Intermittent fasting: why smart and successful people refuse to eat

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Intermittent fasting is said to prolong youth and improve mood.

What is Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting (IF), intermittent fasting, intermittent fasting, or intermittent fasting are eating patterns that only allow you to eat at certain times. For example, only 4 hours a day. Or 8 hours. Or 5 days a week. The rest of the time, you should forget about food, limiting yourself to drinking - water is allowed or (in mild variants of fasting) vegetable and fruit juices.

In 2017, intermittent fasting became a viral trend in Silicon Valley. It is known that top managers of large companies go on corporate hunger strikes, going on diets with their employees. And this was preceded by the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology, received in 2016 by the Japanese Yoshinori Osumi.

The scientist investigated the process of autophagy - the mechanism by which living cells get rid of defective proteins and organelles. In the process of observation, Yoshinori Osumi found out that the degree of autophagy, that is, the speed of getting rid of accumulated "garbage", depends on the level of energy in the cells. When energy is low (the cell is hungry), it destroys damaged or old proteins more intensively, making them a source of energy.

Osumi made his discovery with hungry baker's yeast. And Silicon Valley startups decided to experiment with their own organisms. And they liked it.

Phil Libin, former CEO of Evernote and current AI studio All Turtles, is one of IF's ardent supporters

I feel mild euphoria all the time. I am constantly in a good mood, a constant supply of energy. I feel healthier than before. The decision to try IF was one of the best in my life.

What interval fasting days look like

There are different IF options, but the essence is the same. The day or week is divided into two time intervals. In one interval, you can eat whatever you want. In the other, nothing is allowed but drinking. Depending on how these time intervals relate, IF is divided into several types. The American medical resource Healthline Intermittent Fasting 101 - The Ultimate Beginner's Guide, for example, lists such popular options:

16/8

This scheme implies 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of fasting. For example, a person can eat between 10 and 18 o'clock in the afternoon, accommodating 3-4 meals during this period. The rest of the time, he is limited to drinks.

14/10

This is one of the most gentle IF options. 14 hours of hunger here alternate with 10 hours when you can eat anything. Almost everyone can do such a regime, because when translated into the daily schedule, it means something like this: you can eat whatever you want from 10 am to 8 pm.

24/0

Quite a radical option, which is a daily fast between meals. Let's say you had breakfast at 11:00. This means that the next time you eat, too, at 11:00 - exactly in a day. Unlike the schemes listed above, this option should be approached with caution and not used more than once or twice a week.

2/5

Here, the account is not for hours, but for a day. The IF Scheme, developed by Michael Mosley, author of The Fast Diet, assumes that you can eat whatever you want 5 days a week and limit yourself as much as possible for 2 days. However, this is not necessarily a complete rejection of food. It's just that on a hungry day, you can't consume more than 500 kcal.

How Intermittent Fasting Works

You are losing weight

The most obvious effect of IF fasting days is weight loss. Due to the rather long fasting intervals, the body receives fewer calories, which quickly affects the waist and hips. Studies show that, on average, weight loss is 3–8% in 3–24 weeks. However, the IF effect is not limited to slenderness.

Reduces the risk of type II diabetes

In particular, the body's sensitivity to insulin increases, which causes a decrease in the level of this hormone in the blood. And low insulin forces the body to more actively recycle existing fat deposits into energy. In addition, it reduces the risk of type II diabetes.

Aging slows down

IF increases the body's resistance to oxidative stress - one of the main provocateurs of aging and chronic diseases.

Improves heart health

Intermittent fasting reduces the effects of a number of risk factors that can negatively affect the cardiovascular system. Thanks to him, blood pressure is normalized and the general condition of the heart and blood vessels improves.

The development of oncology slows down

Experiments on animals, at least, confirm this Fasting cycles retard growth of tumors and sensitize a range of cancer cell types to chemotherapy. IF inhibits the growth of tumor cells and at the same time increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy, which means it increases the chances of winning in the fight against cancer.

Improves brain function

Exactly - in rats: in them, intermittent fasting caused the growth of new nerve cells in the brain. The rodents' memory and learning ability have improved.

Scientists are also optimistic about the effect of IF on the human brain. It is assumed that it can become one of the methods for the prevention of all kinds of brain disorders, including depression. For example, there is evidence that daily intermittent fasting can reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in 9 out of 10 patients.

All in all, intermittent fasting can be a pretty good thing to improve your quality of life. So it makes sense to give it a try. Unless, of course, your therapist doesn't mind.