Through intermittent fasting and controlling caloric intake, the human body can increase stem cell quantity and function. Stem cells are essential in the normal aging process and in reducing inflammation. What is intermittent fasting? What are the benefits of intermittent fasting? How do I know if I am suitable for intermittent fasting?
“Fasting” means not eating or drinking anything that contains calories for a period of time. You can drink water, black coffee, or other calorie-free beverages.
Types of fasting methods
Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey told reporters his one meal a day consisted only of protein and vegetables between 6 and 9 p.m. It helped me feel empowered and able to focus more attention on my daily life.
Skipping breakfast and lunch gave Jack more time to focus on what was important. This method of intermittent fasting is known as “samurai fasting” or OMAD (one meal a day). In the olden days, samurai ate one large dinner instead of three meals a day. This method allows a person to drink water, black coffee, and low-calorie foods within his 20 hours and consume high-calorie foods within his 4 hours for the rest of the day.
However, evening may not be the healthiest time to eat a large meal.
Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt told fans that intermittent fasting is a “must try”. He said he usually had coffee and exercised by noon and didn’t eat anything after 8 p.m. His intermittent fasting method is called 16/8 Intermittent Fasting or “Timed Eating.” In this method, he limits his intake of food and drink to eight hours a day. Some suggest that 18 hours gives better results than 16 hours.
Jimmy Kimmel, an American late-night talk show host, shed extra pounds by fasting for two days each week. was kept within 500 calories.
Jimmy said he was inspired by a BBC documentary about a 138-year-old Indian man. He introduced the fasting method as his 5:2 diet. That means eating regularly for 5 days and eating less than 500 calories in 2 days.
Many celebrities, bodybuilders, and online influencers have shared and promoted their experiences with intermittent fasting.
They may not be experts in the medical or health field, but by sharing their personal experiences, they have a great influence on the general public.
Is there celebrity endorsement of intermittent fasting as a healthy trend, or is it scientifically backed? How do real experts on this topic view it?
Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published a joint review titled “Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease.” This article provides a comprehensive summary of intermittent fasting research findings.
Three types of intermittent fasting were studied, including alternate-day fasting (ADF), the 5:2 diet, and OMAD.
Benefits of intermittent fasting
What are the benefits of intermittent fasting?
1. Anti-aging
By eating less, you reduce the production of harmful metabolites, including free radicals. More importantly, it can improve the reactivity of cells and organs, promote blood sugar regulation and tolerance, and at the same time suppress inflammatory reactions.
Free radicals are a class of unstable molecules produced during normal cell metabolism (chemical changes that occur within cells). Free radicals accumulate inside cells and can damage other molecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins.This damage can increase the risk of cancer and other diseases.
Three meals a day, occasional snacks in between, and a mostly sedentary lifestyle is harmful to our bodies. Getting more exercise and consuming enough or restricted calories is beneficial to our health. Intermittent fasting protects and heals our bodies.
2. Weight loss.
Normally, the body provides energy through glucose converted from consuming carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Eating too much, not exercising too much, and sitting too much can lead to the accumulation of body fat. When you fast for 16 hours or more, your body first uses glycogen stores and then burns fat. Ketone bodies are produced when fat is broken down, and play an important role in supplying energy to the brain, transmitting signals between organs, and being involved in cell and organ function.
3. Ignite autophagy
During fasting, a series of chemical reactions occur in the body. These include promoting antioxidant mechanisms, restoring genetic DNA material, improving protein quality, increasing mitochondrial ATP synthase, cell self-renewal, and reducing inflammation. The self-renewal function of cells is carried out by a mechanism called autophagy. It is very important for our body’s recovery.
4. Improvement of chronic diseases
Intermittent fasting not only aids weight loss, but it also increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin to lower blood lipids, blood sugar, blood pressure, and improve chronic inflammatory diseases.
Researchers divided 100 obese women into two groups. One group reduced food consumption by 25% and another group she followed her 5:2 diet. After 6 months, both groups had lost similar amounts of weight, but the 5:2 diet group was much more sensitive to insulin and had a distinct decrease in abdominal fat.
5. Improve athletic endurance and performance
The researchers compared the physical activity levels of mice receiving ADF and those eating a regular diet. ADF mice had much better running endurance than regularly fed mice and showed better balance and coordination abilities. I have reduced my fat.
6.Cancer prevention
Most animal studies have found that restricting caloric intake and ADF reduces tumor risk, suppresses tumor growth, and increases tumor sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It has been shown to significantly magnify the therapeutic effect.
7. Slows the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease
Through animal studies, we found that both the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease can be delayed by ADF. Intermittent fasting promotes neuronal remodeling to combat nutritional stress, enhances mitochondrial function in the brain, stimulates cell regeneration, produces neuroprotective factors, antioxidant function, and restores hereditary genes. It has many benefits for the brain.
8. Reduction of immune disorders
A recent study found that intermittent fasting in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients improved their disease symptoms within two months. This may be related to its ability to reduce inflammation.
Therefore, it is also useful for rheumatoid arthritis and other immune diseases. MS is a disease that can cause damage to the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers, causing impaired communication between the brain and the rest of the body.
9. Reducing concussion damage
Repairing damage such as memory loss, lack of concentration, increased tantrums, and hypersomnia due to concussion is an unexpected boon for people with brain injuries.
One of the key benefits of intermittent fasting is that it can directly activate the anti-aging tunnels in your body, slowing down the aging process.
3 Precautions to Consider with Intermittent Fasting
Which type of intermittent fasting is right for you? Learning about the multiple benefits of intermittent fasting has made many people willing to give it a try.
- Fasting has many benefits, but it can be difficult. Most people are accustomed to eating three meals a day and snacking. Abstinence is made more difficult by the influence of advertising that advertises endless arrays of tempting foods to consumers. Going fast requires absolute determination.
- Many people feel maladjusted when they start fasting. You may feel hungry, irritable, or have trouble concentrating while fasting, but these symptoms will gradually disappear in about a month. You need to mentally prepare yourself for fasting.
Fasting breakfast may be an easier choice than fasting dinner, but dinner tends to be a larger meal, so leaving the skipped meal behind will yield better results. Similarly, skipping dinner and skipping breakfast have little effect on sleep quality. It is not recommended to fast every day from the beginning. You can start fasting for 12 hours and gradually increase to 18 hours, then 20 hours.
- If you have a current medical condition, such as diabetes, do not attempt fasting without first consulting your doctor.Adjust your diet only under your doctor’s supervision. Try the Mediterranean diet for a few weeks before you start fasting.
According to the Taiwan Nutrition Psychiatry Association, the Mediterranean diet is a comprehensive diet. Encourage consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish, and healthy oils, and choose whole foods over processed foods to reduce inflammation.
How to Practice Intermittent Fasting
After reading the article so far, you may feel that you are ready to fast. There are recommended and appropriate methods for safe and effective fasting.
For ADF, eat a regular, healthy diet one day and consume less than 500 calories the next.
With the 5:2 fast, you eat regular meals on weekdays and consume less than 500 calories each day of the weekend. Both, plus 16 hours a day between meals.
Westerners sometimes recommend skipping breakfast and finishing eating between noon and 8pm, but eating between 7am and 3pm is more in tune with our body clock. increase. If you eat a late dinner, your body will release melatonin, which will affect your sleep quality and your digestive system will not work well during sleep.
Be careful not to overeat unless you are hungry. Continue to enjoy a balanced and moderately sized diet of 2 servings of fruits and vegetables, 1 serving of animal or plant protein, 1 serving of carbohydrates and 1 serving of healthy fats. Additionally, eat later to increase satiety and allow for healthy digestion.
Depending on your own circumstances, you may start intermittent fasting by gradually increasing the number of days over the weekend to ensure you reach your goals.
Dr. Jingduan Yang is a faculty member of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, a former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Oriental Medicine and Acupuncture Program at the Jefferson-Murna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. He completed a research fellowship in clinical psychopharmacology at the University of Oxford, completed his training in psychiatry at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and his Bravewell fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona. Did. For more information on Dr. Yang, please visit his website www.YangInstitute.com.
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