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Fasting for Longer Life

It might be the key to a longer life.

By Eric Hamilton

Combined with eating less, fasting reduces frailty in old age and extends the lifespan of mice.

Scientists know that long-term calorie restriction causes lower weight, better blood sugar control, and longer lifespans in animals.

But now, UW–Madison researchers have found that reduced calorie intake alone is not enough; fasting is essential to derive full benefit. Combined with eating less, fasting reduces frailty in old age and extends the lifespan of mice.

Surprisingly, mice that ate fewer calories but never fasted died younger than mice that ate as much as they wanted, suggesting that calorie restriction alone may be harmful.

The study was led by UW School of Medicine and Public Health metabolism researcher Dudley Lamming and graduate student Heidi Pak PhDx’23. Previous studies had unintentionally combined calorie restrictions with long fasts by providing animals with food just once a day. Lamming’s group designed a study to tease apart these two factors.

It turned out that many of the benefits originally ascribed to calorie restriction alone — better blood sugar control, healthier use of fat for energy, protection from frailty in old age, and longer lifespans — all required fasting as well.

And when it came to improving insulin sensitivity and liver metabolism, fasting on its own — even without reducing the amount of food eaten — was just as powerful as calorie restriction with fasting.

[onwisconsin.uwalumni.com]

nicestuff 7 Mar 7
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More from the NYT:

Time-restricted feeding — fasting overnight and into the next morning — is likely the easiest form of fasting to comply with. A longer than normal fasting period each night allows you to burn through some of your sugar stores, called glycogen. That does a couple things. It gives your body a little bit more time to burn fat. It also may help your body get rid of any extra salt in your diet, which would lower your blood pressure.

I’ve made the decision to fast. So how long should I fast for?

There aren’t any studies right now that state exactly how long one should fast. The minimum amount of time it takes to make fasting efficacious hasn’t been proven via study, but the prevailing notion is it’s somewhere between 12 and 18 hours. But it can take a few days — sometimes weeks — of fasting regularly for your body to start burning fat for fuel.

[nytimes.com]

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An extended fast brings about a process called autophagy, where older and weaker cells are broken down and repurposed by newer and stronger cells. This self-cannibalism is a rejuvenation and reboot of your entire system.

Autophagy kicks in at about the third day of fasting, but provides diminished returns after two weeks.

I fast for seven days every three months and always feel better mentally and physically afterwards.

What do you eat or drink during the seven day fast? Just non-calorics? Black coffee or tea okay?

@nicestuff
Only water...and lots of it!

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When I die, I want to be sick. I will eat to my heart's content.

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