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A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

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Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#21

Post by thechao »

gricardo99 wrote: post #17

Could any one point me to advice/guidance, or can answer from experience, what you would do differently when doing IF with regular exercise? It seems to me you'd want to make some adjustments to types and amounts of calories to account for exercise, especially anything very taxing, like endurance training. But I haven't found any advice on this specific topic.

I do StrongLifts 5x5 with a 2/5 IF (Mon/Tues). I can have motivation issues on Wed but, otherwise, I've not noticed anything. Cardio is much harder---you've got no "startup" cushion.

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#22

Post by Kiro »

bmcusick wrote: post #5

"Calorie restriction is proven to help you live a longer life." This is essentially false for anyone reading the article. The studies that showed mice living longer lives from calorie restriction were restricted from birth , and thus their growth was stunted, and smaller creatures live longer (think about dogs; big ones die earlier). Studies of animals where the calories restriction was started mid-life all show incr…

> allows me to fast from Noon to breakfast the next day with minimal hunger.

Do you eat your breakfast at 4 AM?

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#24

Post by wahern »

bmcusick wrote: post #5

"Calorie restriction is proven to help you live a longer life." This is essentially false for anyone reading the article. The studies that showed mice living longer lives from calorie restriction were restricted from birth , and thus their growth was stunted, and smaller creatures live longer (think about dogs; big ones die earlier). Studies of animals where the calories restriction was started mid-life all show incr…

I don't disagree with the point that the article significantly overstates the facts. But calorie restriction has been extensively studied in many species, not just rodents. I don't think there's much evidence to say that there's no benefit if you start late, even in rodents; just that the earlier the better, and how much better depends on the species. There's some recent evidence that suggests the opposite (starting too early has no additional benefit) in primates,

  Comparative analysis reveals that eating less beneficial in
  adult and older primates but is not beneficial for younger
  animals. This is a major departure from prior studies in
  rodents, where starting at an earlier age is better in
  achieving the benefits of a low-calorie diet.

  -- http://news.wisc.edu/calorie-restriction-lets-monkeys-live-long-and-prosper/
Also, I think once the conversation turns to specifics like autophagy or especially hand-wavy stuff like "regenerating the immune system" (as in the topic article), the hard facts are already in the rearview mirror.

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#25

Post by lolc »

Intermittent fasting may be good, but factual errors in this piece made me stop reading further. It seems the author didn't study the topic well enough to write about it.

Others have already pointed out dubious claims about increased longevity. I'll take issue with section "Benefit #1. It supports with hormone regulation and lowers diabetes II risk." Sure eating less carbohydrates will lower your diabetes risk. But that doesn't mean you have to fast, just that you should eat less carbohydrates.

And contrary to what is written under that heading, insulin lowers high sugar levels, it does not cause them. High insulin levels are caused by high blood sugar. While it is plausible that fasting will lower your risk of diabetes, that's foremost because you're eating less and thus the glycemic load is lower. (Glycemic load is how much your blood sugar rises from food.) You can lessen the load by eating less in quantity or by refining carbohydrates less (by eating fruits instead of drinking juice, for example)

While I think that fasting is a valid and rather easy way of countering unhealthy eating habits, it is just one of many possible ways.

And this is no myth: "If you go too long without food your body will start eating itself (muscle)". The article lists this together with other myths, as if starvation weren't a real danger. Sure most people won't get any ill effects from not eating for a day (it's healthy for most) but once the fat is gone, muscle is next.

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#26

Post by wahern »

nicolashahn wrote: post #16
ktRolster wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found there is one very real benefit of fasting: it makes food taste better.

If it tastes better because of your appetite, then that's basically just sacrificing some pleasure of not being hungry for the pleasure of the taste of food, like hitting your head against a wall because it feels so good when you stop. (disclaimer: I practice IF but take issue with this one claim, at least without the stipulation of hunger)

If you fast for several days, by about the 3rd or 4th day your sense of smell becomes much more sensitive. It's an interesting and memorable experience--almost like developing a super power--but for some reason whenever I describe this experience to people they don't seem to put it in the "pro" column.

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#27

Post by inetsee »

One diet I read about recently that I found interesting is called the Fasting-Mimicking Diet. It's not a strict fasting diet; you spend five contiguous days per month eating a very specific diet of about 1100 calories per day. The diet is low in carbs, low in protein and relatively high in unsaturated fat. One of its claimed benefits is that it's easier to stay on than the other strict fasting diets. Some of its other claimed benefits sound quite amazing.

References: http://sciencebulletin.org/archives/10692.html http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39070183

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#29

Post by jamesrom »

bmcusick wrote: post #5

"Calorie restriction is proven to help you live a longer life." This is essentially false for anyone reading the article. The studies that showed mice living longer lives from calorie restriction were restricted from birth , and thus their growth was stunted, and smaller creatures live longer (think about dogs; big ones die earlier). Studies of animals where the calories restriction was started mid-life all show incr…

Smaller creatures live longer. Citation needed.

Elephants live for 60 years. Mice live for 3. Life expectancy is clearly not a function of size alone, so you probably need to back up that claim that they lived longer because they were stunted.

Re: A Guide to Intermittent Fasting

#30

Post by jdmichal »

Kiro wrote: post #22
bmcusick wrote: post #5

"Calorie restriction is proven to help you live a longer life." This is essentially false for anyone reading the article. The studies that showed mice living longer lives from calorie restriction were restricted from birth , and thus their growth was stunted, and smaller creatures live longer (think about dogs; big ones die earlier). Studies of animals where the calories restriction was started mid-life all show incr…

> allows me to fast from Noon to breakfast the next day with minimal hunger. Do you eat your breakfast at 4 AM?

You can train hunger response. I used to fast for a full 24 hours, water only. It was difficult at the beginning, but a few months in and I wouldn't even feel all that hungry. The bouts of hunger that would come only lasted an hour or so, then I would be fine. This benefit has continued, even though I haven't purposefully fasted for years. Not eating just generally doesn't bother me anymore. If I'm in a rush to get to lunch, it's usually because I want to get out of the office for a bit...
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