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Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

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Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#251
post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what are the LD50's of those "toxins"? This is my first question to people who go on about "toxins" and "detox" and "cleansing". I don't want an exact number, just a ballpark. Is it micrograms, milligrams or grams per kg body mass? Surely these people who know so very much about "toxins" must know the one fact that distinguishes the things we informally call toxic from the ones we don't. It would be the hieght of…

In a very loose sense of the word you could call sugar a toxin. But it has a ridiculous LD50. (I agree with you mostly, just don't think your argument is holding water.)

I think the argument holds. Sugar has a huge and quantifiable LD50. So does, well, water. This tells us that they are pretty much non-toxic at lose doses.

If the LD50 of the "toxins" is similar to water, how can one claim that "de-toxing" will have any benefit?

In other words, how can you call it "detoxing" if none of the things are toxic?

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#252

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…

I just finished a 4 day water fast. I've done 3-4 days a few times over the last few years and they all seem to follow the same pattern for me at least: Day 1 is really hard (all I can think about is food and the hunger is intense); Day 2 is less so; Day 3 involves diarrhoea & a few stomach cramps; Day 4 is fine and usually makes me think of going further. I tend to lose 1Kg a day and feel pretty damn good afterwards. While fasting, I'll drink a lot of tea (usually herbal, sometimes black tea with milk) and a reasonable amount of water (sometimes with a pinch of salt [not sure if this is necessary or not] and lime for flavour). Purely anecdotal of course, but I've noticed that it seems to help with some health conditions seem to improve afterwards. YMMV. EDIT: I forgot to mention that on night 3 & 4 I tend to get insomnia a bit. Nothing unpleasant, it's more like I am awake enough not to sleep, rather than really tired and unable to sleep.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#253
post #204
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Has anyone here actually ever TRIED fasting a full 24h day? I've been IF throughout the past 8 months. It's by far the best way of losing weight I've found (10kg in 8 months). I'm planning on doing more fasting this month to lose another 2-3kg which will get me to my goal weight. The longest stretch for me has been 5 days. It's hard for me to describe how I go longish periods(some go for a month+), but essentially…

By losing weight you mean losing fat or mostly muscles? I know that if are already in good shape then you mostly lose muscles not fat first.

I don't this this is correct. I've read a few articles on this (trying to restrict my reading to published studies as far as possible) and it goes roughly (from memory) glucose/sugars first, then fat, then muscle. You may begin to lose some muscle before you lose all of your fat, but this takes a 'while' ... the studies were never clear on how long it takes for this to happen.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#254

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…

It helps if you're already in ketosis (on a ketogenic diet), so you don't pay physical switching costs (day 2 and 3 are hardest). I can drop meals or whole days without much body-grumbling, as is the common experience. And you must feed electrolytes like you mean it. 5g sodium, 3g potassium, mag+calcium if you need it, attenuate for size.

Do you have any references for the electrolyte requirements? I just add a small amount of salt to the water I was drinking during a fast, but never had any idea how much I should or whether I should ...

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#255
post #221

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…

I've done 3, 5, 11 and 20 day fasts. The first 3 days are the hardest but once you get over that hump it's pretty easy. The senses heighten and you become very alert (when you're not napping). I haven't done it in a while because you need to free to nap whenever you feel like it.

What type of fasting did you do? I've done 5 day water fasts before, but I don't know how comfortable I would feel extending that to 11 or 20 days!

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#256
post #221

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…

I've done 3, 5, 11 and 20 day fasts. The first 3 days are the hardest but once you get over that hump it's pretty easy. The senses heighten and you become very alert (when you're not napping). I haven't done it in a while because you need to free to nap whenever you feel like it.

[deleted]

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#257
post #196
post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much weight did you lose over this period? With a TDEE of 2400 cal/day, you'd theoretically lose almost 5 lbs/week, though I imagine your metabolism slows down. Still, I'd guess you lost 10-15 lbs? Did you happen to get measures of your body fat pct before and after?

I lost 35 pounds. I didn't measure anything else, and since ending the fast 2 months ago I regained about 5 pounds. For several weeks following the fast I only ate fruits and veggies which is why I think the weight gain has been so little compared to those who fast and then resume their old diet fairly quickly. Also, in the first 48 hours of the fast I did a rather extensive physical workout program which is meant to…

Is this safe? How do you know what your limits are? I thought around 21 days you were at the point of starvation? What about your weight? How over weight are you (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm assuming someone with a normal BMI couldn't do something like this for so long???

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#258
post #194

The authors disclosed they have equity in a company called L-Nutra, which intends to sell diet food packs: http://www.l-nutra.com/index.php/products/prolon Nothing for sale yet, but hopefully the price will be competitive with do-it-yourselfers. I am cautiously optimistic about this direction.

An easy way to fast frequently is to just skip breakfast everyday. Then you automatically get a 16+ hour fast and keep your eating to a short window during the day. This helps kick in autophagy [1], a process whereby our cells repair themselves; a garbage collector for our body if you will. This is most likely the process the scientists are observing as slowed down aging. It's not really a foreign topic as there's 39…

I have skipped breakfast for the last 10 years of my life (not anymore though), and I would hardly call it fasting. I tend to just compensate it later with lunch and dinner. In fact it's less healthy according to the "many small meals instead of a few big ones" theory.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#259
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think clearing out your bowels would be considered de-toxifying. As, much of that stuff just stays inside your intestines unless you do some kind of colon cleanse (men should do this with their doctor at 40-50; depending on how much red meat they eat). Also, with fat being burned and toxins are mostly stored in the fat, I have a difficult time understanding how losing fat isn't detoxing. I meant to say it's painful…

Detoxification is a myth: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/05/detox-my... There is no science behind it. There is also no science behind extended fasting, giving your body a "break" from digesting and so forth. By all means fast if you feel like it and you believe there is some health benefit - you are harming no one, after all - but please don't try to justify it with medical science.

Agreed, but certain harmful/negative things ARE stored in your fat cells (THC from marijuana is one such example) and these do get released during extended fasts as your body burns fat. I don't think this is really in doubt.

Re: Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging

#260
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An easy way to fast frequently is to just skip breakfast everyday. Then you automatically get a 16+ hour fast and keep your eating to a short window during the day. This helps kick in autophagy [1], a process whereby our cells repair themselves; a garbage collector for our body if you will. This is most likely the process the scientists are observing as slowed down aging. It's not really a foreign topic as there's 39…

I have skipped breakfast for the last 10 years of my life (not anymore though), and I would hardly call it fasting. I tend to just compensate it later with lunch and dinner. In fact it's less healthy according to the "many small meals instead of a few big ones" theory.

Me too! I used to burn like a factory. Big meals including breakfast, snacks all day, weighed 140 lbs. Then I started gaining, so I cut out snacks until after lunch. Then until after 2:30. Then altogether. Then I cut out breakfast. Nowadays I sometimes skip dinner too.

Ultimately I expect to be eating a slice of bread at 1:00 and exist on oxygen otherwise.

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