refrigerator and freezer to aid maintain foods chilly.
  • Freeze refrigerated things, this sort of as leftovers, milk and new meat and poultry that you may perhaps not need immediately—this allows keep them at a safe temperature for a longer time.
  • Take into consideration obtaining 50 lbs of dry or block ice if a lengthy electricity outage is possible. This volume of ice need to maintain a fully-stocked 18-cubic-ft freezer chilly for two days.
  • Shop meals objects shut together in the freezer—this ‘igloo’ effect can help the food stuff keep cold longer.
  • Keep a few days’ worthy of of ready-to-try to eat food items that do not involve cooking or refrigeration.

If you assume or practical experience flooding:

  • If attainable, raise refrigerators and freezers off the floor, placing cement blocks beneath their corners.
  • Move canned goods and other foods in basements or reduced cupboards to a higher place to guard them from flood waters.
  • Drink only bottled water that has not arrive in get hold of with flood h2o. Discard any bottled water that may have arrive in get hold of with flood h2o.
  • Discard any food stuff that is not in a waterproof container if there is any prospect it may perhaps have arrive in get in touch with with flood water. Food stuff containers that are not water-proof consist of those people with screw-caps, snap lids, pull tops and crimped caps.
  • Discard wood cutting boards, plastic utensils, little one bottle nipples, and pacifiers that could have occur in make contact with with flood h2o.
  • Extensively clean all metallic pans, ceramic dishes, and utensils that came in call with flood water with sizzling soapy drinking water. Sanitize by boiling them in clean up drinking water or by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of consuming drinking water.
  • Undamaged, commercially geared up foodstuff in all-metal cans and retort pouches these types of flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches, can be saved by subsequent the measures at the FSIS Consumer’s Information to Foodstuff Safety web-site.

For inquiries about food items security, phone the Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854, Monday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET (English or Spanish), e-mail MPHotline@usda.gov or reside chat at Talk to USDA.

Owners of meat and poultry generating corporations who have concerns or concerns may well speak to the FSIS Tiny Plant Assist Desk by cellular phone at 1-877-FSIS-Support (1-877-374-7435), by electronic mail at infosource@fsis.usda.gov, or 24/7 on the internet at www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/subject areas/regulatory-compliance/svsp/sphelpdesk.

Protecting pets and livestock:

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Assistance (APHIS) is urging everybody in the probable flood place to prepare now – not just for yourselves, but also for your animals and your livestock:

  • Program for evacuation – know how you will evacuate and where by you will go. If it is not possible to evacuate your livestock, be absolutely sure to offer a potent shelter, and satisfactory foodstuff and drinking water that will last them until you can return.
  • If you are setting up to shift livestock out of state, make certain to speak to the State Veterinarian’s Workplace in the acquiring state right before you move any animals. You also might speak to APHIS Veterinary Expert services state places of work for information and facts and guidance about defending and relocating livestock.
  • Hear to emergency officials and evacuate if questioned to do so.

Danger administration and disaster guidance for agricultural functions:

USDA presents quite a few hazard management and disaster guidance options to assist producers get well just after disasters.

Producers who go through losses and whose crops are protected for the 2023 crop yr by the Federal Crop Insurance coverage System or the Noninsured Crop Catastrophe Support Application (NAP) are requested to report crop injury to their crop insurance policy agent or regional FSA business, respectively, inside of 72 hrs of finding destruction and comply with up in crafting in just 15 days. A recent plan transform simplifies the NAP application method for underserved producers, allowing form CCC-860 Socially Disadvantaged, Minimal Source, Commencing and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification to serve as an application for fundamental NAP coverage for all qualified crops. These producers will have all NAP-associated service expenses for simple coverage waived, in addition to a 50 per cent top quality reduction if increased ranges of coverage are elected. Get in touch with your regional USDA Service Centre for more facts.

Livestock and perennial crop producers typically have additional minimal chance management solutions offered, so there are quite a few catastrophe courses for them. Vital plans supplied by USDA’s Farm Services Agency include things like:

It is also critical that producers preserve accurate documents to document hurt or decline and to report losses to their neighborhood USDA Assistance Middle as soon as achievable.

Furthermore, USDA’s Natural Methods Conservation Assistance can provide fiscal sources through its Environmental High quality Incentives Application to assist with fast desires and very long-phrase support to assist get better from organic disasters and preserve water means. USDA can also support neighborhood federal government sponsors with the price tag of restoration attempts like particles elimination and streambank stabilization to tackle natural resource concerns and hazards via the Crisis Watershed Protection System.

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Guidance Discovery Tool, Disaster Help-at-a-Look actuality sheet (PDF, 4.6 MB) and Financial loan Guidance Instrument can enable producers and landowners identify application or personal loan alternatives. For aid with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners really should call their crop insurance policies agent. For FSA and NRCS packages, they must get hold of their neighborhood USDA Support Heart.

USDA’s Food items and Nourishment Provider (FNS) is also prepared to get the job done with the Federal Emergency Administration Agency (FEMA), and standing by for requests for aid from states and regional authorities, to give emergency nutrition support to people today in have to have.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each and every day in so a lot of good methods. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s foodstuff technique with a increased concentrate on more resilient area and regional foodstuff output, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring obtain to safe and sound, healthful and nutritious foodstuff in all communities, constructing new marketplaces and streams of income for farmers and producers utilizing weather good food stuff and forestry tactics, earning historic investments in infrastructure and cleanse power capabilities in rural The usa, and committing to fairness across the Department by removing systemic limitations and making a workforce extra consultant of The usa. To learn additional, pay a visit to www.usda.gov.

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USDA is an equivalent prospect company, employer, and lender.

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Tips to increase food safety during The Big Game

Tips to increase food safety during The Big Game

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Individuals gathering for celebrations throughout any getaway or celebration ought to be careful of how foodstuff is ready and what the dangers are when it comes to presenting the meals.

Greene County Public Well being is issuing a warning for those people looking to acquire for the celebration of The Major Game. There are some tips the office is presenting to the general public to reduced the possibility of getting sick.

Laurie Fox is the community information and facts officer for Greene County Public Wellness on strategies for a range of groups.

When you are in the kitchen area preparing foodstuff to serve to possibly on your own or your team, it is prompt that you clean your arms for a bare minimum of 20 seconds.

“You want to make confident when you are handling uncooked meat or poultry, you want to make absolutely sure you wash your fingers,” Fox stated. “That is vital in just about nearly anything we do these times to preserve ourselves risk-free and healthful.”

Soon after washing your arms, earning absolutely sure you have a clean surface area is significant also. No issue what surfaces you will be making use of to either slash something, like meat or touching a area, like a countertop or stovetop, it need to be thoroughly cleaned.

Fox claims, “Clean and sanitize surfaces when you’re getting ready your foodstuff soap, water and sanitizer to make absolutely sure that region is clear.”

To make positive the chance of having ill is lowered, if not eradicated, you must maintain in thoughts about holding all goods of the very same together. Fox clarifies that if raw solutions are blended with cooked, the threat for cross-contamination can boost.

“You want to use individual slicing boards, plates, and utensils to steer clear of that cross contamination concerning raw meat, poultry, and food items that are completely ready to try to eat.”

Right before you provide the food items to anyone, it is recommended that you examine the interior temperature of your dish and shop it adequately. Right after your foodstuff has finished cooking, you can position a food stuff thermometer to check and see the temperature. When the meals is finished and you have concluded your feeding on, the important to make sure the food items stays excellent is placing it within of the refrigerator.

Foods really should in no way be left out at home temperature for far more than 2 several hours or the hazard of food items poisoning could arise.

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Bills safety released to Buffalo hospital

Bills safety released to Buffalo hospital

Damar Hamlin has been unveiled from the University of Cincinnati Health care Heart and transferred to a clinic in Buffalo where by he will go on his restoration, members of his treatment group announced Monday.

Hamlin put in a single week in the hospital’s intensive treatment unit adhering to a frightening professional medical emergency in the course of a football sport versus the Bengals in which he collapsed after a deal with. The incident led to a nationwide outpouring of help. In Cincinnati, the city’s skyline was lit blue as Bengals supporters rallied guiding the defensive again and prayed for his recovery.

Irrespective of the jarring party, Hamlin has progressed each and every day to the to the issue wherever he could be produced to Buffalo, his doctors explained.

“I can validate that he is doing very well and that this is the subsequent stage in his recovery,” Dr. William Knight mentioned in the course of a push briefing.

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aiims cyberattack: AIIMS cyberattack rings alarm bells over e-infrastructure safety

aiims cyberattack: AIIMS cyberattack rings alarm bells over e-infrastructure safety
The
cyberattack on All India Institute of Health care Sciences, which has paralysed the leading healthcare establishment for two months now, has elevated numerous considerations about the preparedness of the country to ward off similar or even bigger-scale assaults on its vital infrastructure.

Extra these assaults could occur as India’s information infrastructure will get further integrated and connected, mentioned professionals, who requested the country to bolster its defence against these types of threats.

India is really vulnerable to this sort of attacks, especially on overall health organisations as there is no law that mandates frequent audits for healthcare or a system to oversee the identical, not like with payments the place the Reserve Bank of India keeps a hawk eye on the organisations and their safety degrees, explained industry experts ET spoke to.

In accordance to experiences, yet another major clinic in New Delhi — Safdarjung Clinic —
has also been a target of an attack very last 7 days even though the severity of the assault has been a lot less compared with the a person that strike AIIMS.
Whether or not it is the country’s economic or market place establishments or government organisations, every little thing is a goal and establishments need to be particularly very careful in conditions of protecting details, said Harshil Doshi, director of income (India and Saarc) at security information and occasion administration corporation Securonix.

“AIIMS is a health-related institute which holds extremely sensitive personal well being data about the country’s prime brass that could in fact be utilized for espionage,” stated Doshi.

Explore the tales of your interest



“Precisely, if it is a country-condition sponsored assault from an adversary nation, they can possibly misuse this info to wage a different kind of cyber warfare in India which is a massive threat for a region like us,” Doshi additional.

Resources in the IT ministry reported right after the
preliminary wave of assaults on important infrastructure adhering to the easing of Covid-19 lockdowns in 2021, all the authorities departments experienced been despatched an “exhaustive list of dos and don’ts”.

Also examine | Cyber attacks triple in very last a few many years, but protection money underutilised


“At that time, many governing administration departments such as health and fitness, science and technology, nuclear ability vegetation and the armed forces had been placed less than critical infrastructure group and were asked to double down on their cyber infrastructure,” a senior governing administration official reported.

Resources stated that the Indian Laptop or computer Crisis Reaction Workforce (Cert-In) had completed its “initial investigation” of the cyberattack on AIIMS and identified a number of lapses in subsequent the conventional functioning technique recommended for govt departments which tackle important state-operate infrastructure.

Some gurus have also termed for govt departments to be held additional accountable given that they deal with a great deal of delicate personal information.

“The governing administration ought to mandate impartial danger checking and response for all authorities departments. Most federal government departments are understaffed and beneath-proficient to monitor and react to cyber breaches. This will put them at par with personal providers and will aid early detection and investigation of cyber threats,” stated Amit Jaju, senior running director at Ankura Consulting Team (India), which advises clientele on locations this sort of as cybersecurity threat administration and finance.

Authorities reported health care facts breaches will turn out to be a lot more commonplace, particularly in India.

Facts from cybersecurity from CloudSEK reveals that the selection of cyberattacks against the health care sector globally elevated 95.34{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} in the to start with 4 months of 2022 when compared with a yr before.

The report reported India observed the 2nd-greatest number of assaults around the world, with a overall of 7.7{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} of the full attacks on the healthcare sector in 2021. India accounted for 29.7{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} of all attacks in the Asia and Pacific area though China was the 2nd most specific state in the area with 21.6{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} recorded attacks in 2021, as for each the report.

“The challenge with health care is that there is really sensitive facts of sufferers and rarely considerably of a target on protection,” claimed Rahul Sasi, cofounder and CEO of CloudSEK.

The threat is not just about the personal data having compromised.

“Commonly, a hacker will talk to for revenue on accessing information. But suppose the risk actor is not driven by monetary gains but is hunting to misuse the facts. In that case, it could be a risky proposition, especially in the context of espionage and cyber warfare,” Sasi said.

Ishwar Prasad Bhat, CEO and founder of Necurity Options, reported the quantity of cyberattacks could raise substantially heading ahead and could turn out to be a lot more advanced.

“Good security audits, monitoring programs and processes need to have to be in position as the knowledge, popularity and trust are all at stake,” he said.

Health care details technological innovation is an IT department that aids create, design, create and sustain data systems in hospitals, clinics and other healthcare amenities. In 2021, the international healthcare IT current market was valued at $135.6 billion and was predicted to grow at a compound once-a-year level of 29.3{35112b74ca1a6bc4decb6697edde3f9edcc1b44915f2ccb9995df8df6b4364bc} in 10 years by means of 2030, in accordance to Allied Current market Study.

“The exponential development of the worldwide healthcare IT market place brought about because of to the outbreak of the 2020 world pandemic has led to a important rise in cyberattacks focusing on the sector globally. Safeguarding the clinical and financial data of sufferers emerged as a new problem for health care firms,” the report said.

The investigation into the AIIMS cyberattack must also concentration on the insider angle as several hacking teams supply bribes to an insider to aid the hack, explained Jaju of Ankura Consulting.

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Methods, Safety Tips, and More

Methods, Safety Tips, and More

Discussing a fasting plan with your doctor and learning how to fast safely may be beneficial for some people. While some fasting plans have evidence-backed short-term benefits, others may do more harm than good.



Humans have been fasting for health reasons for centuries. Some fasting methods are said to improve your metabolic health, help you lose weight, or “detox.” Still, fasting isn’t for everyone, and science doesn’t support all of these claims.





Read on to learn more about how to fast, safety tips, and who may want to avoid fasting. 

Vegetables sitting on a plate with a clock face on it
Juan Moyano/Stocksy United





Fasting refers to refraining from eating food, and sometimes certain beverages, for some time. Most people fast when they sleep, unless they get up for a snack. Some blood tests require you to fast for at least 8 hours beforehand. 







There are many fasting methods you can choose from. Some set standards for the times of day you can eat. Others simply focus on what you can or cannot consume during the fast. 





While periodic fasting is important in some religions, many people typically fast to achieve a health goal. Although fasting may not achieve all types of health goals, people often fast with the hopes of: 

  • losing weight
  • “detoxing”
  • managing blood sugar in type 2 diabetes
  • improving metabolic health
  • lowering cholesterol

What are some different fasting methods?





Fasting methods vary based on schedule and nutrient restrictions. 

Intermittent fasting methods





Intermittent fasting involves alternating between fasting and eating on a set schedule. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), hundreds of studies on animals and humans and intermittent fasting suggest this method may have numerous health benefits. Some of these include benefits for people with: 

  • obesity
  • diabetes
  • cardiovascular disease
  • cancers 
  • neurological disorders





However, the NIA also notes that while studies may point to short-term benefits, potential long-term benefits require more study.





There are several types of intermittent fasting methods you can follow. For example:

  • The 16:8 method limits your eating window to 8 hours a day and expands your fasting window to 16 hours.
  • The Eat-Stop-Eat intermittent fasting method requires fasting for a full day once or twice a week.
  • Alternate-day fasting requires you to fast every other day.
  • The One Meal A Day or OMAD diet requires you to consume all daily calories in a short time window or in one meal. You can consume beverages that don’t contain calories in the fasting window.





The previous intermittent fasting methods do not recommend calorie restriction during the eating methods. However, you may consume fewer calories due to the restrictive eating time.





However, the 5:2 intermittent fasting method does recommend some calorie restriction. On this diet, the accepted practice is to consume only about 500 calories on two back-to-back days a week. Then you can eat as you typically would on the other days of the week.







Learn about 8 health benefits of intermittent fasting.

Nutrient-restrictive cleanses 





Other fasting plans limit the type of foods and beverages you can consume for a period, like juice or bone broth fasts.





A 2018 study suggests that water-only fasts can be safe, with a low risk of serious adverse effects, for two or more days if done in a medically supervised setting. However, while proponents of these diets say these fasts can “cleanse” your body of toxins and help you lose weight, more research is needed.







The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health warns that few studies support the benefits of cleanses, and any resulting weight loss is not typically long lasting.







Also, depriving your body of a variety of nutrients can be harmful to your health.





Learn more about types of cleanses and their potential risks.





If you do decide you want to fast, it’s important to keep a few safety protocols in mind: 

  • Always talk with your doctor before beginning any fast. 
  • Make sure to stay well-hydrated during your fast. 
  • Get adequate rest during your fast, and do not engage in strenuous exercise. 
  • Never use a “detox” or “cleansing product” without your doctor’s approval. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission have discovered many of these products contain ingredients that could be harmful. 
  • Talk with your doctor about how to safely take your medications around a fasting schedule. You may need to temporarily break a fast to take prescriptions that require food intake. 

Are there certain groups who should not fast?





If you are underweight or have a history of disordered eating, you should avoid fasting or restrictive diets.





You also should not fast if you are pregnant or nursing. Fasting can prevent a growing fetus from receiving nutrients. Children, adolescents, and older adults should also not fast.







In addition, intermittent fasting may cause side effects such as muscle loss or an electrolyte imbalance. You should discuss fasting with your doctor if you’re taking medications that may make you more prone to an electrolyte imbalance, such as certain blood pressure medications or diuretics.

Other frequently asked questions





These are a few other common questions about fasting. Adam Bernstein, M.D., ScD, reviewed the answers.

What is the proper way to fast?





Different fasting methods set down different ways to fast. For example, the 16:8 method requires you to restrict eating to an 8-hour window while fasting for the remaining 16 hours. Not everyone should fast, so always talk with your doctor before trying any fasting method.

Does sleeping count as fasting?





Yes, sleeping counts as fasting. Fasting is defined as refraining from eating for a period of time.





Intermittent fasting may be an option for some people looking for certain health benefits, like improvements in obesity, diabetes, or other conditions. If you are fasting, stay hydrated and avoid intense workouts. 







When choosing a fasting method, keep in mind that intermittent fasting has more well-researched benefits than restrictive cleansing fasts. Some people may feel better on one type of fasting schedule than another.







If you want to fast for a long period or try a water-only fast, you should receive medical monitoring. Also, avoid fasting if you have certain medical conditions, such as a history of disordered eating or if you are pregnant or nursing.







Talk with your doctor before starting any fast.