July 13, 2007
Alternate-day fasting modifies chronic disease risk
A review published in the July, 2007 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that fasting every other day may be as effective as a daily regimen of calorie restriction at providing many benefits seen in animal and human studies. Lowering calorie intake by 15 to 40 percent has been associated with protection from adverse health conditions in many studies, however, many people find it difficult to reduce their calories for a significant length of time.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. � Reduce, recycle and rebuild is as important to the most basic component of the human body, the cell, as it is to the environment.
And a University of Florida study shows just how much the body benefits when it �goes green,� at least if you�re a rat: Cutting calories helps rodents live longer by boosting cells� ability to recycle damaged parts so they can maintain efficient energy production.
�Caloric restriction is a way to extend life in animals. If you give them less food, the stress of this healthy habit actually makes them live longer,� said Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Ph.D., chief of the division of biology of aging in UF�s Institute on Aging.
It may not be so much as calorie restriction as it is blood glucose control.
As biochemist Richard Passwater has stated, if we want to see what occurs in aging, but at a greatly accelerated pace, we simply look at the changes in a diabetic.
Glucose, while essential to life, is a very strong reducing sugar, leaving a lot of free radicals in its wake. It is most likely the main reason why we need antioxidants. It also binds to proteins, and inactivates their function in the process. Advanced glycosylation end-products (AGEs) is one measure of tissue deterioration, or simply, aging.
Dr. Mercola had a piece, that supports your theory, in his blog section today.
I thought you might be interested in reading it and the accomanying abstract.
Quote:
A landmark review of current research, published in the journal Experimental Gerontology, indicates that calorie-restricted diets are not the key to extreme long life; instead, the key is avoiding age-related insulin resistance.
Increased insulin resistance is one of the primary causes of the slow health decline associated with aging. However, those who remain healthy and active past the age of 100, a group known as "Healthy Centenarians", maintain normal insulin function throughout their long lives.
It's an interesting point of view. However, it makes it appear that insulin is "routinely" secreted. From what I've been learning, I now tend to think that insulin, just like adrenaline and corticosteroids, is an emergency hormone. The less insulin we secrete, the better. The emergency? High blood glucose. But this emergency will rarely occur if we are physically active because active muscles take in glucose from the blood without the need of insulin. The emergency will also be quite rare if our diets are not composed of high-glycemic-load carbs.
Dr. Eades' take on IT. I like that he and his wife (who is also a doctor) experimented with IT in their own lives. An interesting read, I think.
Quote:
How would you like it if I told you there was a way to eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted to eat and still maintain your health? Or better yet, what if I told you that you could eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted and even improve your health? Would you be interested? I figured as much.
There is a way to reduce blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure, increase HDL levels, get rid of diabetes, live a lot longer, and still be able to lose a little weight. All without giving up the foods you love. And without having to eat those foods in tiny amounts. Sounds like a late-night infomercial gimmick, but it isn’t.
When I wrote those words as the lede to a blog post about a year and a half ago, the idea of intermittent fasting was limited mainly to research scientists and faddists. But a number of studies had been published - primarily on rodents - showing that intermittent fasting led to a host of benefits that not even caloric restriction could claim. And these weren’t studies published by no name scientists laboring in backwater research departments.
The lead author on many of these papers was Mark P. Mattson, Ph.D, the Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences and Chief of the Cellular and Molecular Neurosciences Section of the National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health. People were starting to take notice.
Fasting on Alternate Days
Linear Mode
