[HN Gopher] Science of Fasting ___________________________________________________________________ Science of Fasting Author : sumanmd Score : 31 points Date : 2022-05-04 20:00 UTC (2 hours ago) (HTM) web link (spyderdoc.substack.com) (TXT) w3m dump (spyderdoc.substack.com) | c54 wrote: | I've been long exposed to the standard tech-circles common | knowledge about intermittent fasting (IF), the benefits of | fasting, basic gym science about calorie restriction, and so on. | I thought a lot of this stuff was pretty well confirmed by | science as well as various fasting-oriented traditions around the | world. Fast one day a week, live longer. Work IF into your eating | schedule, increase your productivity and give your body time to | 'clean up' your system. | | But I was surprised to recently realize how novel a lot of | fasting research is, and how unconfirmed a lot of the benefits | are. Even the wikipedia page for fasting doesn't have as much as | I'd really like to see. It's nice to see posts like this one, but | even this doubles down on "there are studies in progress" without | any convincing _completed_ studies. | | Review studies such as this[0] one basically confirm in so many | words that "additional trials are needed" and while IF can help | you lose weight "whether IF itself affects cancer-related | metabolic and molecular pathways remains unanswered" | | It's curiously similar to woo-woo or religious habits and self- | help advice: similar in being fringe from the perspective of | scientific medicine. But the same groups who I'd expect to be | pro-science (for example more likely to get vaccinated) are often | mixed up in fasting stuff which isn't (yet) confirmed. | | I suppose it's not _too_ unheard of to see tech circles overlap | with fringe medicine. Check out r /nootropics for instance. Now, | I've experimented with nootropics and various supplements. I | don't use the term 'fringe' as a haughty outsider. I'm quite | willing to consider that it's "not yet confirmed" protoscience, | and that this is different from falsified or counter-indicated | "remedies" and bits of fringe medicine, things like homeopathy. | But it's curious nonetheless. | | [0] | https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac... | sumanmd wrote: | My detailed write up on fasting/caloric restriction and necessary | adjustments we need to emphasize in our current daily dietary | regimen and this possibly helps keep the metabolic and other | diseases at bay, especially in at risk populations(south Asian). | mensetmanusman wrote: | Black coffee and water from 5 am to 6 pm, eat from 6-9 pm works | for me. | | Meals definitely taste better after that window :) | | I find I sometimes have like two dinners at 6 and 8 which is | interesting... | jjtheblunt wrote: | Do you not burn up your stomach from the acidity of that diet? | jstx1 wrote: | Do you mean because of the coffee? I drink several cups of | strong black coffee on an empty stomach every day and I've | never had any problems whatsoever. | jjtheblunt wrote: | That's awesome, and, yes, that's what i wondered; | personally i couldn't, presumably different from person to | person. | | Thanks. | Melatonic wrote: | It varies a ton per person - I know that I often, for | example, end up with the opposite of acid reflux | (essentially my stomach is too basic). I would have | similar symptoms and take an antacid and it would make it | immediately WORSE. | | Not sure if this is why but I am also one of those people | that can eat super acidic foods all day no problem - I | can drink black coffee and follow that up with a bunch of | citrus and feel great. | Dig1t wrote: | Very interesting, do you know the total calories you generally | eat during that window? | motohagiography wrote: | Am on same one meal a day scheme (espressos in morning, nothing | but dinner) for a year and love it. However, it's literally | just replacing 2/3 meals out of my day with multiple servings | of a highly addictive stimulant. Obviously I'm fine, but I am | sure our descendents will look back on coffee as some kind of | traditional folk-meth. | siavosh wrote: | I did this for two years, lost a fair bit of weight. But the | gorging at dinner time really messed up my cholesterol levels. | So just an advice that one's weight isn't the only metric of | health, if you do any diet change consult your doctor, and | confirm health across multiple dimensions (blood tests etc). | | Today, I do a heart healthy diet, and _try_ to fast from | 8PM-12PM (eat between 12PM-8PM). This helps me not eat /snack | unhealthily in a condensed period of time. | kmeraz wrote: | Curious, what was it about gorging at dinner time that messed | up your cholesterol levels? Was it because you'd gorge on | foods high in cholesterol, or was there another mechanism at | play? | hobo_mark wrote: | After eating only dinner for years, a month ago I found myself | eating every other day (except for two pieces of fruit in the | afternoon) and I feel even better since then? Where is the limit? | melissalobos wrote: | > Where is the limit? | | You lose roughly ~0.75 lbs of body fat at normal fasting levels | assuming a reasonably active regular sized person. So how ever | many days worth of body fat you would like to gain and lose | regularly. You would have to eat back the same amount and | probably wouldn't want to gorge yourself too much. A reasonable | practical limit might be 5 days. | | All of that assumes that you want to maintain a set weight. So | the real limit is how much you want to eat in a single sitting. | Take those calories and average them across as many days as | needed to maintain weight. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-05-04 23:00 UTC)