Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging • Hacker News Board

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#61

Post by bradleyjg » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:33 PM UTC

krmmalik wrote: post #39

Appropriate article since I just completed a fast of 19hrs. No water and no food. Muslims do this every year. Last year, on average our fast was just over 18hrs. We fast each day from sunrise to sunset for 30days. Of course, we as a group of people have been doing it for over a thousand years. Cant say we started it due to science, but cant say we noticed the lack of aging either. ;)

This is a really interesting comment. It's a sort of natural experiment. I wonder if there's any observational studies on the effect of Ramadan fasting on health. Religious Jews do some fasting, but they are two 25 hour fasts and a few other 12 hour fasts all spread throughout the year.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#62

Post by __z » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:34 PM UTC

rlucas wrote: post #44

Rainymood wrote: post #38

I currently intermittent fast by skipping breakfast + lunch, partially because I'm lazy, partially because it allows me to easily eat 'all my calories' in the end of the day. I really like this as it provides a 'buffer' for unexpected food, such as random cake, or random lunches with colleagues etc. Has anyone here actually ever TRIED fasting a full 24h day? I have. I HATED it. Well, the fasting itself wasn't that ba…

You've got to get past about 36 hours before your body / brain stop acting so "berserk." After that, you stop being hungry and you can look at food with relative equanimity.

Oh, God. Where did this meme come from? I have fasted for 5 days and never wasn't hungry. The hunger severity comes and goes, just like anything but I was still hungry!!!

I fast pretty regularly for a day here and there. Used to do it every 4 days but fell off the bandwagon. Have done plenty of 2 day fasts too.

This is one of the silliest things said about fasting - and that is saying a lot.

Never had all this energy either.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#63

Post by MCRed » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

stevebmark wrote: post #29

Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L (betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis. Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of ag…

I've combined the two.

I've been doing an IF of 8/16 where I only eat within 8 hours. Whenever I have lunch, I then have 8 hours to have dinner. I don't have the same schedule each day so sometimes I might start the next day late and fast for 20 hours.

However, since I've been doing this for a couple weeks, I recently stopped eating the second meal. I just wasn't hungry. I don't have the psychological stress- because I'm allowed to eat as much as I want (of the keto diet, so within the 20g of carbs, but I snack on celery) during those 8 hours so if I got hungry I could do it.

It's just when the 8 hours are up I decide if I'm hungry or not.

As someone who is very overweight, the idea of not being hungry is quite shocking. (I don't think it's due to the IF, I think it's due to the ketogenic diet I'm on.)

But if I keep to this, then eating once a day would give me about 23 hours of fasting. But given my uneven schedules many times that's been over 24 hours, though some days it's more like 20 hours. The point being that it isn't really much of an issue- depends on how I'm feeling and about half the time I'm not hungry at the 24 hour mark.

Of course I do drink a lot of water, and I use sugar free "water enhancers" to help. So, as a consequence I am drinking quite a bit more water than I ever have in my life. (probably 1-2 gallons.)

This is an anecdote, so I don't know if it's ketosis, or what that's the effect. I wanted to do everything right this time around so I'm doing keto, IF, calorie restriction, and portion controls. (I pre-make my meals. So I heat up a fixed sized meal, and have to go get a second meal if I'm still hungry, which I did a few times in the early days.)

I'm also learning to cook really great BBQ in the slow cooker.

Yesterday all I ate was some ribs. They were wonderful. (Memphis style, no sauce.)

Here's the recipe: Rub: Memphis Dust: http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_bri...

1. Cut the membrane off of the back of the ribs (or at least pierce it.)

2. Coat the ribs with salt. (I use lite- salt to increase my potassium intake).

3. Coat the ribs with Memphis Dust- pretty thick (I use a shaker for this)

4. Lay down a layer of celery in the bottom of the Slow Cooker. (keeps the ribs an inch away from the heat)

5. Put the Ribs in there.

6. Cook on Slow. I set it for 8 hours, it should take 8 hours but they've been done in 6 the past couple times. I think my slow cooker is running hot. So check them at 4 and 6 hours. They'll be done when the meat is falling off the bone.

7. Enjoy!

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#64

Post by Retric » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

carbocation wrote: post #35

Retric wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oddly enough with people being slightly overweight seems to increase lifespan at least when looking at actuary tables. There are a lot of possible factors that may be involved. From changing behaviors, lifestyle, lack of disease, larger buffer before weight loss becomes an issue etc. Edit: It should be noted that this still a fairly low BMI compared to most middle aged Americans.

Interestingly, the same does not hold for overweight people who are diabetic: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1304501

It's important to take that study in context. From the abstract: The relation between body weight and mortality among persons with type 2 diabetes remains unresolved, with some studies suggesting decreased mortality among overweight or obese persons as compared with normal-weight persons (an “obesity paradox”). [edit: In point of fact all studies are best taken in context.]

Considering diet is so important for managing the disease being light weight is probably correlated with a greater focus on health.

That said, it seems likely that reducing weight would have a net positive impact on heath and it's other risk factors which are being improved.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#65

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:35 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #47

Rainymood wrote: post #38

I currently intermittent fast by skipping breakfast + lunch, partially because I'm lazy, partially because it allows me to easily eat 'all my calories' in the end of the day. I really like this as it provides a 'buffer' for unexpected food, such as random cake, or random lunches with colleagues etc. Has anyone here actually ever TRIED fasting a full 24h day? I have. I HATED it. Well, the fasting itself wasn't that ba…

[deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#66

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

IndianAstronaut wrote: post #42

stevebmark wrote: post #29

Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L (betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis. Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of ag…

>Ketosis also "mimics fastings", Can you please provide a source on this?

[deleted]

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#67

Post by MCRed » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:39 PM UTC

exelius wrote: post #53

stevebmark wrote: post #29

Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L (betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis. Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of ag…

Can confirm, keto diets burn weight like a motherfucker. They're also reasonably easy to maintain, since it's pretty easy to order a cheeseburger without a bun and eat it with a knife and fork. Also, bacon and avocado are a delicious combination, and keto says they are ok. I dropped 40 lbs in under 6 months on a keto diet, and built muscle while doing it. But I had to stop the keto diet because it makes me stupid whe…

Did you try taking a multi-vitamin? I've seen advice to get magnesium and potassium into your system, so I started using lite-salt. In the early days of my diet I was always tired (slept for 24 hours) and started having a constant headache-- this is after getting into ketosis and being there for a couple weeks. But the lite salt cured it within a day. (I wasn't able to get the right form of magnesium yet, but have been also taking multi-vitamins.)

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#68

Post by mrfusion » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:39 PM UTC

krmmalik wrote: post #39

Appropriate article since I just completed a fast of 19hrs. No water and no food. Muslims do this every year. Last year, on average our fast was just over 18hrs. We fast each day from sunrise to sunset for 30days. Of course, we as a group of people have been doing it for over a thousand years. Cant say we started it due to science, but cant say we noticed the lack of aging either. ;)

Why 19 hours? Are you in a northern latitude? Makes me wonder would people in Antarctica not fast at all?

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#69

Post by kafkaesque » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:39 PM UTC

exelius wrote: post #53

stevebmark wrote: post #29

Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L (betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis. Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of ag…

Can confirm, keto diets burn weight like a motherfucker. They're also reasonably easy to maintain, since it's pretty easy to order a cheeseburger without a bun and eat it with a knife and fork. Also, bacon and avocado are a delicious combination, and keto says they are ok. I dropped 40 lbs in under 6 months on a keto diet, and built muscle while doing it. But I had to stop the keto diet because it makes me stupid whe…

I had the same experience.

I cut off all noodles/pastas and breads, and ate no pastries/sweets/chocolates. I went from lifting a few times a week for three months to once a week and my brain could not have a rational thought. I felt like my sugar levels were down all the time some how, so even after eating meats, eggs, vegetables, and dressings, my body would feel light and I couldn't get full. I couldn't work on my computer a lot and basically was on autopilot. It was kind of bizarre because I was eating 4-6 eggs a day and my body started feeling really weird. I think all the protein was messing with my body when it was trying to break it down.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#70

Post by Balgair » Thu, Jun 18, 2015, 9:39 PM UTC

IndianAstronaut wrote: post #42

stevebmark wrote: post #29

Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L (betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis. Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of ag…

>Ketosis also "mimics fastings", Can you please provide a source on this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Ketosis

"During the usual overnight fast, the body's metabolism naturally switches into ketosis, and will switch back to glycolysis after a carbohydrate-rich meal. Longer-term ketosis may result from fasting or staying on a low-carbohydrate diet, and deliberately induced ketosis serves as a medical intervention for intractable epilepsy.[6] In glycolysis, higher levels of insulin promote storage of body fat and block release of fat from adipose tissues, while in ketosis, fat reserves are readily released and consumed.[5][7] For this reason, ketosis is sometimes referred to as the body's "fat burning" mode"