
Diet that mimics fasting appears to slow aging - jhartmann
http://news.usc.edu/82959/diet-that-mimics-fasting-appears-to-slow-aging/
======
hathawsh
The authors disclosed they have equity in a company called L-Nutra, which
intends to sell diet food packs:

[http://www.l-nutra.com/index.php/products/prolon](http://www.l-nutra.com/index.php/products/prolon)

Nothing for sale yet, but hopefully the price will be competitive with do-it-
yourselfers. I am cautiously optimistic about this direction.

~~~
shanev
An easy way to fast frequently is to just skip breakfast everyday. Then you
automatically get a 16+ hour fast and keep your eating to a short window
during the day. This helps kick in autophagy [1], a process whereby our cells
repair themselves; a garbage collector for our body if you will. This is most
likely the process the scientists are observing as slowed down aging. It's not
really a foreign topic as there's 397 published papers on autophagy on PubMed.
No fancy hyphenated diet products needed.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autophagy)

~~~
hliyan
I've been doing this for quite a while and it works great for me. It's 1:30PM
here and all I've had so far:

1\. a cup of milked tea in the morning

2\. a chicken salad for lunch

My dinner will be slightly heavier (usually low carb) and will be before
8:00pm. Throw in 2 more cups of tea and that's my day.

It took me a _very gradual_ tapering off of caloric intake lasting over a year
to get to a point where I can do this without actually feeling hungry. My body
weight is constant (so I know I'm not at a deficit) and I take vitamin
supplements (to cover the proportional loss of micro-nutrient due to cutting
down on food).

Once a week I have a pig-out day when I usually drink a lot of beer and eat
steak, pork chops or something along those lines.

~~~
hyperpallium
Vitamin supplements are generally in a form that is more difficult to absorb;
for long-term health, I'd consider including foods with high vitamin content.

~~~
cygnus1
Exactly. I've been using Ambronite instead of Soylent to get my vitamins as
well as calories from real food ingredients but in a liquid form.

------
Rainymood
I currently intermittent fast by skipping breakfast + lunch, partially because
I'm lazy, partially because it allows me to easily eat 'all my calories' in
the end of the day. I really like this as it provides a 'buffer' for
unexpected food, such as random cake, or random lunches with colleagues etc.

Has anyone here actually ever TRIED fasting a full 24h day? I have. I HATED
it. Well, the fasting itself wasn't that bad, however, the next day my body
went FULL berserk mode and I literally couldn't stop myself from eating. It
was really weird and I never had such strong biological urges. That's when I
decided I'd just stick to fasting until 5 pm when I eat diner.

~~~
heimatau
The first three days of 24 hour day fasts are (:edited:) mostly painful.
Headaches, migraines, agitation, etc. They are not fun nor for the faint of
heart. I'd suggest a five day, if you body can allow it. Days four through ten
can be the most rewarding. This is all based on personal experience/opinion.

~~~
__z
Detoxing from what? Personally, my liver and kidneys pretty well no matter
what I am eating (or not).

~~~
heimatau
Your body is digesting food that remained in your intestines and also fat
deposits. Toxins are in the fat and removing undigested food can have a
liberating affect.

~~~
letstryagain
Undigested food does not stay in your intestines and neither does any toxins.

Can you name any of the toxins?

~~~
heimatau
'Toxins' could be a poor word choice on my part. There are things, within fat,
that disrupt our body's ability to function. It could just be 'its bad fat'
that was ingested by a poor diet.

~~~
letstryagain
You think there are pieces of fat getting stuck in your digestive system?

------
reasonattlm
There is much more background info on Longo and his work on intermittent
fasting if you go digging. More interesting than this particular piece, which
is very short on context and science relating to the study of intermittent
fasting, calorie restriction as adjuvant cancer therapy, immune regeneration
via fasting, etc.

[http://gero.usc.edu/faculty/longo/](http://gero.usc.edu/faculty/longo/)

[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/uosc-
fts06021...](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-06/uosc-
fts060214.php)

[http://michelsonmedical.org/2014/12/26/igf-1-fasting-
discuss...](http://michelsonmedical.org/2014/12/26/igf-1-fasting-discussion-
valter-longo/)

[http://news.usc.edu/58074/wanted-a-recipe-for-
longevity/](http://news.usc.edu/58074/wanted-a-recipe-for-longevity/)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25498742](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25498742)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25498743](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25498743)

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25549805](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25549805)

~~~
tosseraccount
Can you tl;dr , please.

Does adjuvant therapy in the form of fasting affect survival in clinical
trials in cancer patients?

Is this proven and accepted?

~~~
reasonattlm
Sure. It's a thing. See this:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815756/)

"Proven" is of course a continuum rather than a binary state. There's plenty
of evidence to suggest that calorie restriction and fasting are beneficial
across the board, and in cancer, and specifically as adjuvants. Getting that
past the FDA as an official approved treatment is still ongoing, I believe.
Most likely because "eating less" is not attached to "we can make a huge
amount of money charging for this" so who is going to pay for all the studies
and data that the FDA wants? One of Longo's innovations is to have found a way
to make that happen within the system, I think.

More:

[https://www.google.com/webhp?#q=cancer%20%22dietary%20restri...](https://www.google.com/webhp?#q=cancer%20%22dietary%20restriction%22)

~~~
tosseraccount
The evidence is weak.

In those patients whose cancer progression could be assessed, fasting did not
prevent the chemotherapy-induced reduction of tumor volume or tumor markers.
Although the 10 cases presented here suggest that fasting in combination with
chemotherapy is feasible, safe, and has the potential to ameliorate side
effects caused by chemotherapies, they are not meant to establish practice
guidelines for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Only controlled-randomized
clinical trials will determine the effect of fasting on clinical outcomes
including quality of life and therapeutic index.

------
krmmalik
Appropriate article since I just completed a fast of 19hrs. No water and no
food. Muslims do this every year. Last year, on average our fast was just over
18hrs. We fast each day from sunrise to sunset for 30days. Of course, we as a
group of people have been doing it for over a thousand years. Cant say we
started it due to science, but cant say we noticed the lack of aging either.
;)

~~~
bradleyjg
This is a really interesting comment. It's a sort of natural experiment. I
wonder if there's any observational studies on the effect of Ramadan fasting
on health. Religious Jews do some fasting, but they are two 25 hour fasts and
a few other 12 hour fasts all spread throughout the year.

~~~
Guest1827
There's nothing but muslims' so called studies on health benefits of islamic
fasting. Islamic fasting may be anything but healthy. It goes like this: wake
up in the middle of the night. Eat yourself full and maybe more. Sleep. Wake
up. Don't eat or drink anything until the sun goes down. Eat yourself full and
maybe more. Sleep until the next cycle begins. Putting on more unhealthy
weight during and after ramadan is not rare.

Drinking water is forbidden until the sun comes down and the fasting is over
for the day, and in summer, excessive dehydration is fatal.

Also
[http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Adverse_Effects_of_Islamic_Fasting](http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Adverse_Effects_of_Islamic_Fasting)

~~~
krmmalik
Did you create a brand new, anonymous account just to leave this comment? A
bit strange and suspect. Wikiislam is not an authentic source of information

------
jhartmann
The paper in Cell Metabolism is here: [http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(15)0...](http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131\(15\)00224-7)

~~~
zdw
Contents of the diet are on this PDF:

[http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131(1...](http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131\(15\)00224-7)

 _The human fasting mimicking diet (FMD) program is a plant-based diet program
designed to attain fasting-like effects while providing micronutrient
nourishment (vitamins, minerals, etc.) and minimize the burden of fasting. It
comprises proprietary vegetable-based soups, energy bars, energy drinks, chip
snacks, chamomile flower tea, and a vegetable supplement formula tablet.

The human FMD diet consists of a 5 day regimen: day 1 of the diet supplies
~1,090 kcal (10% protein, 56% fat, 34% carbohydrate), days 2–5 are identical
in formulation and provide 725 kcal (9% protein, 44% fat, 47% carbohydrate)._

~~~
themgt
It really shouldn't be allowed to publish science without the underlying data
regarding what you did - barely any of that list gives much hint as to actual
ingredients.

That said, this conforms to a lot of previous research regarding fasting, and
so it's a reasonable assumption that if you did a once-monthly 5 day fast at
33% of normal calorie intake, composed of a mix of nutrient/vitamin-dense
plants and herbs, you would see similar benefits.

In reality this should just be your normal diet - eat lots of plants, add a
reasonable amount of healthy meat (i.e. not a kilo of red meat a day). Limit
simple carbohydrates, especially sugar. Keep calories reasonably low (which
will happen naturally because you'll feel full & satisfied).

~~~
bjt
> In reality this should just be your normal diet

Maybe the proportions, but not the total amounts. 725 calories per day is way
too low on a long term basis.

~~~
themgt
Completely agreed - I do think the fasting studies suggest you should find
some way to integrate that into your diet, and the easiest way is likely
intermittently, trying to space out and decrease your eating in reasonable
ways, e.g. taking consistent 12-20 hour breaks between large meals, spending a
few days a month on a 1/3 normal caloric intake, etc.

You don't need to keep yourself in a low-calorie state, but it's important to
enter that state to some degree, on some number of occasions, to get your body
to kick off the internal processes of autophagy and renewal that result in a
variety of benefits, to healthspan even moreso than lifespan.

------
stevebmark
Ketosis also "mimics fastings", the main metabolic difference being
nutritional ketosis is 0.5 - 3 mmol/L, while fasting is 3 - 5 mmol/L
(betahydroxybuterate in the serum). The benefits of ketosis may also add
longevity, possibly with similar mechanisms to fasting. It's likely
intermittent fasting put the subjects of the study into mild ketosis.

Bottom line: Ketosis may have benefits similar to fasting in terms of aging,
but without having to fast :)

~~~
exelius
Can confirm, keto diets burn weight like a motherfucker. They're also
reasonably easy to maintain, since it's pretty easy to order a cheeseburger
without a bun and eat it with a knife and fork. Also, bacon and avocado are a
delicious combination, and keto says they are ok. I dropped 40 lbs in under 6
months on a keto diet, and built muscle while doing it.

But I had to stop the keto diet because it makes me stupid when I'm on it. I'm
not talking the "keto fog" that you experience for a few days when your body
is adjusting; operating in extended ketosis for me correlated with a marked
decline in mental capacity. I went from being a rockstar knowledge worker to
someone who couldn't do simple arithmetic. And my mental faculties would
return within an hour if I ate a bagel.

Ketones (what your body burns for energy when there are no sugars available)
don't penetrate to the brain, so your body produces sugars from protein
through gluconeogenesis, but it wasn't really enough to keep me functioning at
100%. Also, you don't want to be frequently transitioning in/out of ketosis;
it gives you horrible headaches.

~~~
hrehhf
> Ketones (what your body burns for energy when there are no sugars available)
> don't penetrate to the brain

[0] says that this is false. Ketones do go into the brain and the brain does
use them for fuel.

[0][http://proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/05/22/metabolism-and-
ket...](http://proteinpower.com/drmike/2007/05/22/metabolism-and-ketosis/)

~~~
exelius
I believe you -- most of what I know about keto I found on reddit so I treat
it with a grain of salt. But I also know how it made me feel, and I can't do
the diet and hold down the job I currently have.

~~~
stevebmark
Ketosis takes at minimum two weeks to adapt to. For some, up to two months. It
specifically takes this long because your brain has to switch to using the
BOHB for its main fuel source (up to 66% of energy, perhaps higher). The
remaining 33% is still glucose (other bodily functions still need glucose to
perform, such as the creation of tears), and can usually be supplied by
gluconeogenesis from the liver.

I understand the urge is great to talk about science exploration, but if your
only source is reddit, you can easily accidentally propagate misinformation.
Likely someone walked away from your post thinking that the brain will fail on
ketosis because it doesn't have glucose (which is actually a common myth heard
from physicians). They will never read this reply. I would highly encourage
you to read a complete book before even attempting ketosis, otherwise you
won't have the motivation and understanding of the changes in your body to
make it worth your time.

If you want something light, read Keto Clarity. If you want a dense but
approachable medical perspective, read The Art And Science of Low Carbohydrate
Living. I've been in nutritional ketosis approaching a year, and I wouldn't
recommend it to anyone who hasn't done their research on it.

------
ohitsdom
RadioLab did an interesting story on how fasting (or living through famines)
impacts your children and grandchildren with significant health boosts.

[http://www.radiolab.org/story/251885-you-are-what-your-
grand...](http://www.radiolab.org/story/251885-you-are-what-your-grandpa-
eats/)

------
toufique
Appropriate article for the first day of Ramadan.

------
tkyjonathan
There have been studies that prove that reducing meat consumption is the main
benefit of fasting for slowing down ageing and that fasting has many negative
psychological effects. If you eat foods with low amounts of the amino acids
methionine and leucine, you could significantly reduce age-related diseases
and the risk for certain cancers.
[http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/06/11/exploiting-autophagy-
to...](http://nutritionfacts.org/2015/06/11/exploiting-autophagy-to-live-
longer/)

------
kazinator
The connection between longevity and caloric intake has been studied in mice:

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3958810](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3958810)
[1986!]

 _" Mice from groups 3-6 [restricted intake] exhibited mean and maximal life
spans 35-65% greater than for group 1 and 20-40% greater than for group 2.
Mice from group 6 [most restricted intake] lived longest of all."_ Brackets
mine.

~~~
Retric
Oddly enough with people being slightly overweight seems to increase lifespan
at least when looking at actuary tables.

There are a lot of possible factors that may be involved. From changing
behaviors, lifestyle, lack of disease, larger buffer before weight loss
becomes an issue etc.

Edit: It should be noted that this still a fairly low BMI compared to most
middle aged Americans.

~~~
carbocation
Interestingly, the same does not hold for overweight people who are diabetic:
[http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1304501](http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1304501)

~~~
Retric
It's important to take that study in context. From the abstract: _The relation
between body weight and mortality among persons with type 2 diabetes remains
unresolved, with some studies suggesting decreased mortality among overweight
or obese persons as compared with normal-weight persons (an “obesity
paradox”)._ [edit: In point of fact all studies are best taken in context.]

Considering diet is so important for managing the disease being light weight
is probably correlated with a greater focus on health.

That said, it seems likely that reducing weight would have a net positive
impact on heath and it's other risk factors which are being improved.

------
revelation
What was the research plan here? We want to investigate a diets impact on
aging? What are the negative results then?

These are two extraordinarily complex, intertwined topics that to come up with
a hypothesis like this on the limited evidence ends up appearing to be just a
random search for correlations, terminating once you find one that has the
right _p_ value.

~~~
jhartmann
This builds on some earlier work where the Authors investigated Intermittent
water fasting on Chemotherapy recipients and found that their immune systems
regenerated better. This paper appears to have found a way to mimic some of
the effects on their previous protocol with something that is safer to do. The
earlier paper is here: [http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-
cell/abstract/S1934-5909(14)00...](http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-
cell/abstract/S1934-5909\(14\)00151-9)

------
vannevar
Before you take _any_ diet science story seriously, read this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9714985](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9714985)
. It's sadly easy to generate 'significant' results and get them published if
you want to.

------
spectrum1234
Stuff like this way more obvious if you start to think about it. Is putting
your body in a safe bubble to live optimal? Does nurture always beat nature?
Of course not. Some amount of stress and physical challenge MUST be optimal
(defined as reduce aging). What USC just did here is pick a solid guess in the
range of fairly optimal.

For the fasting parameter, (of many to choose from that cause stress or
physical challenge) again with heuristics, we can first drill down to a sub-
parameter of "being fairly hungry". Given the previous logic, this variable
must be a component of slowing aging.

Now if you had to guess from 1 day to 50 days or even 250 days, what would you
guess is the optimal time of "being fairly hungry" to reduce aging? Mostly
people would probably guess 2-10 days using the heuristics of "one day is just
too little to have an effect" and "15+ days just cant be safe for you body."

I'm surprised I hadn't heard about a study like this before. What I am not
surprised by is that the _optimal_ range is right in the middle of the optimal
range from simple heuristics.

The next heuristic you can tack on is timing between fasts. Using the same
logic you will get very close to the timing between fasts USC is suggests.

------
rdl
I'm curious if the health benefits of IF or moderate IF overwhelm the health
detriment of appetite suppressant medications (e.g. amphetamines), in moderate
doses.

------
dschiptsov
Each and every Eastern religion emphasised fasting - Hindu and Muslims and
Buddhists know the benefits of it.

Basically it means less burden, less load to the system (we are a system) and,
as a by-product, the exercise of self-control, which is the key to personal
success (delayed gratification and related concepts).

Thinking about tribal eating habits, one could realize that there is no single
"right" diet, but a pepper set of habits of moderate austerity in consumption
and sticking to simple, unprocessed, traditional (evolved according with local
food sources) dishes.

To put it simply - conditioned by media overconsumption of processed junk food
is the cause of suffering and a major contribution to ageing.

------
voidlogic
Previously it has been found that eating a ketogenic diet (<20g carbs/day for
most, adq. protien, most cals from fat) mimics long term caloric restriction-
And, at least to me, that sounds much more appealing that eating a severe
calorie deficient...

I lost 40 lbs on keto eating mostly (by volume) non-carby veggies and mostly
(by calories) fat, along with 80-120g of protein per day. I'd really like to
see their complex diet tested against a well formulated ketogenic diet.

~~~
throwaway12309
ok, since this is posted here every freaking time there is an article about
dieting in HN, let me stress this out:

A Ketogenic diet (per the actual medical definition and not from fitness
gurus) is not low carb, adequate protein and high fat. it is high fat, little
to no carbs and low protein. From medical recommendations, calories from fat
should be in the 85-90% range. Most of the articles you read about the
benefits of ketogenic diet is the MEDICAL definition and not the fitness
definition.

Also, protein as a nutrient creates a similar insulin response as carbs.

(nothing against keto diets, but they just seem to be the hip diet of the
moment and annoys me when this keeps being stated)

~~~
voidlogic
>Also, protein as a nutrient creates a similar insulin response as carbs.

If you look at graphs comparing them you will see protein is greatly blunted
compared to carbs.

The body being in ketosis is primarily medicated by the availability of liver
glycogen, temporarily insulin spikes will at worst only pause ketosis. Protein
can be converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis, but (compared to felines) the
human body can't do much of this and its usually only an issue if someone
exceeds the standard recommendation of 0.8g of protein per lbs of lean body
mass by x2 or more.

Any diet that keeps your ketones high, ie keeps you in ketosis (assuming you
are healthy) is a ketogenic diet by the scientific definition.

~~~
CuriouslyC
Actually, it depends on the protein. In particular, proteins rich in the amino
acid Leucine (such as whey) are actually more insulinogenic calorie for
calorie than white bread.

~~~
voidlogic
I was referring the blood glucose, that is what matters. Insulin spikes are
short term in regards to their effects on ketosis and can be useful for
nutritional transport and promoting anabolism while on a ketogenic diet.

------
brador
What was the diet?

~~~
hathawsh
It looks like the diet was ProLon:
[http://www.l-nutra.com/index.php/products/prolon](http://www.l-nutra.com/index.php/products/prolon)

~~~
willlma
And what's in it? I can't find a specific diet plan anywhere.

------
tosseraccount
Haven't they known this for a long time?

[http://jn.nutrition.org/content/31/3/363.full.pdf](http://jn.nutrition.org/content/31/3/363.full.pdf)

APPARENT PROLONGATION OF THE LIFE SPAN OF RATS BY INTERMITTENT FASTING

by ANTON J. CARLSON AND FREDERICK HOELZEL Department of Physiology, University
of Chicago, Chkago (Received for publication October 4, 1945 )

~~~
jerf
HN has carried news about fasting before, but this the first science article
I've seen about a _diet_ , i.e., food being eaten, that appears to mimic the
benefits of fasting without actually fasting. That's a _way_ easier sell for
people, and also a way easier sell for doctors prescribing this to people who
may be on the edge for other reasons and unable to sustain a true no-food
fast.

(As long as I'm commenting, I complained a couple of days ago about how I'm
very strongly willing to bet now that the "standard" diet is really quite bad,
but that I'm far weaker on what a _good_ diet is. This is the sort of thing I
mean... how useful is fasting? Can we simulate the results without having to
pay as many costs? How does fasting integrate with a low-carb/low-glycemic-
index/whatever-else-you-like diet? What's the biochemical mechanisms at play
here? Can we use those mechanisms any other way? There's so, _so_ much
fantastic and useful work to be done here, and instead we spent nearly 50
years re-running the same damned studies over and over again, _wrong_. ("Are
eggs good for you? Are eggs good for you? Are eggs good for you? Are eggs good
for you? I propose to study the question of whether eggs are good for you,
give me half a million dollars...."))

~~~
erkkie
Eggs are good your you, eat them (laterish) in the morning with not too much
carbs and possibly reap the benefits of fasting as well :)

------
rmoyer
This study is definitely leading up to an FDA (they hope) approved, marketable
diet. The actual study does give some hints at what the diet is comprised of,
"to last 5 days every month and to provide between 34% and 54% of the normal
caloric intake with a composition of at least 9%–10% proteins, 34%–47%
carbohydrates, and 44%–56% fat". ... but reading further one finds this
section: "Human Diet The human fasting mimicking diet (FMD) program is a
plant-based diet program designed to attain fasting-like effects while
providing micronutrient nourishment (vitamins, minerals, etc.) and minimize
the burden of fasting. It comprises proprietary vegetable-based soups, energy
bars, energy drinks, chip snacks, chamomile flower tea, and a vegetable
supplement formula tablet (Table S4). The human FMD diet consists of a 5 day
regimen: day 1 of the diet supplies 1,090 kcal (10% protein, 56% fat, 34%
carbohydrate), days 2–5 are identical in formulation and provide 725 kcal (9%
protein, 44% fat, 4

~~~
rmoyer
Forgot to add the link. Sorry.

Here is the full text of their pseudo-scientific research:
[http://bit.ly/1MRWyhv](http://bit.ly/1MRWyhv)

I used bitly.com to shorten this link, and it takes you to a page that begins
to download the pdf file associated.

For those worried about the link, here is the full version of the link:
[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCgQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cell.com%2Fcell-
metabolism%2FpdfExtended%2FS1550-4131\(15\)00224-7&ei=tx2EVfycBoGjsAW89IOICw&usg=AFQjCNGFlPxmPfOvLteOC804KZ-
cCfvb8g&bvm=bv.96042044,d.b2w)

------
tim333
I was annoyed the article didn't actually say what the diet was. Anyway from
the Telegraph report of the same story:

Day one of the diet comprises:

10 per cent protein, 56 per cent fat and 34 per cent carbohydrate, making
1,090 calories

Days two to five:

Nine per cent protein, 44 per cent fat and 47 per cent carbohydrate making 725
calories

------
ajarmst
Sigh. The plural of anecdote is not data, rodent studies are useful but only
relevant for designing proper human studies (not replacing them), and any
aging "study" that works with a few dozen subjects over a few months is not
science but marketing.

------
subpixel
If you're interested, I highly recommend giving this a watch:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lxyzc/horizon-201220...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01lxyzc/horizon-20122013-3-eat-
fast-and-live-longer)

(If you're not in the UK, connecting via VPN works).

Twice a week fasting, where I eat a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit and
nothing else but coffee all day, has been working really well for me.
Surprisingly, I've found I'm totally able to run a few miles on my fasting
days to boot.

------
ams6110
Anecdotally, when I was a kid I had goldfish at one point. I noticed that if
they were fed daily they didn't live very long. If they were fed once or twice
a week they seemed to live forever.

~~~
novaleaf
i too remember that, but for some kind of tropical almost-transparent
freshwater fish. Their lifespan was supposed to be about 2 years, but we fed
it once a week and it lived perhaps 7 years, until it jumped out of a bowl and
suffocated while we were cleaning it's tank!

------
codexjourneys
I've seen this claim several times in connection with different studies. I
believe the hugest benefits apply to organisms that eat a restricted number of
calories for all or most of their lifespan.

And it's probably not only the number of calories, but also the quality of
food that matters. Nutrient-dense, low-calorie diets could be worth a try, but
how long could you stick with them?

Giant page of research:
[http://qualitycounts.com/fpcalorie.html](http://qualitycounts.com/fpcalorie.html)

------
snthpy
A lot of the pathways that are mentioned here in the comments were discussed
at the "Interventions to Slow Aging in Humans: Are We Ready?" conference in
Italy in 2013 that Valter Longo from the article was also part of. They
reviewed the different pathways and summarised them here:

[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.12338/full](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acel.12338/full)

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Mitchhhs
This has been known for a long time. The big question is whether this can
actually work in humans. Rhesus Monkey's have shown some promising results,
but the evidence is conflicting. I also wrote an article recently on this and
other forms of lifespan extension: [http://mitchkirby.com/2015/06/02/can-we-
live-forever/](http://mitchkirby.com/2015/06/02/can-we-live-forever/)

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usaphp
I don't know every time I skip a meal for 8+ hours since waking up in the
morning I get a terrible headache and become mad at everybody around me, not
sure if it's just me or everybody who fastens have those symptoms. But when I
eat breakfast and lunch I can go on without food till 4-5 am with no issues at
all

~~~
akamaka
I'm sure it's different for everyone, because I sometimes just don't feel like
eating much for a couple days.

It makes sense to me, because some of our ancestors might have had only an
itermittant supply of food, while others might have been accustomed to eating
several times a day.

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guard-of-terra
Can we have this in a pill? Science telling me to go fasting is same as if
science told me to go walk instead of providing an automobile.

I know that it sounds unpositive but telling people how to live didn't work
for the last 2000 years, probably more. They fail at this always. But giving
them tools help a lot.

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dzhiurgis
Any chance this could be related to this?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome#Clinical_charac...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laron_syndrome#Clinical_characteristics)

I remember hearing about this in some BBC Horizon show.

------
erkkie
The article in question [http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(15)0...](http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131\(15\)00224-7)

------
fasteo
On the mechanistic side of things, it seems that fasting, among other things,
cause a mild mitochondrial uncoupling[1]. This uncoupling seems the main
reason for the extended life span[2]

If we give some credit to this hypothesis then yes, we will have a pill to
slow down aging. It can go from a simple aspirin[3] (baby-aspirin anyone?), to
the dangerous DNP in a low-dose, controlled release formulation[4], the novel
cationic uncouplers [5], or the safe mitoBHT [6].

That said, you can just get a cold shower every morning[7]

I am even researching this area to treat my primary mitochondrial
disfuntion[8]

[1] In simple terms, it means that the mitochondria generates less energy in
the form of ATP and more energy as heat.

[2]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21483800](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21483800)

[3]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC316328/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC316328/)

[4]
[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-789X.2001....](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-789X.2001.00043.x/abstract)

[5]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26071782](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26071782)

[6]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267406/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2267406/)

[7]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18335051](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18335051)

[8]
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21275885](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21275885)

------
ziyadparekh
What was the actual diet ?

~~~
erkkie
From TFA ([http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(15)0...](http://www.cell.com/cell-
metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131\(15\)00224-7)): The development of the human
diet took into account feasibility (e.g., high adherence to the dietary
protocol) and therefore was designed to last 5 days every month and to provide
between 34% and 54% of the normal caloric intake with a composition of at
least 9%–10% proteins, 34%–47% carbohydrates, and 44%–56% fat.

------
eclipxe
Another strong recommendation for Ketosis/keto diet. Only thing that I've been
able to lose weight with long term.

------
piyushpr134
Hello from India, We know this since vedic times i.e. about 1750 to 500BC.

Thank you!

------
ommunist
Just stick to porridge. And an apple a day keeps diet sellers away.

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marvel_boy
It worked (supposedly) in mice, not in humans. The title is misleading.

~~~
__z
Did you read the whole thing?

"In a pilot human trial, three cycles of a similar diet given to 19 subjects
once a month for five days decreased risk factors and biomarkers for aging,
diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer with no major adverse side
effects, according to Longo."

~~~
thomasrossi
You don't eat, so you don't stuff your cardiovascular system with fat, nothing
new there (and if your problem is not genetic diabetes, then you are good to
go against diabetes that way too). Also for the aging, digestion is a pretty
intensive biochemical procedure, I am sure your tissues may like some rest
from time to time, nothing new there either.

What is not mentioned is that other biochemical pathways are triggered by
starving, for instance, you digest your own muscular tissues. This may or may
not be what you want. So basically you are avoiding some biochemical machinery
just to trigger another.. balacing it looks sort of difficult and for sure
picking 5 days in a month looks pretty random, I will wait the try different
timings at least;P

~~~
erkkie
I hope you're not trying to make the age-old (and proven by current research
wrong) sentiment that eating fat "stuffs it in your cardiovascular system".
Please do notice the study diet in question was relatively high in fat (9%–10%
proteins, 34%–47% carbohydrates, and 44%–56% fat.)

~~~
thomasrossi
err.. yes, I am stating that, and the only research I am aware of which sort
of helps your point is that our intestine does not absorb more than some fat.
It really depends how much in detail we want to go, I can give you the stats
if you like
([http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2692399/](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2692399/)
this is a pretty referenced one).

My point anyway was that they are only proving obvious facts: "when you don't
eat -> obvious facts". It could have been interesting if they studied
different starving period because 5 days in a month looks random. They should
compare 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - etc and see what works best. Thanks science for you
method (and I am not saying anything on the diet composition)

