Backround: Some body builders think highly of intermittent fasting (IF) to maintain a lean mass. This was popularized by Martin Berkhan of leangains.com. Don't be surprised if you lose fat weight and gain some muscle weight.
An indigenous tribe, the Tsimane, in Bolivia are said to have the healthiest hearts in the world. This is attributed to a very active lifestyle and intermittent fasting.
Dr. Jason Fung , a nephrologist in Toronto, advocates IF to reduce circulating insulin levels
Valter Longo wrote The Longevity Diet that promotes a fast-mimicking diet. This diet shifts the body's metabolism so that one becomes a fat burner and protects against diabetes type 2 and cardiovascular disease. People lose weight and body fat and this diet decreases blood pressure and reduces harmful levels of a hormone that is linked to aging and disease. (However with recent studies: the fasters didn’t show benefits in health and longevity markers, such as inflammation levels.)
A review of past animal and human studies in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that intermittent fasting can reduce blood pressure, aid in weight loss and improve longevity. Courtney Peterson, a researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who studies time-restricted eating, ran a study following prediabetic men who ate the same amount of food on regular schedules versus intermittent-fasting schedules. The fasting group didn’t lose more weight than the control group, but still had more improvements in the body’s processing of glucose and blood pressure.
Intermittent fasting (IF ) is an alternate approach to our normal diet of 3 meals a day plus snacks (normally, we start eating as soon as we get up, and do not stop until we go to bed.) Most Americans eat in a way that keeps blood sugar and insulin high. Prolonged periods of high insulin leads to insulin resistance. Even slight insulin resistance increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease. Excessive insulin is the main driver of obesity. IF stops the process of eating throughout the day. Eat when the sun shines, a window of 12 hrs or less. Try to eat more earlier in the day and less later on. Dr. Gundry recommends eating only from 800 am to 600 pm, a 10 hr window. No nighttime refrigerator raids. Before initiating IF see your physician especially if you are a child, adolescent, elderly or have medical issues such as diabetes.
1. It takes 4 hrs to digest a meal. It takes 10-12 hrs to deplete glucose. Most of that glucose from the meal is stored in skeletal muscle and the liver (as glycogen.) Any excess of glucose is stored as fat. If you eat nothing for 12 hrs, glucose in muscle cells and glycogen in the liver is depleted; the body requires another source for energy, namely fats. You enter ketosis after 12 hrs; ketone bodies are produced and are a preferred source of energy for the brain. A metabolic switch has been activated. One becomes a fat burner.
It's better for all cells to have lower levels of sugar in them because of a process called glycation, says Paoli (Antonio Paoli, professor of exercise and sport sciences at the University of Padova in Italy.) This is where glucose links to proteins and forms compounds called "advanced glycation end products", which can cause inflammation in the body and increase the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
2. If you fast from dinner to your next meal (7pm to 11 am or from 6 pm to 10am), you are fasting for 16 hrs; only eating during an 8 hr window. During the fasting period you drink coffee or tea but no snacking until your next meal. You 'break ' your fast not at 8 am but 10 am. Giving our bodies at least 12 hours a day without food allows our digestive system to rest, says Emily Manoogian, clinical researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, and author of a 2019 paper entitled "When to eat".
There are other methods of fasting as well. Fasting does not mean starvation; you just eat those calories during your eating window. If you are obese you may start to lose a few pounds. You don't have to fast every day; maybe fast 4-5 days per week.
3. Doing aerobic exercise and training during the fasting period accelerates ketosis. Ketones increase, neurotrophic factors increase (BDNF), and insulin levels plummet. Human Growth hormone increases substantially which increases lean muscle. The number of mitochondria increase in those muscle cells. When you fast, and when you exercise, you activate the AMPK signaling pathway ( 5′ AMP-activated protein kinase -a central regulator of energy homeostasis.)
4. When brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) increases in the brain, the number of mitochondria increase in the neurons and there are more new neurons. See the work of Mark Mattson, Dr. David Perimutter and Dr. Jason Fung. Professor Mark Mattson (a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins) advocates IF to increase brain power especially as related to age-related cognitive impairment. New evidence suggests that IF promotes the birth of new brain cells in the hippocampus throughout one's lifetime. Exercise (moderately paced walks) also promotes neurogenesis by stimulating the release of BDNF.
Thus IF and intense exercise decrease the risk of dementia and increases lean muscle mass and tone and decreases circulating insulin. A new study finds exercise boosts levels of a protein known to strengthen communication between brain cells via synapses, which may be a key factor in keeping dementia at bay. The protective effect was even found in active older people whose brains showed signs of plaques, tangles and other hallmarks of Alzheimer's and other cognitive diseases. (Kaitlin Casaletto, an assistant professor of neurology in the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California San Francisco).
Recent research shows that walking or cycling just 3 times per week improves thinking skills; add frequent exercise to a healthy diet. (James Blumenthal of Duke University.) Exercise alone does not result in any weight loss. You might lose 300-350 calories exercising but then the protein snack afterwards is 330 calories. You must combine that exercise with calorie reduction.
5. It is now known that implementing changes to your physical activity, stress management, and diet regimen, one can turn off certain genes associated with cancer growth. In fact, your choices can influence an estimated 1200 of the 1500 genes that are on.
Michael Roizen, M.D. has reported that new research shows one can reverse biological aging with diet and lifestyle. Healthy lifestyles are associated with 60% reduction in the risk in developing dementia. Recent research (Preventive Medicine Research Institute -2024) indicates that cognitive impairment can be reversed by a plant-based diet, moderate exercise, meditation and good support.
6. High levels of circulating insulin not only increases the risk of diabetes but also increases the risk of almost all sorts of cancer, especially when it comes to kidney, gall bladder, and esophagus cancer. Obese people have increased blood levels of insulin (insulin resistance), which is associated with the development of colon, kidney, prostate, and endometrial cancers.
Visceral fat is linked to metabolic and heart disease. This fat found around the pancreas (and its Beta cells) and liver stresses the body. Metabolic syndrome is defined as having 3 out of 5 factors: >35 inch waist in women (40 in men), > 150 triglycerides, > 100 fasting blood sugar, > 130/85 blood pressure, or < 50 HDL in women (<40 HDL in men.)
Diabetics are strongly encouraged to contact their physician prior to initiating intermittent fasting. Low carbohydrate diets (LCHF) in combination with intermittent fasting provide one of the best methods for blood glucose control (measured as fasting blood sugar and as A1C.) Dr. Jason Fung (in Toronto) has reversed type 2 diabetes in patients using intermittent fasting and a LCHF diet. Virta Health has reversed type 2 diabetes using a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. (eat the steak, and vegetable and skip the potato). People on a ketogenic diet should be aware that excess ketones in blood/urine will slightly acidify your urine and may increase your risk of uric acid kidney stones .
7. Recently, Dr. Roy Taylor, professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University (United Kingdom), has demonstrated type 2 diabetes reversal in patients that follow a strict low calorie liquid diet for 6 months.
8. Gastric bypass and gastric banding have also reversed type 2 diabetes. Research shows improvements in type 2 diabetes after weight loss surgery. One long-term study tracked 400 people with type 2 diabetes. Six years after bariatric surgery, 62% showed no signs of diabetes. They also had better blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.
9. There is general agreement that long term statin therapy slightly increases the risk of developing diabetes (Current Atherosclerosis Reports, Jan. 2015). Research has shown that there is a slight increased incidence of new-onset type 2 diabetes in statin takers.
The higher the dose and the more potent the statin the greater the risk. Investigators believe that statins “impair beta-cell function [in the pancreas] and decrease insulin sensitivity” (Nature Reviews. Endocrinology, online, Dec. 15, 2015). However the benefit of cholesterol reduction may outweigh the slight risk of developing diabetes. Lifestyle changes are far more effective than statins in preventing heart attack and stroke.
10. Eating right increases brain health and helps reverse brain disease. Sugar is converted to fat in the body about two to five times more quickly than starches. In other words, when we consume sugar (as refined sugar and as high fructose corn syrup), we’re feeding our fat cells. Sugar found in beverages does not suppress ghrelin, the hungar hormone. The fructose in sugar is also metabolized by the liver, which can contribute to fatty liver disease. That can promote insulin resistance and lead to Type 2 diabetes – with a lifelong impact on your health. (Surprisingly, switching to diet drinks/diet foods can also lead to elevated insulin levels. ) Eat less dumb carbs such as potatoes, bread, pasta and rice.
Eat more colored vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, sweet potato, yucca, mushrooms, and onions. B vitamins and other nutrients from spinach has been shown to reduce migraines. Eat blueberries and other fruits. Eat high Omega-3 foods like salmon, flax seed, sardines, Atlantic herring, and albacore tuna. Omega-3s are known to reduce inflammation and harmful cholesterol, improve cognition, and help to alleviate depression. Eat more nuts and seeds. According to a cardiologist avoid dairy, bread (high in sodium and spikes your blood sugar), margarine, diet soda (interferes with hormones responsible for controlling obesity) and granola bars. Eat good fats such as coconut oil, avocado, extra virgin olive oil (high in polyphenols especially oleuropein ) and butter. Avoid industrial seed oils (high in polyunsaturated inflammatory omega-6 fats) such as canola, corn, palm, cottonseed, soybean, and sunflower. Moderate alcohol use (1-2 glasses of red wine per day) reduce the chance of cognitive decline (see recent studies just published in 2018 ) vs totally abstaining from alcohol; reduce excess coffee (just 1-2 cups a day).
Try to reduce consumption of lectin-containing foods such as cashews, peanuts (which are in fact legumes), whole grains (wheat, oats, corn, etc.)/pasta, beans, bell peppers and tomatoes. If you do eat bread eat sprouted or sour-dough bread. If you eat tomatoes, avoid the skin and the seeds. If you eat beans, presoak the beans overnight or use a pressure cooker. If you eat rice make sure it is white not brown.
Avoid ultra-processed foods as they contain food additives such as food dyes, sweeteners, and emulsifiers. The combination of food additives increases the risk of type II diabetes ( research by the lead author Touvier who is with the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in France). Emulsifiers can negatively impact the gut microbiome by disrupting its balance and composition, potentially leading to metabolic disorders and inflammation. Studies suggest that emulsifiers can increase the abundance of disease-associated bacteria while reducing beneficial microbes. Some emulsifiers also disrupt the protective mucus layer in the gut, potentially causing bacterial encroachment and increasing inflammation.
11. Slow Wave sleep is important to remove toxins and waste buildup accumulating in the brain. Get to bed early (by 9 pm to maximize Slow Wave Sleep) and sleep for at least 7 hrs. Sleeping enough and IF and cardiovascular exercise decrease the risk of dementia. The brain's glymphatic system helps to remove a toxic clumping protein called beta-amyloid plaques which exist outside nerve cells. Microglial cells act as macrophages that remove cellular debris in the brain. It is not known whether the neurofibrillary tangles (a tau protein) within the nerve cells are affected by this cleanup system.
12. Microbiome resarch: symptoms of depression are highest among people with depleted bacterial strains of Dialister and Coprococcus. These symptoms show significant improvement with eating a plant-based Mediterranean diet (getting enough fiber.) Fiber found in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans etc. are a welcome source to your microbiome that increases short term fatty acids. This improves your immune system. Fiber reduces the chance for chronic diseases. Without fiber, the microbiome attacks the mucous layer that lines your gut increasing leakage and inflammation.