Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

news.mit.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 176 posts

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#141

Post by awsrocks »

seer wrote: post #66
asar wrote: post #22

It's such a shame that there isn't more research in this area. There are so many seemingly wondrous effects on human health that would need thourugh testing. Apart from physiological benefits though, the mental aspect of fasting from my own experience can be quite exciting as well. A 7 day fast was the longest I did so far, but 72h really hit the sweet spot for me. It was like a journey through my mind, I got challen…

While I’ve done similar fasting myself, with the same wondrous effects you describe, I want to point out that it seems this might be a lot harder to do for young women (in child bearing age). My partner tried to replicate what I did since I was hyping it so much, and failed miserably. Later we learned that the female body reacts much more violently to the lack of calories than male ones, and its a lot harder for them…

No post body was provided.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#142

Post by TimSchumann »

brodouevencode wrote: post #117
egeozcan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if starting something like a 7-day fast without medical supervision is a good idea, and I'm also not sure if any medical professional would allow you to do that, just thinking out loud. Don't you think it's too dangerous to name it essential life experience and recommend it to random people on the internet? I'm really asking, I'm not knowledgeable about this at all, and my questions stem from pure gut fe…

This is a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-dont situation. If OP says you should fast and someone gets hurt, that's bad. If OP says you shouldn't fast then what gains could have been made in that lost time. A better way of looking at it is to take it incrementally * skipping breakfast * skipping breakfast and lunch * skipping a whole day * eating one meal every two days * eating one meal every three days * ...you get t…

Exactly right, to all of this advice.

I believe I say multiple times in this thread nobody should just jump in and do 60 days, however I believe anyone (caveat-ed up thread) can 'jump in' and do 7 days at any point in their life.

It won't be easy, it'll be especially hard if you've never fasted before and are on a standard diet, but it won't be dangerous. It'll just probably be the most difficult physical and mental thing you've ever done.

Also, thanks for linking to my spreadsheet up there.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#143

Post by TimSchumann »

pid-1 wrote: post #71
TimSchumann wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lost zero noticeable lean muscle mass on my 60 day fast, at least no more than I would have sitting on the couch doing nothing. There's just not a metabolic pathway for breaking down muscle/organ tissue for energy when you have adequate fat stores. We would have died off as a species a long time ago if that were the case. In the grand scheme of things, if you have the body fat, 7 days is nothing for a fast. Edit: T…

Did you exercise or work during this period?

Once-ish a week there was Light lifting, think moving a whole trees worth of firewood or a light day on a family farm.

Quite frequently I hit over 10k steps/day on my step tracker, sometimes double that. I live in the middle of a major city and walk everywhere, and this was before work from home.

If you’re looking for exercise/fasting advice check out my fat per unit time post elsewhere in this thread.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#144

Post by victorclf »

Fasting Nofap Keto Cold showers ...

"We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them."

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#145

Post by wutbrodo »

itsoktocry wrote: post #103
Fritsdehacker wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most males it should be possible to get enough calories and nutrients from just one meal, but I would not say easy. It is far easier with two meals, or maybe a time window of 4 hours. It's probably also better to ease into it. So start with an 8 hour eating window and slowly decrease the window. Getting enough calories and nutrients can be a challenge and is far from easy with the "standard western diet". I would…

> Getting enough calories and nutrients can be a challenge and is far from easy with the "standard western diet". Have you been to a grocery store in the last 100 years? Getting enough calories and nutrients is dead simple, our stores are overflowing with fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and meat. What is the "standard western diet"?

> What is the "standard western diet"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_pattern_diet, also referred to throughout the article as "The Standard American Diet".

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#146

Post by wutbrodo »

TimSchumann wrote: post #61
egeozcan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if starting something like a 7-day fast without medical supervision is a good idea, and I'm also not sure if any medical professional would allow you to do that, just thinking out loud. Don't you think it's too dangerous to name it essential life experience and recommend it to random people on the internet? I'm really asking, I'm not knowledgeable about this at all, and my questions stem from pure gut fe…

I feel 100% confident, based on my experience, in saying that almost any healthy adult has the ability to fast for 7 days without any negative consequences to their short term or long term health. In fact, I'd say there's only positives. Obviously if you feel differently, talk with your doctor. I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. I thought that went without saying on the internet, but just to be extra…

> If you have any kind of condition, disorder, disease, etc. obviously talk to a medical professional.

That's sort of the rub in cavalierly recommending things to the general population, even when they're only somewhat extreme. There are plenty of undiagnosed conditions out there, and the further you move from the center of the distribution, the more you're going to sweep up potential risk in ways that aren't easily caught with a simple "not applicable if".

I say this as someone who fasts pretty often, though usually not more than 2 days. It's the same reason I wouldn't recommend everyone go out and take 200 mcg of LSD, "unless you have a mental health condition". This world of perfect information about one's own health that you're imagining simply doesn't exist. (Again, I say this as someone who thinks LSD is wonderful and salutary and has recommended it to many many friends in person with the appropriate personalized caveats).

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#147

Post by godshatter »

hi41 wrote: post #108
asar wrote: post #22

It's such a shame that there isn't more research in this area. There are so many seemingly wondrous effects on human health that would need thourugh testing. Apart from physiological benefits though, the mental aspect of fasting from my own experience can be quite exciting as well. A 7 day fast was the longest I did so far, but 72h really hit the sweet spot for me. It was like a journey through my mind, I got challen…

I have tried fasting by skipping breakfast and I have mostly failed because I am unable to endure when hunger strikes. I am interested to learn the mental methods you use to over that struggle.

One small thing I learned is that a lot of what I thought was hunger was actually thirst. I have been eating one meal a day (with some exceptions) for the past 3 or 4 years. If you're hungry during a fast, drink something. This will put something in your stomach and that helps and then after a bit the hunger goes away if you ignore it long enough. When fasting you need to up your fluid intake anyway.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#148

Post by godshatter »

m348e912 wrote: post #134
egeozcan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if starting something like a 7-day fast without medical supervision is a good idea, and I'm also not sure if any medical professional would allow you to do that, just thinking out loud. Don't you think it's too dangerous to name it essential life experience and recommend it to random people on the internet? I'm really asking, I'm not knowledgeable about this at all, and my questions stem from pure gut fe…

You bring up some interesting points. I've dabbled with fasting in the past and it seems to be relatively safe and beneficial up to 10 days but there are two mistakes I see people make. Mistake 1: Drinking pure water. Your body does need some specific minerals even when fasting. Cole Robinson, a fasting focused youtuber (who is not for everyone), has shared a Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Sodium Bicarbonate & Water r…

Diet sodas get a bad rap and for good reason, but I've been unable to stick with anything other than diet soda long term (though I've tried multiple times). I know that diet sodas can spike blood sugar in some people, but it doesn't break me out of ketosis when fasting. YMMV.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#149

Post by user_7832 »

victorclf wrote: post #144

Fasting Nofap Keto Cold showers ... "We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them."

1. Going out of the comfort zone is generally a good idea as long as it's (medically) safe

2. Some of those (cold showers, fasting) have proven benefits. Are you arguing the benefits aren't useful or that all the existing studies are flawed?

There's also 3 of why'd you comment on something if you don't care about it but as I'm doing the same I can't really argue that fully.

Re: Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)

#150

Post by [deleted] »

m348e912 wrote: post #134
egeozcan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if starting something like a 7-day fast without medical supervision is a good idea, and I'm also not sure if any medical professional would allow you to do that, just thinking out loud. Don't you think it's too dangerous to name it essential life experience and recommend it to random people on the internet? I'm really asking, I'm not knowledgeable about this at all, and my questions stem from pure gut fe…

You bring up some interesting points. I've dabbled with fasting in the past and it seems to be relatively safe and beneficial up to 10 days but there are two mistakes I see people make. Mistake 1: Drinking pure water. Your body does need some specific minerals even when fasting. Cole Robinson, a fasting focused youtuber (who is not for everyone), has shared a Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Sodium Bicarbonate & Water r…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN