In this episode I talk about intermittent fasting (IF) and all of its amazing benefits. According to scientific papers, research and articles, intermittent fasting may help lose weight, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, asthma, obesity, cognitive decline, neurodegeneration and even cancer. However, intermittent fasting may cause more harm than good for individuals experiencing severe stress or those living with specific types of cancer. In this episode, I discuss the different methods of fasting such as the 5:2 method and time-restricted eating. I also discuss my own personal experience with intermittent fasting.
Below are the articles I mention throughout the episode with some notes for you, but I do encourage you to read through these studies, reviews and articles yourself!
Intermittent Fasting: The Science of Going Without by Roger Collier
- According to Mark P Mattson, senior investigator at National Institute on Aging at the time, fasting is shown to improve biomarkers of disease, reduce oxidative stress, preserve learning and memory function
- The main theory behind why IF is healthy is that while fasting, cells are under mild stress and they respond adaptively by enhancing their ability to react to stress and potentially resist disease
Metabolic Effects of Intermittent Fasting – Annual Review of Nutrition by Ruth E. Patterson & Dorothy D. Sears
- Desynchronization of the suprachiasmatic nucleus master clock in the brain and peripheral circadian clocks in liver, fat, and skeletal muscle cells may increase the risk of chronic diseases
- Circadian rhythms have an impact on metabolism throughout the day
- Meals consumed at night are associated with greater postprandial glucose and insulin exposure than content matched meals during the day leading to elevated HbA1c levels and risk of type 2 diabetes over time
- HbA1c refers to haemoglobin that has bound with glucose; this is an important way to measure blood sugar!
- Overall, evidence suggests that intermittent fasting regimens are not harmful physically or mentally (i.e., in terms of mood) in healthy, normal weight, overweight, or obese adults
Potential Benefits and Harms of Intermittent Energy Restriction and Intermittent Fasting Amongst Obese, Overweight and Normal Weight Subjects—A Narrative Review of Human and Animal Evidence by Michelle Harvie and Anthony Howell
- This review summarises randomised comparisons of intermittent and isoenergetic continuous energy restriction for weight loss to manage overweight and obesity. It also summarises the potential beneficial or adverse effects of IER on body composition, adipose stores and metabolic effects from human studies, including studies amongst normal weight subjects and relevant animal experimentation
- Intermittent energy restriction (IER) can improve eating behaviours and mood amongst subjects with overweight and obesity, but may have the potential for harm amongst normal weight individuals with unrestrained eating styles
- IER refers to 2 days of 70% or more caloric restriction
Fasting: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Applications by Valter D Longo and Mark P Mattson
- In rodents, intermittent or periodic fasting protects against diabetes, cancers, heart disease, and neurodegeneration
- In humans, IF helps reduce obesity, hypertension, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis
- Fasting has the potential to delay aging and help prevent and treat diseases while minimizing the side effects caused by chronic dietary interventions
Intermittent Fasting: Live ‘Fast,’ Live Longer? by Johns Hopkins Medicine
- There are two methods of intermittent fasting:
- Daily time-restricted feeding, which narrows eating times to 6-8 hours per day
- 5:2 intermittent fasting, in which people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal two days each week
- Animal and some human studies have shown that altering between times of fasting and eating supports cellular health, probably by triggering an age-old adaptation to periods of food scarcity called metabolic switching
- This switch improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress and suppresses inflammation
World’s Largest Fasting Study by Buchinger Wilhelmi
- Fasting mobilizes the energy stores in the fatty tissue of the human body
- Fasting leads to significant weight loss, a reduced abdominal circumference, and lower cholesterol and blood lipid levels
- In 84% of cases, serious health conditions such as arthritis, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver and hypercholesterolemia, high blood pressure and fatigue improved through fasting
Intermittent fasting modulates IgA levels in the small intestine under intense stress: A mouse model by Eleazer Lara-Paradilla et al.
- IF under intense acute stress enhanced levels of IgA in ileum (part of the small intestine)
- IgA is an antibody that plays a crucial role in the immune function of mucus membranes
- Increased IgA levels = increased inflammation
- IF plus stress may negatively impact gut homeostasis by increasing the risk of inflammation in the upper small intestine
