What are the benefits of fasting and IF/TRE?

Get Kion defines Intermittent fasting as the “practice of cycling between periods of eating and periods of intentional fasting, or abstaining from food. Humans have fasted for millennia, whether for religious or cultural purposes or out of necessity during times of scarcity”.

James Clear shared his thoughts on the benefits of IF on his website…

1. Intermittent fasting makes your day simpler.

2. Intermittent fasting helps you live longer.

3. Intermittent fasting may reduce the risk of cancer.

4. Intermittent fasting is much easier than dieting.

https://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting

Right now, you’re probably eating around the same time every day without thinking about it. Well, with daily intermittent fasting it’s the same thing, you just learn to not eat at certain times, which is remarkably easy.

https://jamesclear.com/the-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting

When should you practice Intermittent Fasting 12/12 or 16/8?

What is the best time of day to fast? Check out Dr. Breus, The Sleep Doctor, to determine your CHRONOTYPE and the best time to fast and best time to eat…as well as everything else in your life. Take your sleep quiz here

My purpose today is to research the benefits of INTERMITTENT FASTING 16/8…and mitochondria function but this is a month long process or longer …never ending research areas to dive deep into (rabbit holes everywhere!).

Here is one interesting article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6836017/

TRE explained by Satchin Panda the author of the Circadian Clock shared in an interview with Ben G….more to come on this topic.

• Satchin:  Well, so TRE it means Time-Restricted Eating. That means that you don’t have to mindfully restrict your calorie, no calorie intake restriction or CIR, but be mindful about when you had your first calorie of the day and when is the last calorie of the day, and then try to have all those calories within somewhere between 8 to 10 or maximum, 12 hours every single day.

Those who should not fast include: pregnant or breast-feeding women children. people with a history of eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorder. patients with cachexia, advanced liver or kidney insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, or advanced cerebrovascular insufficiency or dementia (Source) Oct 1, 2019 -Intermittent fasting and type 2 diabetes | diabetes …

Does intermittent fasting work?

Both intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding (see below) have demonstrated efficacy in reducing weight, central adiposity, and HbA1c in clinical trials ranging from 8 to 52 weeks. There is also evidence that intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding improve insulin sensitivity as well as biomarkers relating to cardiovascular disease such as blood pressure and resting heart rate.

A therapeutic fasting regimen in patients with type 2 diabetes is also a known strategy for de-prescription and inducing disease remission.

Ongoing research is exploring the relationship between periods of fasting and improved immune function, increased longevity, treatment for chronic neurological disorders, enhanced cognitive performance, and more.

How does intermittent fasting work?

We have evidence that molecular and biochemical networks are affected by fasting. These findings are beyond the scope of this synopsis.

Type 2 diabetes is a bodily state of hyperinsulinemia. The key to fasting is reducing insulin: the primary anabolic (and anti-catabolic), obesogenic, and glycogenic hormone. Frequent meals – especially those of a “typical” North American diet – maintain high levels of insulin, rendering the body perpetually anabolic and dependent on glucose for energy. Periods of fasting “flip the metabolic switch,” allowing the body to mobilize stored fats to use for energy via fatty acid and ketone oxidization. This counter-regulatory surge is driven by glucagon, glucocorticoid, and catecholamine hormones.

Continuous caloric restriction – that is, traditional dietary advice – fails to enable the release of counter-regulatory hormones. This results in a failure to mobilize energy from fat. Energy restriction without access to adipose storage results in the classic dieter’s scenario: hungry, fatigued, and irritable. The cyclical nature of feasting and fasting allows the body to oscillate between glucose and fatty acids for energy, avoiding the unfavorable effects of a continuous reduced-calorie approach. It is conceivable that evolutionary processes adapted the plasticity of the human body for these cycles of feasting and fasting.

Indications and contraindications of intermittent fasting

• As mentioned, fasting is safe.
• It can be used to improve symptoms related to disease or as primary prevention.
• Many people use intermittent fasting to optimize performance (and/or aesthetics), as fatty acid and ketone oxidation allow for retention of lean body mass while reducing adiposity.

Those who should not fast include:

1. Pregnant or breast-feeding women children
2. People with a history of eating disorders or body dysmorphic disorder
3. Patients with cachexia, advanced liver or kidney insufficiency, hyperthyroidism, or advanced cerebrovascular insufficiency or dementia (Source)
4. People with chronic disease should seek medical advice before starting a fasting program, and precautions should be taken in patients who are fasting while on hypoglycemic medications. –https://diabetes.medicinematters.com/diet/type-2-diabetes/intermittent-fasting-type-2-diabetes/17226834

What’s the best way to start intermittent fasting?

In short, there isn’t one. However, an advantage of fasting is its flexibility: it can be used to complement any diet and can be adjusted to fit an individual’s lifestyle. Popular methods include the following:

The benefits of intermittent fasting are numerous. As de Cabo and Mattson explain, they include

Get Kion article on Fasting … Intermittent fasting has been shown to mimic the benefits of calorie restriction without the potential drawbacks and the need to intentionally restrict food intake. Studies suggest that intermittent fasting is as effective as traditional calorie-restricted diets for weight loss due to specific benefits that occur during the fasting window:

1. Improved Fat Oxidation: Human studies have shown that fasting for periods of 12 or more hours can improve fat oxidation and induce mild ketosis.
2. Increased Metabolic Rate: Short-term fasting has been shown to lead to increased energy expenditure and metabolic rate in human studies.
3. Blood Sugar Regulation: Fasting can improve insulin sensitivity, lower overall levels of blood sugar, and reduce systemic inflammation, all of which are crucial factors for appetite regulation and metabolic health.
4. Normalized Appetite: Fasting has been shown to help regulate ghrelin, the “hunger hormone”. Ghrelin antagonizes leptin, the hormone responsible for telling us we’re satiated, so balancing the two is key to regulating appetite.
5. Better Muscle Retention: Intermittent fasting stimulates the production of growth hormone and testosterone, especially in overweight populations. These hormones help you maintain muscle mass while losing weight, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.
6. Autophagy: A repair process wherein cells dispose of damaged proteins and replace them with new ones. This process has been linked with anti-aging, longevity, and improved metabolic health because it keeps cells young and functioning optimally.
7. Improved Gut Health: Fasting can make your gut stronger by giving it a break from digestion, protecting it from the negative impacts of stress, increasing levels of good bacteria, and killing off harmful microbes.
8. Improved Blood Lipid Profiles: Fasting has been shown to improve a number of blood lipid markers including blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and triglycerides.
9. Improved Energy Levels: Most people equate hunger with lethargy, but fasting tends to lead to increased energy levels and cognitive function. This is due to increased fat metabolism and ketone production.

Intermittent fasting is a simple way to regulate energy intake without the need to weigh, measure, track, and count every morsel of food you consume.

Many people find fasting to be an easier alternative to calorie-restriction for losing fat, increasing energy levels, and improving metabolic health.

“[improvements in] blood pressure; resting heart rate; levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, and insulin resistance…. In addition, intermittent fasting reduces markers of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that are associated with atherosclerosis.”

Fasting also helps with weight loss, for obvious reasons. Cutting out all snacks in the evening, which is the biggest change imposed by time-restricted fasting, means not only a reduction in calories consumed, but also a reduction in the amount of highly processed (“junk”) foods in one’s diet as well. 

Furthermore, because intermittent fasting reduces inflammation, it may also improve symptoms of arthritis and even rheumatoid arthritis.

Why does fasting work?

Fasting teaches our body to find fuel …fat fuel and ketones will fuel the brain when there is a shortage of glucose. We are training our body to “flip the switch” from a carb burner to a fat burner- depending on the fat metabolism (40,000 plus calories available in storage vs. 2000 calories) -fat oxidation and ketone metabolism. If you are still eating the “traditional” way we were raised with three meals a day plus snacks to “keep your metabolism” reved up… your are just training your body to burn carbs for your main fuel tank- and depend on the energy fuel glucose.

If we deplete our store of glucose in our muscle and liver, the body starts to search for “alternative fuel”… FAT and our body switches to using fatty acids and ketone bodies for energy. Our Ketone bodies provide more than fuel: as de Cabo and Mattson explain, “Ketone bodies regulate the expression and activity of many proteins and molecules that are known to influence health and aging.”

Ketone metabolism offers many benefits but our goal should be metabolic flexibility and be able to “flip the switch” from burning fat to burning carbs when needed then right back to burning fat as our main fuel. If you eat a high carb diet with lots of refined sugars and white flour – then you are probably stuck on the “blood sugar roller coaster” and training your body to be a sugar burning machine!

The science suggests that, if you can do it, a prolonged fast for 2-3 days will induce your body to clean out some old immune cells and switch on production of new ones. Now we’re learning that intermittent fasting, which is easier to do, may work in much the same way, with multiple health benefits.

https://www.forbes.com/

How does intermittent fasting optimize your HEALTH from the inside out? 

I found many research studies on the benefits of fasting but this one seemed to have a long list of questions.

1. https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting/questions-and-answers
2. https://www.dietdoctor.com/7-benefits-of-fasting
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6836017/
4. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1905136

Dr. Eric Berg has many great quick educational nutrition videos as this one on Intermittent fasting and ketosis.  Dr. Berg explains good stress and the benefits we gain from intermittent fasting and ketones.

Hormesis = a cellular process that involves an adaptive response to low dose stress – favorable, biological effects… a good stress as exercise.  A stress that creates a positive response or outcome is called “eustress”.   The body adapts and gets stronger as with ketones… stress, then our body adapt and gets stronger.

Ketones- shifting the fuel source- puts a little stress on the cells.  Intermittent fasting is a stress as “starving” to create all sorts of benefits.  When we adapt to ketosis -takes 3-5 days or weeks if you have more metabolic damage – severe insulin resistance (as I had from chronic stress).  We get a massive surge of anti-oxidant production and defense- a response to prevent free radicals (unpaired electron).  If we only have one electron, we have an unstable effect – creates more damage on the body.  The anti-oxidant “lends” an electron to create a more stable cell.  Anti-oxidants comes in networks and share electrons back and forth.  Your body makes or generates anti oxidants as well as from the environment.  One of the triggers to make anti-oxidants are the ketone BHB. 

Fasting and ketosis can reduce chronic disease.  Mitochondria function is enhanced with intermittent fasting and nutritional ketosis.  Ketones generate this effect- enhanced resistance to oxidative stress with intermittent fasting will help reduce cell damage from oxidative stress contributes to most chronic diseases.

Your energy goes up with your are fasting! Ketones help the mitochondria make and help maintaining energy – your energy goes up when in ketosis and fasting.  You are providing a different fuel source and causing the mitochondria to more efficient with its fuel and with more oxygen …and less waste products from fat metabolism (than with glucose metabolism).  We don’t need to eat as much …symptoms of adaptation.  We can’t get by with less food and less nutrients as we are adapted because we have enhanced nutrient absorption.

Certain nutrients needs for fat burning or fat oxidation instead of glucose metabolism.  We require more nutrients as potassium and magnesium to counter the acid effects of ketones.  Ketones have more acidic effect (read more from Dr. Anna Cabeca – keto greens to be more alkaline) but if we add more alkalinity with specific green vegetables.  We get the benefit from the minerals in the vegetable and counter the pH levels in ketosis – but adding more fiber for the microbes so they can make more B-vitamins.  I know many friends are doing carnivore but they need to eat “nose to tail” to get the micronutrients via organ meat.  Not for me!  Drink your alkaline rich greens as from Dr. Anna Cabeca here

The minerals in the vegetables or Keto Green drink, provides the fiber or fuel for the microbiome (remember we are the host to the trillions of gut bugs- our microbiome).

Reduce sugar and insulin but we get the benefits of reduced oxidative stress that will optimize our mighty mitochondria!

Watch Dr. Bergs video here https://youtu.be/_Ys3QDmXiEA

In this video, Dr. Berg talks about fasting as a “miracle-grow” for your brain- as fasting offers many benefits for optimizing your brain function.

• If you have brain fog, memory problems and mental fatigue, you need to do fasting.
• Fasting can stimulate a certain protein called BDNF by up to 400%.
• It can resist oxidative stress that comes from the too frequent of eating because the more frequent you eat, the more it could raise insulin and can do more damage that is created in your brain where your memory starts going downhill.
• He also talks about neurogenesis or the re-growing of the nerve cells.
• Benefits of Intermittent Fasting:
  • Allows Brain to Grow to Adapt to Stress and Resist Stress
  • Neurogenesis or Regrow of the Nerve Cells
  • Increase Memory, Focus
  • New Connections
  • Increase Mitochondria
• Fasting could help reverse the physical causes of memory loss, mental fatigue and brain fog.

Dr. Berg’s steps towards Intermittent Fasting:

• Start with 3 meals a day (No snacking)
  • Then gradually start to 2 meals
  • OMAD or One Meal a Day – as you get older, it is highly recommended to do this.
  • Make sure that you do not eat unless you are hungry

• Not only high sugar can destroy the brain, but also high insulin will do it too and eating in general would increase insulin.
• All these conditions, Parkinson, Alzheimer, dementia stem from oxidative stress and fasting can counter that.
• Fasting is very inexpensive- it is FREE!
• Fasting creates neurogenesis which is the REGROWING of the nerve cells that will increase your memory, your focus and create new connections like synapses to increase mitochondria.
• Fasting can help reverse the physical cause of memory loss, mental fatigue and brain fog- a major positive effects of eating low carb is improved focus and their memory.
• Every time you eat, you stimulate insulin… eating less frequently will result in less activate of the fat storing hormone insulin. 
• The body was not meant to consume food as frequently- our “SAD” of eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner… and then maybe an after dinner snack!

What about reducing oxidative stress from fasting and nutritional ketosis – which improves the function of our fat loss, performance and longevity cells …the Mighty Mitochondria?

We can reduce the oxidative stress to cells leading to mitochondria dysfunction by implementing intermittent fasting.  Fasting is “miracle grow” for our brain!  Do you have brain fog, mental fatigue, memory problems.

Stimulates BDMF protein by 400% and reduces oxidative stress as from too frequent eating – more damage to your brain – brain fog, mental fatigue and memory problems.  Oxidative stress is related to many chronic disease.

FASTING is FREE! 

FYI… What are our anti-oxidants?

“A substance that inhibits oxidation- oxidation is a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals thereby leading to chain reactions that may damage the cells of organisms. Antioxidants such as thiols or ascorbic acid (vitamin C) terminate these chain reactions. To balance the oxidative stress, plants and animals maintain complex systems of overlapping antioxidants, such as glutathione and enzymes (e.g., catalase and superoxide dismutase), produced internally, or the dietary antioxidants vitamin C and vitamin E.”  -Wikipedia

“Antioxidant dietary supplements have not been shown to improve health in humans, or to be effective at preventing disease.[2] Supplements of beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E have no positive effect on mortality rate[3][4] or cancer risk.[5][6] Additionally, supplementation with selenium or vitamin E does not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.[7][8]- Wikipedia

Are you eating and supplementing with Vitamin C, E, A and mitochondria support (see Dr. Myhill’s mitochondria cocktail list on my Low Carb Athlete blog and podcast)?

Dr. Berg’s resources:

1. Keto Health Summit: https://ketohealthsummit.com
2. Intermittent Fasting: http://bit.ly/2G9zalC http://bit.ly/2RKlmAr http://bit.ly/2TwjtsQ
3. Take Dr. Berg’s Free Keto Mini-Course: http://pxlme.me/-i717vtY
4. or go here: https://www.drberg.com/how-to-do-ketosis
5. Download Keto Essentials http://bit.ly/2DH0d6o

So lets chat about Mitochondria a little more… if you are interesting in optimizing fat loss, performance gains (energy!) and longevity!?

WHY should we optimize our Mitochondria Function??

I found endless research studies on mitochondria function and more are coming!  I am becoming more aware of the importance of improving the function of our mitochondria as they are in EVERY cell (except our red blood cells) in our body…the are the “powerhouses” of our cells.  The engine needs to be optimized and running at full capacity – or the opposite is chronic fatigue or “cell defense mode” that we will review.  Mitochondrial DYSFUNCTION is related to most all chronic diseases as in…

…the foundational importance of optimal mitochondrial function for health and the growing body of research showing that dysfunction is surprisingly common and associated with most chronic disease. In my IMCJ 13.1 editorial, I stated that glutathione is “… vital to mitochondrial function and maintenance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).” -Source:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684129/

What can we do to improve our Mitochondrial Function?

1. Genetics from your MOTHER for optimal mtDNA genes
2. Optimize your nutrient intake to reduce oxidative stress and result the best anti-aging strategy- via limiting oxygen and high energy electron “leakage” into the electron transport chain (ETC) = oxidative stress and damages the mtDNA. Excess exercise is a key factor to creating oxidative stress!
3. Decrease your exposure to TOXINS!  The mitochondria are metabolically active cells that are susceptible to damage from excess toxic exposure.
4. Get the required nutrients to protect the mitochondria from oxidative stress (more below)
5. Improve your ability to utilize the nutrients that expedite mitochondrial ATP production
6. Lift heavy weights!  Increase your ATP production by building lean body tissue- muscle mass.
7. You can’t out supplement poor lifestyle habits as over training, over exposure to toxins and chemicals in foods But if you are to look at nutrients that support mitochondria function… these are often on the list:
   1. CoQ₁₀, α-lipoic acid
   1. Acetyl-l-carnitine
   1. Resveratrol
   1. NAC
   1. Vitamin E.
   1. Coconut oil
   1. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ)
   1. Ginkgo biloba
   1. Proanthocyanidins
   1. Melatonin
   1. Resource: BY MANSAL DENTON , FEBRUARY 27, 2019

LIFESTYLE HABITS TO BOOST MITOCHONDRIAL HEALTH

Our mitochondria generate our energy for all body functions by the amount of ATP, adenosine triphosphate, they create from the food we eat and the oxygen we consume.  If our mitochondria are damaged or working less than optimal levels then we are going to experience side effects in many ways!  We need healthy, strong and resilient mitochondria to improve our health and vitality for years and years!  Mitochondria are an essential part of improving our performance and aging process.

What are some solutions to improve the function of our mighty mitochondria to produce more energy via burning FAT for fuel and reducing our fatigue?

In an article by the crew at Neurohacker, they put together an large list of tips to boost your mitochondria here- including light and temperature (red light and infrared therapy as with my Sunlighten infrared sauna).

https://neurohacker.com/mitochondria-exploring-5-lifestyle-habits-to-benefit-cell-health