[HN Gopher] Science of Fasting
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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.
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(page generated 2022-05-04 23:00 UTC)