Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance • Hacker News Board

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#91

Post by duaneb » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:12 AM UTC

jeffwass wrote: post #82

jonnathanson wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Couldn't you make the same argument about a hearty meal within distance of sleeping? I typically eat at the end of my day and ALWAYS conk out 2-3 hours after my last meal.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#92

Post by duaneb » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:14 AM UTC

ajross wrote: post #79

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #75

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 think to claim it's pseudoscience is to claim it's more than a hypothesis. The OP did no such thing. The virtual certainty is from his perspective, not yours (or mine).

EDIT: I would also strongly recommend divorcing our DNA from our gut in this case; they are two different things, and both certainly influence our metabolic processes.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#93

Post by woofiefa » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:23 AM UTC

For years I have been eating only evening meal, so I fast between 22 and 24 hours. I started doing this because it was very convenient for me to do so. I did not know anything about possible health benefits doing it, I was actually afraid to do any research if I would find out that eating only once a day was very dangerous and bad for you, but it fitted so well with my lifestyle that I wanted to continue no matter what.

A side effect is that I never feel really hungry anymore, even if I have been fasting for more than 25 hours. Before I could eat at noon and a few hours later be extremely hungry again. I really enjoy my evening meal complete with dessert, but I don't feel that deep hunger, almost pain, anymore.

Most of the time I only drink while eating and this can be a problem, especially in the summer and on the days I jog, as I can become very confused after not drinking for so many hours. As long as I stay hydrated everything is great, so I need to become better at that.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#94

Post by the_af » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:40 AM UTC

> Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in Maryland, has not had breakfast in 35 years.

But... but.. breakfast is the best part of my day :( Thanks for ruining it, pseudoscientific celebrity fad of the moment!

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#95

Post by mcculley » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:48 AM UTC

prdonahue wrote: post #90

mcculley wrote: post #33

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?

No, I run 5k every day, either on the road or the treadmill, but not necessarily in a race. I have been running a 5k race almost every weekend for the last five months. I live in Orlando, Florida. We'll have plenty of races to choose from every weekend until the summer.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#96

Post by mcculley » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 1:51 AM UTC

ljk wrote: post #86

mcculley wrote: post #33

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!

That's something I should probably try. I've been trying to eat smaller portions on the days I have multiple meals. That's actually difficult for me. One of the advantages of IF is that it allows one to worry less about portion size.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#97

Post by guhcampos » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 2:27 AM UTC

My personal anecdote is a bit different. I don't have a breakfast on a daily bases since I can remember, for the simple reason that I wake up a little bit nauseous every day, and it takes me a couple hours to actually feel like eating anything, so I just go on and wait for lunchtime.

It's never helped me lose weight, and I can't really correlate to any improvements in my everyday life. It got me on a daily Pantoprazole regime though, since the long periods without food have skyrocketed my gastritis.

So, as most of the stuff out on the Internet, don't go doing it just because everybody else is. Try it, and see if it fits you. Don't overdo it and you should be fine.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#98

Post by d357r0y3r » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 2:32 AM UTC

I got really into IF about 6 years ago. It was a pretty good way to drop about 30 pounds of fat.

That said - at least for me - I'm not sure it helped my eating patterns in general.

For some background, I got up to about 305 lbs when I was ~19 (about 9 years ago), then lost a bunch of weight over a year and a half or so. Got down to about 180 (way too skinny). I really like food. I eat way too fast, and I eat way too much, and I love eating junk food.

So, for me, IF was kind of a way to compartmentalize what was essentially binge eating. I'd push my fasting periods further and further into the evenings, sometimes going til 4-7 PM, then having an absolute blowout meal.

Eventually I stopped doing IF. Well, kind of. I still don't eat breakfast. I got less extreme with it.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#99

Post by volker48 » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 2:39 AM UTC

minionslave wrote: post #13

volker48 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

From my limited knowledge of human physiology .I don't think 24h is enough to trigger catabolism. You still have some fat reserves, and if you exercise/lift during the cut, you probably will even gain muscle. YMMV

Fat reserves won't help prevent muscle protein breakdown. The only way to help prevent muscle catabolism is by consuming protein, which if you are fasting you aren't doing. If your goal is to lose weight while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible it doesn't seem like IF would be the optimal choice for that. Its not physiologically possible to have muscle protein synthesis exceed muscle protein breakdown unless you consume protein. The body cannot produce essential amino acids and must obtain them from the diet.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#100

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Mar 09, 2016, 3:02 AM UTC

guhcampos wrote: post #97

My personal anecdote is a bit different. I don't have a breakfast on a daily bases since I can remember, for the simple reason that I wake up a little bit nauseous every day, and it takes me a couple hours to actually feel like eating anything, so I just go on and wait for lunchtime. It's never helped me lose weight, and I can't really correlate to any improvements in my everyday life. It got me on a daily Pantoprazo…

I've never eaten breakfast. I just assume I'd get even fatter if I did.

I'm sure someone will tell me that must be part of the problem. But why should I eat when I'm not hungry? Breakfast makes me feel queasy and bloated.