Is INTERMITTENT FASTING Actually Good for You? The Science Explained

Introduction to intermittent fasting 0:00

Intermittent fasting, is it really that good for you? In this video, I'm going to talk about the latest on the research in terms of longevity, overall health, and how it affects weight. When it comes to fasting we know that's been written about for thousands of years, but intermittent fasting of course is unique in itself, something that has become popular in recent years. And even mainstream medicine has accepted it, although we don't commonly find doctors recommending it. So let's talk about calorie restriction versus intermittent fasting.

Calorie restriction vs. intermittent fasting 0:24

What really is the difference? Well, with calorie restrictions, that basically just means you're reducing calorie intake. And typically, protocols involve reducing your total amount of calories by 10 to 40%. To do this, reduce the calories without causing malnutrition. And studies have shown that calorie restriction can be helpful, improves body weight, better cardiovascular markers, enhance mitochondria function for energy production, and even a longer lifespan in animal models. But it has its problem.

It can very strict for people and it's hard to follow long term. Hence, enter intermittent fasting. That's more realistic and flexible for the people. and it involves alternating periods of eating normally with periods fasting or intermittent fasting. And the good news is when you look at the studies, intermittent fast often mirrors the benefits of calorie restriction, but people can follow it much more easily. Let's talk about the different types of intermittent Number one, we have alternate day fasting.

Types of intermittent fasting 1:14

So in this protocol, you alternate the days between of normal eating and days of complete fasting or very low calorie intake. Some people just have water only, some people have vegetable juices, but that is the alternate-day fasting, then you have the periodic fasting often referred to as the 5-2 method. And this involves eating normally for five days a week and then having two non-consecutive days with either complete-fasting or a significantly reduced calorie-intake. a very low calorie intake, say like 600 calories.

Then you have what is called the time restricted eating. This is the protocol used mainly with patients. I see good results, it has good science behind it, and it's easier for most people to follow. And this involves consuming all your meals within a specific daily window, a period of time, usually 8 to 10 hours and fasting for the remaining 14 to 16 hours. This also falls into this whole field known as chrononutrition. So this involves eating according to the circadian rhythms of the body. And this is why for most patients, I do prefer that they have a morning meal, have lunch and then have an earlier dinner.

Now some people skip the morning and they had their first meal at noon and so on. But studies show for some, due to genetic factors, that does not work well for them.

How fasting changes fuel use 2:25

I'd recommend try getting that last meal, you know, early in the evening, maybe 4 pm, 5 pm. Not the typical 6 to 8 pm like a lot of people do eat. And that can make a big difference right there. So what happens when people are fasting? Well, first your body uses up its glycogen or glucose storage in their liver. This usually happens within the first 12 to 36 hours. Once these glycogen stores are depleted, your bodies switches gears and then uses fat for energy. And this process creates free fatty acids and ketone bodies as alternative fuel sources.

So beyond burning fat, what else happens when you're doing fasting? Well, here's what the studies show.

Health benefits of fasting 3:04

It reduces inflammation, which of course makes people susceptible to chronic disease. Reducing inflammation is always a good thing in the long run. It reduces oxidative damage, so it reduces the amount of free radicals that can damage cells. It helps with cleaning up damaged cells, which have been broken down and then recycled, promoting cellular regeneration, known as autophagy. Then you have improved blood sugar and insulin. And of course, we all know that insulin resistance is a major problem in America, Which leads to weight gain and diabetes and other problems as well.

So it improves blood-sugar-insulin balance. It's involved in mitochondrial regeneration. So that's where you're actually helping to improve the health of the mitochondria, those organelles in your cells, which make energy helps to reduce blood pressure and reduce overall cardiovascular stress or improving cardiovascular health. There's some research showing it helps with brain health, such as promoting brain neuron regeneration, optimizing brain function. There can be some potential cancer impact.

Some research suggests it may reduce tumor formation. Got microbiome benefits. So when you're doing the fasting, you get a better balance of the bugs in your gut and then body weight loss. We know there's a lot of research, showing documentation for consistent body, weight, loss, Well, I hope you're enjoying the video. If you are looking for quality supplements, go to my website drstengler.com and there you can see the nutritional supplements I've been using with my patients for many decades. They involve a lot of scientific research.

Supplement promotion and practical advice 4:26

Many of them I have created myself. So again, thank you for watching the videos and check out my supplement store at dr.stegler dot com. So I think for most people, the time-restricted eating is a good way to go. But of course, you can try these things out and see what works best for your body, see how your energy levels are doing, your cognitive function, obviously how you're weight's doing. You can see, what's the best to with. Now, a few considerations when you doing different types of fasting, including intermittent.

Number one, lean muscle mass. Some studies have raised concern about the potential for losing lean muscle mass with intermittent fasting. Of course, you can prevent this by getting high-quality protein intake during the window of time that you're eating food, or you could always use protein supplements, amino acids and quality protein shakes. Also, I mentioned before about circadian misalignment or having problems with coronal nutrition.

Concerns about muscle loss and meal timing 5:14

And so this is again, where for some people skipping that breakfast could increase metabolic problems in the body. So there's some research that by skipping breakfast, that can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. But again that seems to be genetic, so that's not true for everybody. Of course, one of the worst things is late night eating. We know that eating late at night has been shown to make your arteries more stiff, increases your risks of coronary artery disease, And for some people it just really throws off their metabolism.

Does fasting have anti-aging effects? You'll read a lot in the social media how fasting leads to anti aging effects or increased longevity. And there could be some truth to that because when you look at it, when we're doing things like improving insulin resistance, or when reducing the free radicals that are produced in a body, When you're helping with autophagy or helping cell recycling and getting rid of old debris and creating new cells, That would make some sense.

Fasting, aging, and longevity 6:04

But here's the thing. These studies have all been done in animals. So we don't have good human studies, long-term human, studies demonstrating this, but it makes rational sense to me. It probably makes a good beneficial effect on longevity outcome. Well, I hope you liked this video. You can look at my YouTube channel for many other videos. If you're looking for quality supplements, go to drstengler.com.