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Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

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Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#81
post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

I've been doing "IF" since I was a young teen, to be perfectly honest. I've never ever enjoyed breakfast, for the reasons you've cited, so put me down as another anecdote that backs it up.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#82
post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

I'm with you. Breakfast has always felt very skippable for me. My body doesn't seem to crave it in any way. I'd grown up listening to the conventional wisdom: eat a hearty breakfast, or else you'll be so hungry you'll snack all morning and afternoon. But I never really found that to be the case. Really, I experienced the opposite effect, as you've described. Whenever I eat breakfast, I find myself hungry again anywhe…

How did you find your sleep patterns on days you missed breakfast? And what about your general stress levels?

I heard a sleep doctor give a lecture awhile ago who repeated the advice of eating a hearty breakfast, primarily as a way to encourage good sleep. She said that our bodies interpret food within 30 mins of waking up as a signal that food is abundant, which lowers our general stress levels and makes it easier to sleep.

Skipping breakfast, on the other hand, signals food scarcity or higher predator threat, increases stress hormones, and encourages lighter sleep so you can be woken more easily.

No idea how true it actually is, but it seems to make sense from an evolutionary standpoint.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#83
I would be interested to see the body of research on the effects of Ramadan (1 month of fasting, both food and liquid until sunset) on the health of those who fast.

The effects on the economy were clear from what I observed in Afghanistan - at least 5% potential GDP loss due to reduced working hours, shutdown of public services, overall latency of business transactions during this time. An actual study across different observing countries would be intriguing.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#84
post #5
post #4

Having done IF myself, where I would eat between noon and 8pm and skip breakfast during a 'cutting phase', my experience: * 'IF' is great if you are "cutting" and trying to achieve a lower body weight or maybe just maintaining what you have. * 'IF' is not good or practical if you are going through a traditional bulk phase * The feeling of alertness, energy and maybe slight 'high' during the morning, is real. * Not su…

I feel like IF would be detrimental to maintaining muscle mass during a cut. You really want to keep a steady stream of amino acids to prevent catabolism of muscle tissue even when reducing total caloric intake. Usually you cut fat first during a cut. You want to keep carbs to fuel your workouts and you want to keep the protein flowing to prevent muscle loss.

Well, you have to make choices at some point. If your goal is to absolutely maximize muscle gains, then fasting in general may not prove to be beneficial for this particular goal.

Or it may prove beneficial, who knows. I'm not sure if any research exists on this topic. But intuitively I agree with you, maintaining large amounts of muscular mass requires a lot of nutrient input.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#85
post #59

Nearly every health-related article that makes it to the top of Hacker News these days is stuff that was discussed in the Paleo community 5+ years ago. Earlier today was the benefits of a high fat ketogenic diet in regards to cancer, and now IF. Good to see you guys catching up!

Confirmation bias is real :)

An experiment: list every topic/theory discussed by paleo enthusiasts. How many are currently supported by evidence? How many have been soundly refuted? How frequently does the evidence shift in either case?

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#86

I've been practicing intermittent fasting for almost a year now. It works fine for me. I generally eat no breakfast or lunch. I drink only water throughout the day. I run a 5k every morning on an empty stomach with no ill effects. It really helps keep my body fat low and makes me conscious and deliberate about what I eat. The only exceptions are meals I eat for social reasons (e.g., work lunch meetings) and mornings…

> The only exceptions are meals I eat for social reasons (e.g., work lunch meetings)

if i know beforehand there's work lunch i usually ends the "eating window" earlier the night before so i can reach the goal!

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#87
been doing it for a few months now. it's pretty interesting that the first week i get hungry the whole day from not eating breakfast, but now I go on with the day without breakfast or lunch, and only drink water through the day and I don't get hungry or cravings.

Also none of that afternoon food coma from lunch!

Still not sure if IF just makes it easier to eat less or there's really something behind it(enough evidence from both sides, like how good/bad egg is for you) but it's worked for me so far

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#88
post #79

I strongly doubt we are evolutionarily adapted to a steady regimen of 3 meals a day every day. I think it's virtually certain that our biochemical engine is optimized for something a lot closer to "intermittent fasting".

That's pseudoscience. Irregular eating is normal for hunter/gatherer societies, and most animals like our ancestors that sit in a scavenger niche. We know (or have good evidence that; I followed a link once and am too lazy to look up the research) our gut has adapted just in the 10k year period after the advent of agriculture. Agrarian societies are built around grain storage and rationing. They absolutely have regul…

I'm getting a bit tired of seeing the "pseudoscience" label slapped on an argument every single time evolutionary biology is mentioned. I understand why one might want to do this occasionally, but I feel the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and now the label is being abused.

This is basically the new "correlation is not causation" meme equivalent. Yes, correlation indeed does not equate causation in a strict sense. But given a large enough number of samples, it becomes the domain of statistical analysis, and then causation can be solidly inferred with a well determined degree of confidence.

So be careful when repeating trendy memes. Trendy does not equate truthful.

Anyway, to provide some kind of answer: Seeing how studies keep coming in, showing that I.F. is beneficial in a number of different ways, seems to suggest that this regimen is, indeed, better overall for your health than 3 meals a day every day. The jury is probably still out, but perhaps getting close to returning for a decision now.

Also, the 10k year "adaptation" is a weak argument. We've adapted in some ways, yes - lactose tolerance, etc. In other ways the intracellular biochemistry has not changed. 10k years is a short time after all; it allows some adaptations but it's too quick for big changes. Our distant ancestors very likely did not live on a steady caloric input, and the time is too short for us to have adapted completely to a different feeding pattern.

Yes, I agree it's hard to know for sure, that's why I used expressions such as "virtually certain" and "strongly doubt". Both suggest a degree of uncertainty. I was not making it into a science, by any means.

TLDR: Nuance, instead of binary logic.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#89
post #56
post #7

I've been doing IF (the "one meal per day" form) for a while now, mostly because I find it helps me focus during the day. When I used to eat breakfast, I'd be productive in the morning, until I started getting distracted by craving lunch. Then I'd eat lunch, and end up sleepy and groggy afterwards while I digested. Now that I'm used to IF, I feel more productive; I spend less time at work thinking about food, and I m…

Tangentially, "post-lunch carb crash" means you have insulin resistance and should be restricting carbohydrates, either low-carb or ketogenic. You'll know you set the dial properly when you no longer droop after a meal. That is, blood insulin and glucose curves are mild.

It's actually a sign of insulin over-secretion rather than poor insulin sensitivity.

However, in practice, there are signs as to whether you have good insulin sensitivity or not and possibly whether you over-secrete insulin. Here’s two very simple questions to ask yourself regarding your response to diet.

1. On high-carbohydrate intakes, do you find yourself getting pumped and full or sloppy and bloated? If the former, you have good insulin sensitivity; if the latter, you don’t.

2. When you eat a large carbohydrate meal, do you find that you have steady and stable energy levels or do you get an energy crash/sleep and get hungry about an hour later? If the former, you probably have normal/low levels of insulin secretion; if the latter, you probably tend to over-secrete insulin which is causing blood glucose to crash which is making you sleepy and hungry.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/insulin-sensitivit...

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#90

I've been practicing intermittent fasting for almost a year now. It works fine for me. I generally eat no breakfast or lunch. I drink only water throughout the day. I run a 5k every morning on an empty stomach with no ill effects. It really helps keep my body fat low and makes me conscious and deliberate about what I eat. The only exceptions are meals I eat for social reasons (e.g., work lunch meetings) and mornings…

You run a 5k race every morning? Wow, what town do you live in?
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