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Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

well.blogs.nytimes.com

161–170 of 174 posts

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#161
post #126

"Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in Maryland, has not had breakfast in 35 years. " and his squat+dl+bench total is?

Who cares? The /r/fitness inspired idea that strength training is the end-all-be-all for health and fitness needs has really gotten out of control.

It's not the "be all end all" deal, but an objective measurement of progress (or lack thereof) nonetheless. The question might be "what's his 100m dash time" or anything else really.

Nothing in that article indicates any positive improvement as a result of this self-imposed IF for no apparent reason :)

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#162
post #158
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do IF, with milk in my tea and coffee before lunch, and then break the fast at lunch time. I think I better watch my milk input, particularly on non-lifting days (I'm a real amateur lifting), since it's probably bringing me out of "fasted" state according to my body. I drink a five cups of tea/coffee by lunch time.

In response to both of you, I really don't think that you have "fasted" in a particular period if you are consuming calories at all. You're certainly restricting calories and I'm sure it's a positive step, healthwise, etc., but ... If we have a goal of depleting the energy stores in our liver, you're interrupting (and perhaps) sabotaging that. OR, if we are trying to restrict calories into a certain time window, you'…

It is a common misconception that any calories >0 break the fast. However, all IF coaches agree that the threshold for most people is around 50 calories [1]. Knowing this, I only take a splash of cream or milk in my coffee.

[1]: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread36172.html

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#163
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pushing 40 now. Blood pressure and numbers on my blood tests are still good. Would love to lose some weight without exercising though. Knees can't take it.

Find a knee-free exercise?

I've just never seen real results from anything besides running. Too lazy/busy to get into swimming.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#164

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…

The late Seth Roberts reported that skipping breakfast helped him not wake up too _early_ . http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2xc2h866/

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#165
post #160
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> I would also strongly recommend divorcing our DNA from our gut Why? The gut flora has its own DNA, and it absolutely coevolves with the rest of the organism. It's non-sensical to say that we're "adapted" for something via one mechanism and not the other. Adaptations use the full spectrum of evolvable media (including culture, for that matter) by definition. They aren't separable unless you can literally point to a…

> It's non-sensical to say that we're "adapted" for something via one mechanism and not the other.

And yet, that's exactly what you implied—that our current metabolic process is entirely the result of the 10k years of change in the gut bacteria, NOT the previous hundreds of thousands of years we spent persistence hunting protein and gathering nutrition.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#167
post #165
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would also strongly recommend divorcing our DNA from our gut Why? The gut flora has its own DNA, and it absolutely coevolves with the rest of the organism. It's non-sensical to say that we're "adapted" for something via one mechanism and not the other. Adaptations use the full spectrum of evolvable media (including culture, for that matter) by definition. They aren't separable unless you can literally point to a…

> It's non-sensical to say that we're "adapted" for something via one mechanism and not the other. And yet, that's exactly what you implied—that our current metabolic process is entirely the result of the 10k years of change in the gut bacteria, NOT the previous hundreds of thousands of years we spent persistence hunting protein and gathering nutrition.

What? No, I said there was clear evidence that our systems (as a whole, though I specifically referenced gut flora as the evidence) had adapted to our existence as agrarian grain eaters. And that makes argument from the position of "our systems are really intended to be scavengers" pretty suspect.

Basically, any argument of what we are "supposed" to eat in that context is pseudoscientific garbage. The real science says we need to pay attention to agriculture.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#168
post #167
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's non-sensical to say that we're "adapted" for something via one mechanism and not the other. And yet, that's exactly what you implied—that our current metabolic process is entirely the result of the 10k years of change in the gut bacteria, NOT the previous hundreds of thousands of years we spent persistence hunting protein and gathering nutrition.

What? No, I said there was clear evidence that our systems (as a whole, though I specifically referenced gut flora as the evidence) had adapted to our existence as agrarian grain eaters. And that makes argument from the position of "our systems are really intended to be scavengers" pretty suspect. Basically, any argument of what we are "supposed" to eat in that context is pseudoscientific garbage. The real science sa…

> The real science says we need to pay attention to agriculture.

What's the source in question here? I've now completely lost you. Gut flora is elastic and can't tell us much about anything but what we eat in our own lifetimes. I see zero evidence anywhere I look that we should use this flora to figure out which diet maximizes long term health. If anything, it's more indicative of what we are eating than what we might eat that would be better.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#169
post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just never seen real results from anything besides running. Too lazy/busy to get into swimming.

Tried weightlifting?

I lift a bit. I like the strength enhancements I get from it but it hasn't affected my body fat.

Re: Intermittent Fasting Is Gaining Acceptance

#170

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…

Eat carbs before sleep, they block orexin receptors and make you sleepy.

The "stress hormones" at the beginning of the day are beneficiary - they make you more attentive, easier to focus and, last but not least, make caffeine (and other stimulants) more stronger (you need less caffeine for same effect). So, enjoy fasted wakefullness at the beginning of the day, and gluttony sleepness at the end of it.

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