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BS: Intermittent Fasting?
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Subject: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:01 AM Anyone see that Horizon programme about this approach to eating "Eat, Fast and Live Longer"? It's really quite interesting. As well as a means to slowly lose weight, it's also supposed to be a genuine way to help the body to protect itself against some major diseases, including cancers. I've just begun fasting in the pattern known as 5:2 which means I eat normally five days a week and partially fast for two days a week. By 'partially fasting' I mean there is a window either in the early morning or late evening for a meal containing about 500 calories - simply stated the goal is to have two non-consecutive 24 hr periods where no foods (or calorific liquids!) are consumed. Here's the documentary: Horizon: Eat, Fast and Live Longer And here's a web lecture from a US MD which breaks down some of the scientific findings: Michael Lara MD: How to begin intermittent fasting Anyone having read thus far will have apprehended that this is not a 'crash diet' but a way of eating that is intended for the long term. Having fasted two days so far this week, I can confirm there is hunger! But it's not terrible. Just requires a little determination. Anyone else had a go at this? Anyone else curious to try it? Etc. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:07 AM There may be something in this, CS. People in West Africa often go for quite long periods with very little to eat. And, many of them being Muslims, they carefully observe Ramadan and fast accordingly. There seems (although I have no data, just ideas from talking to Africans) far less cancer, heart disease, MS, strokes, Parkinson's, diabetes, rheumatism, and other major illnesses than among us in the affluent West. Of course, climate, physical effort and diet must play a major part. If you think about it, we're not made to feast continually, because we were originally hunter/gatherers and must have half-starved a lot of the time. Our bloated bodies are awash with food and it can't be doing us any good. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:18 AM Good points Eliza, and advocates of this style of eating / fasting also mention such things. So far as Iv'e gathered broadly speaking the body has different 'modes' while either feasting or fasting. Feasting leads to the body building, while fasting results in it having a clean up. During a fasting period the body gets to do housecleaning, destroying cancer cells and suchlike. If it's continually feeding it cant enter the 'clean up' mode fully. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Musket sans cookie Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:40 AM Notwithstanding people in cultures with fasting as a regular occurance tend to type 2 diabetes and liver disorders, as well as lower life expectancy than fat chewing westerners. Not dismissing the idea, occasional fasting is deemed to be non harmful for otherwise healthy adults (other than the small chance of issues from release of gastric juices with no food to digest) Sustained fasting can be an issue though. Here in The UK, your local GP clinic or health centre can give advice from the community dietitian. My wife, being a surgeon has to advise some people to lose weight to lower the risk of complications in surgery and leaflets on losing weight seem to scatter around our house. Presumably telling me something.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:43 AM I also think that certain types of food were never meant to enter our digestive systems originally. For instance, dairy products of all kinds. We weren't farmers for ages, and Africans (I keep harping on about them, because I know their lifestyle better than other people's) seem to find dairy stuff hard to cope with. Vast amounts of sugar daily was also never on the agenda. Honey from wild bees now and then was all that was available. I think many of these foodstuffs are inflammatory, and cause auto-immune problems. I like your point, CS, that the body can use 'down-time' to clean out and eliminate harmful items, and re-inforce its immune system etc. My husband is astonished and scared at the huge number of cancer sufferers here in UK, and disgusted at the obesity of our population. He also notices that constipation seems to be a constant problem here. You very very rarely see a fat person in W Africa, and the fibre in their diet makes constipation practically unknown. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:51 AM Musket, it's true that folk in developing countries have a lower life expectancy, but that could be due to deaths from malaria, childhood diarrhoea, childbirth deaths in young women, cholera, fevers and all the other nasty dangers endemic to their habitat. Also, great age is not all that common, and many cancers here effect the elderly. I think the 'middle course' for us is to EAT LESS. (My doctor sister never shuts up about my weight, and I know she's right.) Maybe a gentle fast twice a week, better choice of foods and a general diminution of intake would help us all? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:56 AM It seems that such a diet would play havoc with your blood sugar levels. I would consult a doctor before starting such a diet. Frequent small healthy meals seem like the best way to go. If you want to live like Africans, maybe throw in the odd wildebeest feast shared among several people over a couple of days. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: John MacKenzie Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:13 AM well I have started a version of this, as a friend of mine is doing well on it. I have set aside Mondays and Thursdays, as days of limited, intake. Last Thursday I had scrambled eggs for breakfast, soup for lunch, and cold ham with ratatouille, for supper. No bread, no dairy, lemon in tea instead of milk. I do feel peckish, but if I'm hungry, I eat fruit or veg, as a snack. The reassuring thing is, that you can always eat normally the next day, which encourages one to stick with the programme. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:14 AM "I also think that certain types of food were never meant to enter our digestive systems originally. For instance, dairy products of all kinds. We weren't farmers for ages, and Africans (I keep harping on about them, because I know their lifestyle better than other people's) seem to find dairy stuff hard to cope with. Vast amounts of sugar daily was also never on the agenda. Honey from wild bees now and then was all that was available. I think many of these foodstuffs are inflammatory, and cause auto-immune problems." Absolutely, one of the points I often hear from vegan posters on another board I post on, is that we are simply not meant to eat baby-food (the milk of other mammals) in adulthood, and it's a fair point! Baby food is meant for babies, and many people simply lose the ability to digest it effectively in adulthood, which is why lactose intolerance is so common around the world. And yet if you look at teh ingredients on virtually any processed food product you'd care to mention and you;ll find that some kind of dairy procuct will be in there. 'High fructose corn syrup' is another omnipresent ingredient you will find in almost every processed food, in teh States at least - see The Men Who Made Us Fat for that. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:22 AM "The reassuring thing is, that you can always eat normally the next day, which encourages one to stick with the programme." Exactly. Plus when you do eat the next day, everything tastes wonderful! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:27 AM I misunderstood. I am sorry, what John MacKenzie is talking about is not fasting by any definition I know. Carry on. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 07:32 AM Thanks for your contributions Jack.. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,CS Date: 06 Apr 13 - 08:19 AM This is a briefer article written by Dr Michael Mosley of the Horizon prog. linked to in teh OP: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9480451/The-52-diet-can-it-help-you-lose-weight-and-live-longer.html |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Ebbie Date: 06 Apr 13 - 11:23 AM I once read a statement from a doctor that he had never seen a patient with overweight problems who fasts one day a week. It strikes me that a person who fasts once a week has self discipline. So that person is unlikely to be overweight in the first place. Me- as the man says, I haven't been really hungry in years. :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Eliza Date: 06 Apr 13 - 01:40 PM I think the point about fluctuating blood-sugar levels is very important. One can get hypoglycaemic which can urge one to binge. Such ups and downs may trigger diabetes later in life. I've read that the aim is to keep the blood-sugar at a fairly stable level by regular, high-fibre meals which take a while to digest.So leaving a big gap between one's meals twice a week may not be such a good idea after all. The thing is, Africans and other third-world folk walk everywhere ,in general, eat much less than we do, have sunshine which boosts their vitamin D and eat fruit and vegetables from the market and very little in the way of sweets,fats, burgers or junk stuff. Also, sadly, the weakest go to the wall and only the very strongest survive, so natural selection has made them tough, and exposure to many diseases has boosted their immune systems to maximum. One can't really make comparisons as there are far too many variables. As my annoying sister says, "Look, Fatty, just generally EAT LESS, okay?" |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Bert Date: 06 Apr 13 - 03:26 PM Fasting puts stress on your system. It messes up your dietary rhythm. It can kill you. Go ahead and do it if you want. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Jack the Sailor Date: 06 Apr 13 - 04:18 PM These are the last words in the Article Guest:CS posted for me. • According to current medical opinion, the benefits of fasting are unproven. As a diet, it is not recommended for pregnant women or diabetics on medication. Anyone considering a diet that involves fasting is advised to consult their GP first, and to do it under medical supervision. This diet involves a man on a "fast day" going down to 600 calories per day. That is not full fast. I can't mathematically say what fraction of a fast it is but I am tempted to say it is half fast. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Ebbie Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:18 PM :) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: Bert Date: 06 Apr 13 - 06:50 PM Your GP won't save you. They put Lou on a starvation diet when her 'overweight' was lymphoma growth. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Intermittent Fasting? From: GUEST,Musket sans cookie Date: 07 Apr 13 - 04:12 AM Sorry Bert but that isn't the most responsible statement I have ever read. THEY put someone on a diet? Who? There are thousands of GPs and The NHS has over a million clinical decisions made with patients every 36 hours. That's only The UK... GPs might save you. Individual ones might not. But generalising based on individual experience is like something you would read in, say a diet fad article. Oh.... |
