Re: fasting (was eat pork fat, says 116 yo woman!)

[Guest guest]

i have to wonder about the whole fasting thing. is it really that fasting

is good for the body, or is it that *not* overeating like a gluttonous pig

is good for the body?

-katja

At 12:11 PM 5/20/2004, you wrote:

> >> Part of his woman's longetivity might have been the " famine " part

>though. It seems that " not eating enough " really does help animals and

>people live longer, intermittent fasting.

>

>I have wondered about that before: can you gain the purported benefits of

>undereating (ie, longer life) through *intermittent* undereating, as in

>going through occasional fasting periods? Periodic fasting has a lot of

>benefits, and I wonder if it isn't just the cleansing aspect that lengthens

>life, so that one doesn't have to constantly be deprived of " enough. "

[Guest guest]

>i have to wonder about the whole fasting thing. is it really that fasting

>is good for the body, or is it that *not* overeating like a gluttonous pig

>is good for the body?

>

>-katja

It's an interesting question. In the feast/fast mice, they fast

one day and eat like gluttonous pigs the next ... and live much

longer than any other mice (including the ones that are always

calorie restricted). No one knows why exactly, but they think

the stress of fasting triggers some repair mechanisms.

I've been doing it for some time now, eating little during

the day and eating whatever I want at night (the Warrior Diet)

and it's made an immense difference in my body ... I look

and feel younger, and skinnier, and my remaining digestive

issues just kind of went away. Given that before I could

not go more than 3 hours without literally fainting from hunger,

it's kind of amazing. But I'm not sure of all the mechanisms

involved .... I'd guess there are lots of them. I think just

letting the digestive tract *rest* for some time helps,

also letting the body use up the glycogen, or maybe the body

is just adapted for not eating all the time (which would be

fairly abnormal in nature, there aren't dishes of food laying

around waiting for you to eat all the time).

But I have to say that I enjoy going without food (no cooking)

part of the time, and I enjoy pigging out too. I guess l like

extremes!

-- Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

> >> Part of his woman's longetivity might have been the " famine "

part

> though. It seems that " not eating enough " really does help animals

and

> people live longer, intermittent fasting.

>

> I have wondered about that before: can you gain the purported

benefits of

> undereating (ie, longer life) through *intermittent* undereating,

as in

> going through occasional fasting periods?

If you're a rat you certainly can, so probably for humans too. More

importantly, calorie restriction depresses reproductive function and

growth, while intermittant fasting to my knowledge doesn't. Calorie

restriction doesn't *hurt* those capacities, it just " turns them off. "

>Periodic fasting has a lot of

> benefits, and I wonder if it isn't just the cleansing aspect that

lengthens

> life, so that one doesn't have to constantly be deprived

of " enough. "

It also protects neurons from excitotoxicity, possibly by increasing

beta ketoglutarate, but also by some other unknown mechanism, lowers

fasting blood glucose, increases insulin sensitivity, and, when

combined with periodic overeating, raises IGF-1 levels while

simultaneously protecting against cancer.

Chris

[Guest guest]

> i have to wonder about the whole fasting thing. is it really that

fasting

> is good for the body, or is it that *not* overeating like a

gluttonous pig

> is good for the body?

It's quite definitely fasting, because overeating is GOOD for the

body. Rats shows the same benefits of calorie restriction when on

intermittant feeding schedules, and they naturally eat TWICE as much

on their eating days than they would on a normal day. Yet they

benefit even more than calorie restricted rats.

Chris

[Guest guest]

>It also protects neurons from excitotoxicity, possibly by increasing

>beta ketoglutarate, but also by some other unknown mechanism, lowers

>fasting blood glucose, increases insulin sensitivity, and, when

>combined with periodic overeating, raises IGF-1 levels while

>simultaneously protecting against cancer.

>

>Chris

Plus the " periodic overeating " part is so much FUN ... !

After watching every meal portion for years and years

it's a blast to just eat a big pile of steak and potatoes til I'm full.

-- Heidi Jean