Fasting for healing and health

[vmax]

I feel this thread is appropriate for this time of year so here goes

You have seen my nutrition clients successfully lose weight (fat) and improve all metabolic markers in their blood work by simply doing IM
Intermittent fasting.
Eat all of your meals in a 6-8 hr window or shorter if you can make that sustainable

However there is a next level to fasting that sees even more benefits.
Autophagy Fasting where you go into a 17-18 period without food.
Basically a one day fast.

When you deny your body food energy it will turn to fat reserves and most of us have plenty to live on for awhile

But something else happens as well..your body starts to look for damaged cells and mitochondria and begins to kill off or repair what is broken and discard it.

Do some research on it. Look into it.
Maybe try a 1 day fast every few weeks and see for yourself

I have learned something and that is the more we seek a position of comfort
When we are cold we stress warm...we park up close to avoid a few steps...when we are a little tired we sit down for hours..when we get a small hunger pain we stop and eat...


The more we stay in a place of complete comfort the faster you will age and deteriorate.

The body responds to the stresses we put in it by rebuilding and adapting ..lifting weights and staying physically fit is anti-aging!

On the other hand if we keep ourselves perpetually comfortable our body has to do nothing but sit back and take it easy..cells die..become dysfunctional and you start going down a road that leads immobility and disease

 

[wakosama]

Fasting is a 'known' way to COVID detox.

 

[Txhighlander]

I have friends that fast and have good results. However if you keep the same bad diet it doesn't help. It boils down to diet.

 

[no2gates]

I have friends that fast and have good results. However if you keep the same bad diet it doesn't help. It boils down to diet.

Right, it's not a quick fix Fasting for a weekend and going back to McDonalds won't work..

 

[vmax]

Right, it's not a quick fix Fasting for a weekend and going back to McDonalds won't work..

I'd say anytime you skip anything from McDonald's it goes into the win column no matter how you do it.

 

[toddnjoyce]

If you consistently consume your daily food intake within 8hrs, does that not leave the remaining 16+ hours for autophagic fasting?

I don’t know the science or details, but one thing I keep coming back to is consistency in eating habits. Food can be used as fuel, as repair, or both as I understand it.

One thing I miss from my .mil days is consistency for workout timing, which drives inconsistency in fuel/repair cycles. I try to find consistency in sleep cycles and backwards manage from there, which sometimes forces missing a workout, which forces adjusting the daily meal schedule.

I’d love to flip that, but my body reacts better to a consistent, well-rested wakeup than it does to pushing a day to get it all in.

 

[vmax]

If you consistently consume your daily food intake within 8hrs, does that not leave the remaining 16+ hours for autophagic fasting?

The main benefits of IM..(6-8) he eating window is that you are in a fasted state outside of that window which normalizes blood sugar and insulin level.
The body is taken out of the anabolic state (cell growth) and onto a fat burning state.
There isn't much evidence that autophagy occurs in that time frame.
The data shows the window for that begins at 20-24 hrs
The body sends out proteins and an army of soldiers that hunt down and remove bad cells, dysfunctional cells and either repair or replace them and discard the bad ones.
This removes oxidized dangerous cells that can cause cancer and other diseases
It's actually amazing what the body can do.

Long term resistance training also offers some of the same benefits because working out stresses the body and also forces constant adaptation and repairing of tissue.

 

[Dawico]

I've been fasting for a few months and really like it. The biggest benefit I see is I don't feel bloated all the time.

Improving my diet helps too but I didn't really eat poorly before.

Lost a few pounds but nothing major.

I only eat from noon to 6pm.

 

[Hanzolo]

How long have you been into fasting? I started about 2yrs ago, and have made changes along the way but with fasting I think one should change their diet to consume quality whole foods, less sugar intake, and exercise to increase the benefits of autophagy. Have you heard of Bryan Johnson who made his fortune in tech and now fully invested into researching slowing down aging. His meal plans are too costly to adopt but I copy his strategy by not eating after 11 am. So far, I feel that it's been quite effective with energy levels, sleep quality, and shedding off some weight.

 

[srab]

I've been fasting two days a week now (after early dinner until 6PM the following evening) for the past year. Not because I need to lose weight, though.

There are reported to be neuro-cognitive benefits to intermittent fasting, providing some degree of protection from, or delay in, the onset of Alzheimer's type dementia [which both of my parents developed while in their 80s].

Ultimately, I don't know if staying fit (at 65 yrs old, I exercise regularly) and fasting intermittently will help me stave off any cognitive decline, or if I'll even live long enough to tell, but I'm convinced that it certainly won't hurt.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Mostly, I 'slow'...ok, ok, a little joke.

Nope, I eat what I want, when I want, but almost zero junk food.

I'd eat that too if I wanted, but I just don't care to...

Keeping up with all the 'food no, no's and yes, yes-isms' just isn't for me.