
The Fasting Cure Is No Fad - paulsutter
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fasting-cure-is-no-fad-11564676512?mod=rsswn
======
brayhite
I'm about 6 hours away from ending a 5 day fast. I can't confirm all of the
benefits from the article (I'm neither a diabetic, spiritual person, nor
suffering from cancer), but I can attest to the power of the final quote in
the article: "'Anyone can reach his goals if he can think, if he can wait, if
he can fast.'”

Two main takeaways I've gained from fasting (I've done multiple 24 hour fasts
prior to this 5 day one):

1\. You don't need to eat nearly as often as you think. Hunger pangs are
usually just food cravings, and drinking lots and lots of water, water you
should probably be drinking anyway, will mask them more easily than one would
expect.

2\. The successful self-deprivation of food (in a healthy, reasonable way) and
the almost exclusively positive benefits that it brings makes you wonder how
much of an economic and nationwide health impact the USA would see if everyone
practiced some form of fasting.

~~~
agent008t
I struggle to gain weight (always have), and fasting sounds incredibly easy to
me - all you have to do is _not do_ something. On the other hand, eating to
gain weight if you have no/little appetite is hard work - you actually have to
take the time to _do_ it.

Is there a relatively easy way to boost one's appetite? Drinking a gallon of
full fat milk a day on top of one's usual meals is the easiest option I have
found, but even that is a lot of hard work.

~~~
vonmoltke
> Drinking a gallon of full fat milk a day on top of one's usual meals is the
> easiest option I have found

That's actually part of Mark Rippetoe's bulking diet. It's apparently the best
combination of calorie density and beneficial nutrients. There's a section on
diet on _Starting Strength_ , if you are interested.

~~~
dondawest
Never thought I’d see the day when Dr. Fraud Rippetoe gets recommended on HN.
That guy is overweight and out of shape and his lifting advice injures 99%+ of
people who take it. Tread lightly when following the incredibly stupid
teachings of Mark Rippetoe, man.

------
o10449366
I inadvertently started fasting during college due to my class schedule,
living off campus, and not being able to afford eating out. I'm now at a point
in my life where my schedule is more flexible, I'm not spending as much time
commuting, and I can afford to eat out if I choose to, but I've continued to
maintain a one meal a day lifestyle. I don't feel the sensation of hunger
anymore though I still have an appetite. My coworkers get noticeably anxious
and antsy if they don't have their lunch by 11 AM while hunger no longer
affects my ability to concentrate. I've also been able to maintain a healthy
BMI as I age; I'm neither overweight or underweight.

I will say that when I was younger I often wanted a bodybuilder physique, but
I didn't have the discipline to eat enough to support proper muscle growth.
Now I'm just glad I'm not going the seemingly inevitable route of becoming an
overweight middle-aged office worker that morphs into their chair.

Edit: To be clear, I still go to the gym regularly to lift weights and do
cardio even with fasting, but I never have and never will compete in any
bodybuilding competitions (which I'm OK with).

~~~
RobertRoberts
Does the exercising during fasting cause you to feel hunger pangs more
intensely?

~~~
jordan801
I haven't noticed any. I've been intermittent fasting for about two years with
16 hours no eating 8 hours to eat. Occasionally a 24 hour fast. Usually the
most intense hunger pangs occur when I have eaten a lot of carbs the day
prior.

I do weight training and running. Usually after a workout I feel like the
cravings I do have are more manageable. You do need to be careful though. I
wouldn't recommend doing any weight training if you're doing more than a 24
hour fast and if you are weight training while fasting make sure you have a
spotter. At least at first.

------
hn_throwaway_99
I did read the recent research in support of intermittent fasting, but a lot
of the quotes in this article seem like pseudoscience.

> It also reduces the time spent each day processing food and lengthens the
> period devoted to cleansing and restoring the body’s cells, both of which
> have positive health effects.

So "cleansing and restoring" the body's cells only happens when one isn't
eating?? Gonna need a citation for that one.

~~~
Ididntdothis
I think people feel the need to add a scientific explanation to things where
in my view the pure observation that it seems to work would be enough already.
It reminds me a little of Semmelweiss who observed that washing hands reduces
infection rates but was ridiculed because he couldn’t explain it.

When I meditate or fast from time to time I can observe that it makes me feel
better and I don’t really feel the importance for someone to explain it.

~~~
el_cujo
>I think people feel the need to add a scientific explanation to things where
in my view the pure observation that it seems to work would be enough already.

I really could not disagree more, given how much conflicting health
information I see talked about seemingly daily.

~~~
Ididntdothis
Agreed. But if you try something and it shows benefits then you don’t
necessarily need an explanation. For example exercise and mediation done
regularly make me feel better but I don’t really care if it’s endorphins,
hormones or any other mechanism that causes this.

~~~
Retra
For now. But what if it stops working? What if someone else wants the benefit
but can't do the same things? What if there are other undesirable consequences
that you'd like to avoid? Knowing _how_ something works is generally much more
valuable than knowing _that_ it works in the long term.

~~~
Ididntdothis
Sure. It’s good to have people trying to understand things but while they are
findings explanations we can take advantage of the benefits already and don’t
have to wait. I am thinking the same about placebo effects. As long as it
works let’s use it and in parallel make an effort to understand the mechanism.

------
Duhck
I've been doing IF (18:6) for 6 months and OMAD (23:1) for 2 months, while
I've lost a decent amount of weight, slowly but surely, I've mostly plateaued.
I don't weigh myself and I'm very active (ice hockey 3-5 times a week) but
I've noticed a difference in body fat qualitatively.

But... that's not why I am doing it. I've suffered for years from migraines.
2-4 times a week, I've been to half a dozen doctors with no solid
recommendations besides medication.

Now, not only do I take zero medication, but I get migraines about once a
month, and way less severe than I used to. Ive also correlated the migraines
with times followed by poor fasting behavior (for instance, eating all day on
a weekend with family and friends).

I also need less sleep, am less groggy, and have far fewer stomach issues.

Overall its a massively net positive change.

~~~
jakemauer
Do you grind your teeth at night? I used to have severe migraines at least
once a month until I got a night guard from a dentist that prevented grinding.
Now I get a migraine maybe once a year.

I have a guard from a company called NTI. It’s a small piece of acrylic that
sits on my upper front teeth and has a sort of “shelf” that my lower incisors
rest on. This apparently tricks the brain into refusing to clench down because
at a deep level it knows not to bite when it’s incisor on incisor.

I recall reading that this style of night guard, while certainly better than a
whole tooth guard that still allows you to grind but just protects your teeth,
is not great for long term. However I can’t recall why and I need to research
more. In any case I’ve been using mine for over 10 years and I would never go
back to not using it.

Anyway, a bunch of unsolicited info that will maybe help you or anyone
suffering from migraines who stumbles across this post.

~~~
graeme
It can adjust your bite if worn too many hours in a day. Worth asking dentist,
bit prob not serious if worn only during sleep and bite is monitored.

~~~
graeme
I should add I’m thinking specifically of anterior bite planes. Unsure if you
have that or something different.

------
uptownfunk
YAA (Yet another anecdote)

Fasting has changed my life. I put a ton of weight on in B-school (yes not
afraid to admit I went to b school on HN) that plus my consulting lifestyle
(lack of good quality sleep for days at a time) really started to take a toll
on my health (lines and bags under my eyes, poor health and energy levels in
general).

My wife is due with our second in august, so I decided to get in shape as a
gift to my baby girl. I’m not a gym goer, so fasting looked appealing. There’s
so much research around IF, circadian rhythms, effect on anti cancer factors,
autophagy, anti Alzheimer’s, diabetes, etc, definitely a lot more to motivate
people now than before when it was likely for spiritual reasons.

I dropped forty pounds in the last three months, and probably look almost ten
years younger, I feel like my body has almost reversed the damage I did to it
from school and over work. I was addicted to eating and I’ve broken through
that, and now I can just work non stop all day for 12-18 hours as needed,
whereas my colleagues are still fixated on six small meals, which I’ve now
realized is so disruptive to work and concentration. No more after lunch coma,
I haven’t even had to set foot in a gym. I don’t do Omad but will do 48h and
72h fasting, and I feel fine, have not felt a huge drop in muscle that
everyone freaks out about. All in all I will keep going with this fasting
focused lifestyle, and would definitely recommend anyone who is struggling
with this to try it.. first week is toughest, once you break through the
addiction, you won’t even think about it.

~~~
6d6b73
Don't fool yourself thinking that after few weeks or even months of
dieting/fasting you've broken the addiction. That was my mistake the first
time I began IF.. after 8 months I decided that eating normally for a few
weeks will not change anything.. 10 months later I'm back at my pre-diet
weight trying to restart the whole process again.

~~~
uptownfunk
Great advice, thanks! Yes for me it’s committing to weight myself everyday (at
least for the next year or two) and adjusting the fasting protocol if the
weight starts to go out of normal range.

------
mcculley
Another anecdote, but others might find it useful: I have been doing
intermittent fasting for years now. I currently eat once per day. My eating
window is usually an hour or less. I eat dinner, have dessert, go to bed. I
run five miles every morning on an empty stomach. During the day I drink only
water and I put an electrolyte fizzy tablet in my first glass.

It works great for me for maintaining my energy level and managing my weight.
It probably does not work for everybody, but I think more people should try
it.

Most humans currently living and who have lived didn't eat three meals every
day. It's a recent phenomenon driven by those marketing food and snacks.
Observing obesity rates, more people should try hunger and learn how to manage
it.

I should add: I do occasionally have breakfast and lunch meetings or social
engagements at which I feel compelled to eat or have a treat. I find that once
I break my fast for the day, my hunger is awakened and it is harder to
abstain.

------
oftenwrong
Fasting has a side-benefit of saving lots of time. Less time planning meals.
Less time shopping. Less time preparing food. Less time eating. For me, the
extra N hours a day I save is very noticeable.

I also notice more easily how food is pushed on us. Food advertising is
pervasive. In the city, you cannot even walk 50m without seeing a signboard
enticing you to eat something. Everywhere people are eating, carrying food,
talking about food. When I am in a more natural setting, thoughts about food
come from within. I get hungry, and then I think about eating. If I am not
hungry, I do not think much about eating (aside from having basic food
security). The desire for food is not broadcast to me.

~~~
jgsimmerman
I did the CRON diet in the early 2000s, and our motto was that we eat to live,
rather than living to eat. I don't deliberately restrict calories anymore, but
it gave me a unique perspective in a world of celebrity chefs.

------
evo_9
Mostly I agree with the idea of limited eating to a window of roughly 12
hours; however I disagree with skipping breakfast.

I never use to eat breakfast until a recent hockey injury where I damaged 6
teeth including losing 2. My weight dropped rapidly because I couldn't eat
solids so I started to eat eggs and tofu a lot (mostly eggs). The byproduct of
all this was I would wake up so hungry I was dizzy so I started having 3 eggs
for breakfast.

I'm mostly over the injury now (still waiting for the implants to be
implanted), however I've continued to eat a large breakfast and my weight has
remained the same - roughly 20 pounds lower than before the injury. I had
already gotten in the habit of not eating at night, and if I have anything
it's a little bit of yogurt.

Long/short I think it's a mistake to skip breakfast, I had done that for most
of my life and now I'm sharper and more productive in the AM than I have ever
been.

~~~
SkyPuncher
Just an anecdote as proof to the opposite. If I eat breakfast, I ruin my
entire day.

It seems for me digesting a meal early in the day makes me lazy and sleepy. In
high school, I use to eat a very light breakfast to avoid terrible hunger just
before lunch. Even then, I'd get a bit sleepy. As I've gotten older, it just
gets worse.

My solution is to skip breakfast, but eat lunch an hour earlier than most
people.

~~~
t0mbstone
What are you eating for breakfast? Foods that are high in carbs (such as
cereal or pancakes) are often eaten by people, but these are terrible because
they spike your blood sugar (and insulin), and then you have the blood sugar
crash right before lunch.

I had a lot of luck with eating breakfast foods high in fat and protein, like
boiled eggs and bacon. It works best if your body is adapted to a ketogenic
diet, and you avoid carbs in general.

One you are adapted to a ketogenic diet, you will find that you can skip
entire meals without hardly even noticing a reduction in energy. Your blood
sugar will stabilise over time, and you just always have a low and slow burn
of energy.

~~~
SkyPuncher
It really doesn't matter what I eat (I've tried tons of combinations). If it's
anything substantial, it makes me sleepy.

------
amiantos
Gonna join the anecdote club. Before I started doing IF, I had a lot of
stomach problems. I was taking omeprazole and eventually pantoprazole (more
powerful) but still frequently had heartburn overnight and woke up with a
horrible taste in my mouth. I had some bad flareups where I'd wake up puking
bile and felt horrible all day long. Prior to that even I had two endoscopies
and got tested for Crohn's disease (my dad has it, I tested negative). I was
seriously considering that I'd never be able to eat Indian food again (my
favorite!). On top of that, I would get EXTREMELY hangry every day, multiple
times a day.

Then I tried IF.. after just a couple weeks I was able to stop the
pantoprazole and my heartburn problems went away. The first two weeks were
hard, I had a constant dull headache and the hunger at night (I'm 'skipping
dinner' in my 16/8 schedule) was pretty hard. But after I got used to it, I
felt much better over all. No more getting hangry, no more heartburn, no more
trouble sleeping, no more groggy mornings, better mood overall.

It's ridiculous how much food and your eating patterns can affect you. I've
seen it multiple times now when I've 'fallen off the [IF] wagon'... my mood
deteriorates, and often other symptoms come out: headaches, upset stomach, all
sorts of stuff. I don't think it's absurd to think that the stuff you're
putting into your body "for energy" actually has a lot of other affects on
your system.

Oh, and I dropped some of the weight I started gaining in my 30's when I did
IF, too, which is a benefit of course, but not my reason for doing it.

~~~
eterps
Are you able to eat Indian food again? And at what time do you have usually
eat now?

------
mnw21cam
For a diabetes/obesity focus on this point, read anything by Jason Fung. For
instance, "The obesity code" is thoroughly researched and persuasive.

As a diabetes researcher myself, it makes sense. While I do not investigate
type 2, I understand that having a decent stretch of time where the body's
insulin levels drop is a really good thing.

~~~
tvanantwerp
For anyone who wants to go a bit into the weeds, I really enjoyed this episode
of Peter Attia's podcast where he interviewed Jason Fung:
[https://peterattiamd.com/jasonfung/](https://peterattiamd.com/jasonfung/)

------
zachruss92
I've been doing intermittent fasting on and off for years now. In the past few
months, I have become more extreme and am doing OMAD (One Meal a Day). I
typically do a 23/1 fast where I only eat within a 1 hour period (dinner). The
Keto diet + OMAD has enabled me to lose more than 100lbs and keep it off.

I haven't been perfect but I have noticed that it (obviously) has cut my
mindless snacking and has made me more mindful as to what I'm actually eating.
After about a week your body adjusts and you're hungry during the day.

What I've been doing now is during lunch, instead of eating I go for a 30-45
minute walk.

------
outlace
I did an over-the-top version of intermittent fasting for about two months
last year where I would fast (no calories, just water and black coffee/tea)
for at least 24 hours and then would eat normally the following day and then
fast again. So alternating >24 hr fasts with a day normal eating (3 normal
meals).

During this experiment I felt mentally fantastic. Mood was improved. Energy
was higher. Not to mention I spent way less money on food, spent way less time
thinking about or having to find food on my fasting days, and felt more in
control of my hunger.

I tried increasing my fast from 24 hrs to 48 hrs, it went fine. But when I
broke my fast with a large bean rice and cheese burrito, I felt like I was
dying about 30 minutes later (lightheadedness, tachycardia, nausea). Ended up
being hospitalized with refeeding syndrome or something similar, which was
surprising to physicians because they only saw refeeding syndrome (had
critically low phosphate) in people who had gone without significant caloric
intake for weeks or months at a time.

I’ve never been the same since then. I think Ive developed gastrocardiac
syndrome because I frequently (1-2x week) get less severe episodes of nausea,
lightheadedness and tachycardia that generally self resolve but still feels
like I’m dying for about 30 minutes. It’s been about a year now, so seems
somewhat permanent damage.

So, I definitely recommend intermittent fasting but if you have a tendency to
take things to the extreme, just don’t. It’s not worth it.

~~~
mcfunk
Have you heard of POTS? I wonder if electrolyte imbalance was/is driving some
of your symptoms. Doing low-ish carb (nowhere near keto) and IF 18 hours a
day, I have to supplement electrolytes or else I have very similar symptoms to
you. YMMV of course.

~~~
outlace
Yes, that was considered as a possibility, and it still could be. But as the
name suggests (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), there should be
orthostatic tachycardia which I don't have. I just get (as far as I can tell)
random episodes of sinus tachycardia + lightheadedness, which have happened
while being seated. I got an echo and many EKGs that were all normal. I can't
seem to connect the dots on any triggers or things that help. Been trying to
exercise more which does seem to help, but exercise probably helps everything.

------
ambivalence
What they're describing here is close to the popular 16:8 variant of
intermittent fasting. I found that it doesn't really work for weight loss for
me.

Instead, I'm using the Every Other Day Diet variant of intermittent fasting
which arguably is the best researched one. It helped me drop weight
significantly in 2015 with little trouble (details:
[http://lukasz.langa.pl/9/i-lost-26-pounds-
in-3-months/](http://lukasz.langa.pl/9/i-lost-26-pounds-in-3-months/)).

Sadly, since I stopped cycling regularly two years back and dropped the diet a
year ago, I regained what I lost and then some. So I'm back on intermittent
fasting now.

Recommendations based on my experience:

\- weigh yourself daily in the morning, as the very second thing you're doing

\- a Withings scale or similar helps putting this in a database efortlessly
which helps seeing trends

\- observe your moving average of 7 days

\- eat _just_ a light lunch (circa 500 kcal) every other day; it's easy to
skip breakfast knowing there's going to be lunch soon and it's possible to
skip dinner knowing "it's Eat Day tomorrow!"

\- eat what you want on Eat Day _but do it slowly_ , your body will quickly
adapt to your fasts, the stomach will shrink and it's going to be easier to
get full

\- let people know you're losing weight and how, they will probably tell you
you're more grumpy on Non-Eat Days

Good luck!

------
errantmind
Anecdata: I've tried fasting of various kinds over the last few years, both IF
(18:6) and 5-day fasts. Personally, I found great cognitive benefits from
fasting, starting day 3 or 4 in the 5-day fast. That said, I found the most
benefit from:

1\. Maintaining a very low-carb diet (~20 net carbs spread out through the
day, mostly from lemons) which I have sustained for a year so far. I
occasionally cheat but not often as it takes me about 8 days to get back into
ketosis after each cheat and never feels worth it after the fact

2\. Exercising (weight lifting and cardio) 3 times per week

3\. _Never_ eating anything with 'added sweetener', so pretty much no desserts
of any kind. This includes 'neutral' sweeteners with no calories (e.g., monk
fruit). It has been almost 2 years since I have eaten any kind of dessert and
I very rarely miss them at this point

Doing the above, I feel amazing almost every day. I have no known bodily
ailments, never get sick, have sustained energy levels all day, every day, and
am my ideal weight with little fluctuation. The hardest part of sticking to my
rules has been maneuvering through incessant social expectations and demands
to eat particular foods, like breads, desserts, etc.

------
lkrubner
I've written previously of how I got sick after a tick bite, and how I stayed
sick for a very long time, even after taking antibiotics, and how, in the end,
fasting helped bring about a permanent cure:

[http://www.smashcompany.com/philosophy/how-i-recovered-
from-...](http://www.smashcompany.com/philosophy/how-i-recovered-from-lyme-
disease)

------
rconti
I've never fasted, but I HAVE lost 62lbs and counting over the past 18 months
or so. All I've had to do is eat a lot less, and work out a lot more! It's
primarily down to meal tracking, so I know what my inputs and outputs are.
It's easier than ever with apps to do all this stuff, and fitness watches that
can estimate how much you burn in your daily activities and workouts. Once you
start getting that feedback loop of something that works (rather than "I ate
healthy for a few weeks and my weight stayed the same, so fuckit, I give up"),
I find it so much easier.

It's interesting to me that the author proposes skipping breakfast, which is
generally considered to be "the most important meal of the day". Most folks
say your smallest meal should be dinner, but I think for most of us, it's the
biggest. You have more time for it, and you're worn out and hungry from the
day. I do it all wrong; I eat 3 meals a day plus a few snacks, and after
getting off work, doing a workout, going home, showering, prepping dinner, it
seems like it's 9pm before dinner most days, and in bed within 90mins.

I actually did have a period where I probably stuck fairly close to the
proposed schedule; for several years I didn't eat breakfast at all, because I
was too lazy to bother. By 11:45 I'd be aching for food, and annoyed that my
coworkers took forever to decide where to go. I started eating breakfast, and
found that it delayed my hunger pangs by only 15 minutes -- that is to say, it
was a habit, rather than purely food driven.

But I wasn't light back in the days when I was skipping breakfast, and I
didn't gain weight when I started eating breakfast.

I think the key here is that you have to be skipping breakfast intentionally,
as part of a method of restricting ourselves, of being mindful about what you
eat. And you can do that in any number of ways.

------
viburnum
To me at least, food is like chemo, I’ll die without it, but it makes me feel
terrible.

~~~
forthispurpose
I'd love to eat socially once a week and just have a pill on other days

~~~
magic_beans
I can't fathom this. I have a condition that makes me incredibly nauseous and
STILL I long to cook and eat beautiful meals, even though I can barely
tolerate them.

~~~
viburnum
Oh I love to eat too but it always makes me feel like trash.

~~~
magic_beans
Do you have undiagnosed food allergies/sensitivities? Food shouldn't make you
feel like crap.

------
skadamou
I've been curious about intermittent fasting for awhile but I think it's
important to keep in mind what the literature has to tell us. I've linked to a
NCBI article from 2016 which I recognize is a little old but I think it's
worth reading the conclusion section if you are thinking about giving
intermittent fasting a try. I think the jury is still out on whether or not
the "Fasting Cure is No Fad"

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4516560/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4516560/)

------
nazgulnarsil
For those who want to try extended fasting but are worried that this might be
too hardcore, It's helpful to know that the fasting mimicking diet can be
approximated by simply eating ~700 calories (around 16oz) of avocado/guacamole
per day. I often extend a fast by eating avocado. Research suggests that you
extend the benefits of autophagy with less stress.

------
phaedryx
I would recommend reading "The Circadian Code" by Dr. Satchin Panda and
judging for yourself. My takeaway was that it is more than fasting, it is
about getting your body's cycles to sync up (sleep cycle, digestive cycle,
repair cycle, etc.).

Also, I think it is interesting that a lot of religions have a fasting
component.

------
molodec
Fasting has been known for a very long time, and people often practiced it for
religious reasons. Intermittent Fasting is actually a Fad, and don't expect
any magical from it. Some people simply don't eat breakfast, but they don't
call it intermittent fasting. My mother never eats breakfast, simply because
she is not hungry in the morning. She is not super healthy, nor she aged
better than people who do eat breakfast. I also find it funny when people
finish dinner at 8PM, and immediately start tracking fast while they have a
stomach full of food which is not going to fully digest for several hours.
Wait till your food is digested before start tracking your fast.

------
a0-prw
Starting in 2012 I began regular fasting, first with one day a week (36 hours)
and later 2 days a week. My weight went from 95 kg to 70 kg and stayed there
until I got into a bad relationship which devolved into alcohol and stress
(but which was kinda fun as well). I stopped fasting for the 2 years it lasted
and my weight crept up to 85 kg. I've started fasting again (3 days a week)
and it's down below 80 for the first time in a year. I record my weight every
day and have done so since 2012. Fasting works like clockwork for me. I can
predict what my weight will be in 6 weeks (f.ex), depending on how many
fasting days I decide on. I lose between 220 to 230 grams per fast.

------
novaleaf
I do intermittent fasting. Stop eating around 4pm and start eating around 9am.
(no food around 17hrs/day).

The first two weeks are the hardest (hunger pains during fasting hours).
Afterwards, hunger pains still occasionally occur but are a lot less severe,
and sipping a herbal tea is enough keep my mouth busy.

I also find that cheat days (pigging out due to social occasions) don't really
mess up my cycle on following days, which I found very surprising.

The only problem I have is when doing lots of physical activity. This summer
I'm working on my house and gardening a lot, so I need to be sure to pig out
before my 4pm cutoff or I'll be at a super calorie deficit and make the labor
miserable.

------
mark_l_watson
I am surprised this is even something that needs much discussion.

On a personal, one data point, level, when I go 12 to 14 hours a day without
eating, I simply feel better. On a personal level I don’t so much care for the
science because if I feel better, then intermittent fasting is a good thing to
do.

On a scientific level, I participated in a Stanford fasting experiment where I
used their app to record data. Also, there have been sufficient studies
performed on the physical/biological benefits that I also believe in that.

All that said, if intermittent fasting is not your thing, I would expect that
just getting exercise and eating a healthy diet is good enough.

------
mey
I believe this is the author. [https://gero.usc.edu/fasting-
conference/professional/andreas...](https://gero.usc.edu/fasting-
conference/professional/andreas/)

So let's check a few boxes. Is promoting his own book. This is the WSJ not a
medical journal. Mice are not a perfect analog to humans. One study is
hilariously small at 69 women. The cancer study is from self reported
information. He specializes in alternative medicine, including homeopathy.

Science VS covered this topic a while back. Click on the transcript to get all
the references they used when building the episode.

[https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/76hdko/fasting-
diet...](https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs/76hdko/fasting-diets-whats-
the-skinny)

There may be something to fasting diet and findings warrant further research.
I am willing to wait until it is better understood.

~~~
throwaway_diet
>One study is hilariously small at 69 women. The cancer study is from self
reported information. He specializes in alternative medicine, including
homeopathy.

>There may be something to fasting diet and findings warrant further research.

You do know Yoshinori Ohsumi won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in
2016 for discovering and elucidating mechanisms underlying autophagy right?
There isn't really any debate that Fasting/caloric restriction triggers
autophagy only in mice not humans, or that autopaghy and its benefits are
limited to mice.

What is your standard of proof?

~~~
mey
My standard of proof is recommendations from Mayo Clinic, AMA/JAMA. I am not a
medical researcher, so I turn to experts.

I am not familiar with Dr. Ohsumi, but looking at a summary of his award in
2016 indicates his research for the genetic and chemical pathways of
autophagy. The author of this article is the one linking fasting to autophagy.

My last statement is trying to state that there is room for additional
research. Currently the impact (on many things, weight loss, cancer, heart
health) of intermittent fasting isn't clear. This is the horrible wishy/washy
statement that you get because there is a hypothesis that hasn't been
proven/disproven. Personally, I'm ignoring IF until proven otherwise by larger
human trials.

------
akhilcacharya
This probably reflects poorly on me but the #1 reason why I think it's
difficult to fast is because of boredom more than anything else - does anybody
have any strategies for this?

~~~
mcfunk
I'm shocked by how often my "hunger" goes away after a cup of hot coffee or
tea, or water with himalayan salt added. Part of it I'm sure is the action of
getting up and getting myself something, though salt craving feeling like
hunger is very real too.

~~~
akhilcacharya
Yeah that's true, one thing that sometimes helps manage it is drinking LaCroix
but ~1 hour later its back and feels worse.

~~~
mcfunk
There could be a few different things at play. I'd try a bit of sea (or
himalayan etc) salt and see if that helps. Otherwise, perhaps you really are
just hungry and need to eat. Many people doing IF do larger meals with minimal
snacking (since part of the benefit is to keep insulin low most of the time).
Higher fat content and lower carb content in the meal before a fast will also
help.

It may also just take time for you to work your way up to longer fasts.

~~~
akhilcacharya
Cool idea, thanks!

------
marknadal
I lost 35 pounds in 40 days of on/off fasting.

I feel so much better and healthier now.

Longest stretch was probably 5 or 6 days. I'd lose 5 or 6 pounds.

Regular stretch was 2 or 3 days.

Big con: I did throw up a lot from keto flu. I recommend eating right away
after that (slowly but solidly) then resume, drink heavily vitamin water (no
sugar) and maybe and egg a day.

------
holri
I am currently in the middle of my 3rd 6 days fasting. Every time it gets
easier. The benefits are obvious for me. I was never so relaxed as after the
fasting. The mind goes clear, there is no better time for deep thinking.
Energy levels are going up. An insteresting journey to myself and my body.

------
izzydata
I've never fasted for multiple days at a time, but I've been eating what most
people would consider 1 meal a day for the past 10 years. Not that I set out
to do this. It is what felt adequate naturally.

I've been 5'6" 125 lbs since I stopped getting taller in highschool and I'm 30
now.

------
toddh
Cure for what exactly? If you're a T2 you're still a T2. Fasting doesn't mean
a T2 can eat a chunk of cake and have a normal glucose response. But being a
controlled T2 is infinitely better than what most T2s experience. It's just
that the "cure" talk is misleading.

------
twerkinggumby
So you're telling me that if I exercise restraint in the way I eat, I can lose
weight as a result? Wow.

------
EGreg
My trick to skipping breakfast:

Forgetting to eat in the morning because I work from home and get engrossed in
what I do.

Anyone here relate?

~~~
ThinkingGuy
I started skipping breakfast when we moved to a new house and I no longer had
a microwave to heat up my oatmeal (I never learned to cook; the microwave is
the only way I know to make oatmeal). On top of that, I had a longer commute,
so I had less time in the morning anyway.

~~~
overcast
If you can boil water, you can cook oatmeal. There is nothing else to it.

------
arisAlexis
I love skipping the middle meal (lunch) but there is no research for that
unfortunately

------
roland35
I would like to try out fasting more, but I get too hungry!

Seriously though, cutting breakfast does seem like an easy way to do it!
Eating in the morning is more of a habit than a need, plus it would be an easy
way to cut calories too.

~~~
OnACoffeeBreak
What made a huge difference for me is lowering my intake of carbohydrates and
transitioning to a lower carb and higher fat diet. I think the way it works is
that our bodies have a lot of energy available from fat stores and becoming
more fat-adapted means that during fasting hunger is satiated by energy coming
from fat.

~~~
talkingtab
I agree with this completely. For some of us carbs generate craving - they are
addictive. The way to test if you are one is to stop all carbs, as much as you
can. If I eat a doughnut I gain a pound, not because of the doughnut, but
because I then crave more food.

------
submeta
When I read „a 5 day fast“, does that mean avoiding food for 5 days? No food
at all?

I started with IF a few weeks ago and skipped meal for 20 hours max. And I am
wondering how people manage to skip good for five days or longer.

~~~
mcfunk
I've been doing IF since 2014 and still haven't managed to get much past 24
hours -- partly admittedly for lack of trying -- I can't imagine trying to do
an extended fast (more than 24 hours) only a few weeks in. You need more time
to work up to it and get familiar with your body's signals and needs.

~~~
submeta
Wow, that‘s for quite some years. Do you have any book / website (about how to
do IF) you can recommend?

~~~
mcfunk
Yes, I went a couple years doing a very easy 14:10 fast, which was easy to
maintain and is what I credit for stabilizing my blood sugar, which used to
crash all the time (especially bonking during bike rides). My body now is fine
exercising without having eaten, no problem. That alone is worth it.

Due to other health issues and related sensitivities and metabolic problems I
have gotten more serious about it and learning about the science, and thus
moved to an 18:6 fasting schedule. I have continued to be very happy with the
results and the lifestyle.

The book I'd absolutely recommend is The Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr.
Jason Fung (see an article by him on IF 101 here:
[https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-
fasting](https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting)). I'd also recommend
the Intensive Dietary Management program's various blog posts such as
[https://idmprogram.com/the-failure-of-the-calorie-theory-
of-...](https://idmprogram.com/the-failure-of-the-calorie-theory-of-obesity/)

------
andytheant
Alternatively, You could eat breakfast early, say 6am, and have dinner at 8pm
and skip lunch (i.e. just have a banana or apple). That's something I have
kind of been doing and it's working well.

~~~
brayhite
A banana or apple for lunch isn't fasting. Fasting is, in most circles, the
exclusion of caloric intake. Some would suggest that it's the specific
exclusion of calories and anything that triggers an insulin response in the
body, but that's debatable.

Not debatable though is if eating an apple for lunch means you're still
fasting; you aren't.

~~~
psetq
History, the term "fasting" is often used to mean the reduction of food,
omitting or only eating specific foods, or eating at only specific meals.

If you're interested, the wikipedia page has several examples:

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

------
senectus1
How the hell do you "fast" in an open plan office environment... I just dont
have the stamina and will power to deal with all the people/food etc

------
sjg007
I don't know.. I've done intermittent fasting.. aka one meal a day and it
hasn't worked for me..

~~~
tvanantwerp
What were your goals? What kinds of meals did you eat for the one meal?

------
piokoch
That what worries me is "He fed a group of mice a high-fat diet around the
clock for 18 weeks...". I fail to see any trace of scientific experiment run
on people. There is some anecdotal evidence "I’ve employed what’s called
intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating, to help patients with an
array of chronic conditions". How it helped? Helped everyone? What about
control group?

The only cited research is that: "Among 2,400 women with early-stage breast
cancer who provided information on their eating rhythm, roughly 400 suffered
from new tumors within seven years. But women who fasted for 13 hours nightly
had 26% less risk of recurrence than the control group". Was this only
difference between those two groups of women for seven years? Maybe those who
were fasting has been doing for 7 years 100 other things and that was the
reason they didn't get cancer? But "Fasting cures cancer" looks like a great
headline. Clicks are coming.

Will we see in 3 months another article, also based on such vague research,
claiming the opposite?

This kind of "science" and journalism contributes to general lack of trust in
science. Eggs are bad, next week, eggs are good. Fat is bad. Fat is good.
Cholesterol causes heart diseases. No it does not. Yes it does. Global
warming? Phew, next week they will announce that global winter is coming.
Doctors say vaccines are good and safe. Better be careful, those are the same
guys who were paid to say that margarine is healthy and butter not, while it
turned out the opposite...

------
qwsxyh
Fasting is anorexia rebranded for tech bros.

Christ, some of these comments are indisguishable from pro-ana forum posts. "I
starved myself for 7 days and I can think so clearly!"

