Autor: Julio Cesar Tafforelli | Publicado: 2014-07-02T10:52:00-07:00



How Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Live Healthier, Longer

 

By Dr Mercola, 






(Shutterstock*)







You may also like
An Overview of Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss
Intermittent Fasting – Is It for You?
Intermittent Fasting Infographic
How Alternate-Day Fasting Can Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals
Fasting Reduces Cholesterol Levels in Prediabetic People Over Extended Period of Time, New Research Finds


More in Fitness &amp; Nutrition
Healthy Foods for Growing Teens
Homemade Cashew Milk Recipe
6 Ways to Improve Fertility












In the featured documentary, Eat, Fast, and Live Longer,&nbsp;British
 author and journalist Dr. Michael Mosley documents his journey as he 
decides to try fasting, to see if it might improve his health.
At the outset, his blood work revealed he was borderline diabetic and
 his cholesterol was high, which his doctor wanted to treat with 
medication.

Concerned by this diagnosis—especially as he considers himself 
somewhat of an expert on conventional health strategies—Dr. Mosley sets 
out to investigate his alternatives.

“I have always been interested in self-experimentation as a 
research device because so many of the most important discoveries came 
from scientists and doctors who used themselves as test subjects,” he says, “but I had never before performed a series of trials on my own health.” 

His journey takes him across the United States, where he meets with 
both long-lived, healthy folk, and health and longevity experts, to 
learn the secrets of their success.

Your Body Was Built for Periodic Cycles of ‘Feast and Famine’
Fasting, it turns out, has a number of health benefits that most 
people seek: from improved cardiovascular health and reduced cancer 
risk, to gene repair and longevity.
In short, he discovers that part of what appears to be driving the disease process is the fact that we’re eating too frequently. When you’re in constant “feast mode,” your body actually forgoes much of its natural “repair and rejuvenation programming.”

It’s true that severe calorie restriction promotes both weight loss 
and longevity in animal models, but this kind of “starvation diet” is 
not a very appealing strategy for most people.

However, newer research shows that you can get most if not all of the
 same benefits of severe calorie restriction through intermittent 
fasting, i.e. an eating schedule where you feast on some days, and 
dramatically cut calories on others.

This effectively mimics the eating habits of our ancestors, who did 
not have access to grocery stores or food around the clock. They would 
cycle through periods of feast and famine, and modern research shows 
this cycling produces a number of biochemical benefits. In short, by 
altering what and when you eat, you can rather dramatically alter how 
your body operates. And that’s great news.

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Fasting is historically commonplace as it has been a part of 
spiritual practice for millennia. But modern science has confirmed there
 are many good reasons for fasting, including the following:

Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, and boosting mitochondrial energy efficiency:
 One of the primary mechanisms that makes intermittent fasting so 
beneficial for health is related to its impact on your insulin 
sensitivity.

While sugar is a source of energy for your body, it also promotes 
insulin resistance when consumed in the amounts found in our modern 
processed junk food diets. Insulin resistance, in turn, is a primary 
driver of chronic disease—from heart disease to cancer.
Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to use fat as its primary 
fuel, and mounting evidence confirms that when your body becomes adapted
 to burning FAT instead of sugar as its primary fuel, you dramatically 
reduce your risk of chronic disease

Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as “the hunger hormone”
Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production: Research has shown fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women, and 2,000 percent in men,&nbsp;which
 plays an important part in health, fitness, and slowing the aging 
process. HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which helps explain why 
fasting is so effective for weight loss
Lowering triglyceride levels and improving other biomarkers of disease
Reducing oxidative stress: Fasting decreases the 
accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents 
oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids 
associated with aging and disease

There’s also plenty of research showing that fasting has a beneficial
 impact on longevity in animals. There are a number of mechanisms 
contributing to this effect. Normalizing insulin sensitivity is a major 
one, but fasting also inhibits the mTOR pathway, which plays an important part in driving the aging process.
Intermittent fasting is by far the most effective way I know of to 
shed unwanted fat and eliminate your sugar cravings. Since most of us 
are carrying excess fat we just can’t seem to burn, this is a really 
important benefit. When sugar is not needed as a primary fuel, your body
 will also not crave it as much when your sugar stores run low.








As
 mentioned above, the other mechanisms that makes fasting so effective 
for weight loss is the fact that it provokes the secretion of HGH—a 
fat-burning hormone that has many well-recognized “anti-aging” health 
and fitness benefits.
&nbsp;
Last but not least, intermittent fasting has also been identified as a
 potent ally for the prevention and perhaps even treatment of dementia. 
First, ketones are released as a byproduct of burning fat, and ketones 
(not glucose) are actually the preferred fuel for your brain.

In addition to that, intermittent fasting boosts production of a 
protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which activates
 brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous 
other chemicals that promote neural health. It also protects your brain 
cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. 
Research by Dr. Mark Mattson, a senior investigator for the National 
Institute on Aging, suggests that alternate-day fasting (restricting 
your meal on fasting days to about 600 calories), can boost BDNF by 
anywhere from 50 to 400 percent, depending on the brain region.3 

The 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Plan
Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that covers a wide array of fasting schedules.
 As a general rule, it involves cutting calories in whole or in part, 
either a couple of days a week, every other day, or even daily. Dr. 
Mosley became so convinced of the health benefits of intermittent 
fasting he wrote a book on the subject, called The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting.4

The fasting schedule he ultimately suggests in the book (after trying
 a couple of variations in the film), is to eat normally for five days a
 week, and fast for two. This schedule is sometimes referred to as the 
“5:2″ intermittent fasting plan. On fasting days, he recommends cutting 
your food down to one-fourth of your normal daily calories, or about 600
 calories for men and about 500 for women, along with plenty of water 
and tea. Dr. Mosley claims to have lost 19 pounds in two months by 
following this 5:2 intermittent fasting plan.



Alternate-Day Fasting—Another Alternative
Yet another variation that is quite common is the alternate-day fast.
 This fasting protocol is exactly as it sounds: one day off, one day on.
 When you include sleeping time, the fast can end up being as long as 
32-36 hours. The drawback is that it requires you to go to bed with an 
empty stomach every other day, which can be tough for most people—at 
least initially.

However, according to Dr. Krista Varady, author of The Every-Other-Day Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time) and Keep the Weight Off, the alternate-day fasting schedule does have a much higher compliance rate than many other fasting schedules. In the end, the best fasting schedule is the one that you will comply with. If you’re constantly cheating, it won’t work.

Dr. Varady’s research shows that alternate-day fasting, where you 
consume about 500 calories on fasting days and can eat whatever you want
 on non-fasting days, works equally well for weight loss as complete 
fasting, and it’s a lot easier to maintain this type of modified fasting
 regimen.

In her study, which was recently completed, participants ate their 
low-calorie fasting day meal either for lunch or dinner. Splitting the 
500 calorie meal up into multiple smaller meals throughout the day was not
 as successful as eating just one meal, once a day. The main problem 
relates to compliance. If you’re truly eating just 500 calories in a 
day, you will lose weight. But when eating tiny amounts of food multiple
 times a day, you’re far more inclined to want more, so the cheat rate 
dramatically increases.







(Shutterstock*)







You may also like
An Overview of Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss
Intermittent Fasting – Is It for You?
Intermittent Fasting Infographic
How Alternate-Day Fasting Can Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals
Fasting Reduces Cholesterol Levels in Prediabetic People Over Extended Period of Time, New Research Finds


More in Fitness &amp; Nutrition
Healthy Foods for Growing Teens
Homemade Cashew Milk Recipe
6 Ways to Improve Fertility












In the featured documentary, Eat, Fast, and Live Longer,&nbsp;British
 author and journalist Dr. Michael Mosley documents his journey as he 
decides to try fasting, to see if it might improve his health.
At the outset, his blood work revealed he was borderline diabetic and
 his cholesterol was high, which his doctor wanted to treat with 
medication.
Concerned by this diagnosis—especially as he considers himself 
somewhat of an expert on conventional health strategies—Dr. Mosley sets 
out to investigate his alternatives.
“I have always been interested in self-experimentation as a 
research device because so many of the most important discoveries came 
from scientists and doctors who used themselves as test subjects,” he says, “but I had never before performed a series of trials on my own health.” 
His journey takes him across the United States, where he meets with 
both long-lived, healthy folk, and health and longevity experts, to 
learn the secrets of their success.

Your Body Was Built for Periodic Cycles of ‘Feast and Famine’
Fasting, it turns out, has a number of health benefits that most 
people seek: from improved cardiovascular health and reduced cancer 
risk, to gene repair and longevity.
In short, he discovers that part of what appears to be driving the disease process is the fact that we’re eating too frequently. When you’re in constant “feast mode,” your body actually forgoes much of its natural “repair and rejuvenation programming.”
It’s true that severe calorie restriction promotes both weight loss 
and longevity in animal models, but this kind of “starvation diet” is 
not a very appealing strategy for most people.
However, newer research shows that you can get most if not all of the
 same benefits of severe calorie restriction through intermittent 
fasting, i.e. an eating schedule where you feast on some days, and 
dramatically cut calories on others.
This effectively mimics the eating habits of our ancestors, who did 
not have access to grocery stores or food around the clock. They would 
cycle through periods of feast and famine, and modern research shows 
this cycling produces a number of biochemical benefits. In short, by 
altering what and when you eat, you can rather dramatically alter how 
your body operates. And that’s great news.

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Fasting is historically commonplace as it has been a part of 
spiritual practice for millennia. But modern science has confirmed there
 are many good reasons for fasting, including the following:

Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, and boosting mitochondrial energy efficiency:
 One of the primary mechanisms that makes intermittent fasting so 
beneficial for health is related to its impact on your insulin 
sensitivity.

While sugar is a source of energy for your body, it also promotes 
insulin resistance when consumed in the amounts found in our modern 
processed junk food diets. Insulin resistance, in turn, is a primary 
driver of chronic disease—from heart disease to cancer.
Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to use fat as its primary 
fuel, and mounting evidence confirms that when your body becomes adapted
 to burning FAT instead of sugar as its primary fuel, you dramatically 
reduce your risk of chronic disease

Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as “the hunger hormone”
Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production: Research has shown fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women, and 2,000 percent in men,&nbsp;which
 plays an important part in health, fitness, and slowing the aging 
process. HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which helps explain why 
fasting is so effective for weight loss
Lowering triglyceride levels and improving other biomarkers of disease
Reducing oxidative stress: Fasting decreases the 
accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents 
oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids 
associated with aging and disease

There’s also plenty of research showing that fasting has a beneficial
 impact on longevity in animals. There are a number of mechanisms 
contributing to this effect. Normalizing insulin sensitivity is a major 
one, but fasting also inhibits the mTOR pathway, which plays an important part in driving the aging process.
Intermittent fasting is by far the most effective way I know of to 
shed unwanted fat and eliminate your sugar cravings. Since most of us 
are carrying excess fat we just can’t seem to burn, this is a really 
important benefit. When sugar is not needed as a primary fuel, your body
 will also not crave it as much when your sugar stores run low.








As
 mentioned above, the other mechanisms that makes fasting so effective 
for weight loss is the fact that it provokes the secretion of HGH—a 
fat-burning hormone that has many well-recognized “anti-aging” health 
and fitness benefits.
Last but not least, intermittent fasting has also been identified as a
 potent ally for the prevention and perhaps even treatment of dementia. 
First, ketones are released as a byproduct of burning fat, and ketones 
(not glucose) are actually the preferred fuel for your brain.
In addition to that, intermittent fasting boosts production of a 
protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which activates
 brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous 
other chemicals that promote neural health. It also protects your brain 
cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. 
Research by Dr. Mark Mattson, a senior investigator for the National 
Institute on Aging, suggests that alternate-day fasting (restricting 
your meal on fasting days to about 600 calories), can boost BDNF by 
anywhere from 50 to 400 percent, depending on the brain region.3 

The 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Plan
Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that covers a wide array of fasting schedules.
 As a general rule, it involves cutting calories in whole or in part, 
either a couple of days a week, every other day, or even daily. Dr. 
Mosley became so convinced of the health benefits of intermittent 
fasting he wrote a book on the subject, called The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting.4
The fasting schedule he ultimately suggests in the book (after trying
 a couple of variations in the film), is to eat normally for five days a
 week, and fast for two. This schedule is sometimes referred to as the 
“5:2″ intermittent fasting plan. On fasting days, he recommends cutting 
your food down to one-fourth of your normal daily calories, or about 600
 calories for men and about 500 for women, along with plenty of water 
and tea. Dr. Mosley claims to have lost 19 pounds in two months by 
following this 5:2 intermittent fasting plan.



Alternate-Day Fasting—Another Alternative
Yet another variation that is quite common is the alternate-day fast.
 This fasting protocol is exactly as it sounds: one day off, one day on.
 When you include sleeping time, the fast can end up being as long as 
32-36 hours. The drawback is that it requires you to go to bed with an 
empty stomach every other day, which can be tough for most people—at 
least initially.
However, according to Dr. Krista Varady, author of The Every-Other-Day Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time) and Keep the Weight Off, the alternate-day fasting schedule does have a much higher compliance rate than many other fasting schedules. In the end, the best fasting schedule is the one that you will comply with. If you’re constantly cheating, it won’t work.
Dr. Varady’s research shows that alternate-day fasting, where you 
consume about 500 calories on fasting days and can eat whatever you want
 on non-fasting days, works equally well for weight loss as complete 
fasting, and it’s a lot easier to maintain this type of modified fasting
 regimen.
In her study, which was recently completed, participants ate their 
low-calorie fasting day meal either for lunch or dinner. Splitting the 
500 calorie meal up into multiple smaller meals throughout the day was not
 as successful as eating just one meal, once a day. The main problem 
relates to compliance. If you’re truly eating just 500 calories in a 
day, you will lose weight. But when eating tiny amounts of food multiple
 times a day, you’re far more inclined to want more, so the cheat rate 
dramatically increases.



How Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Live Healthier, Longer

 

By Dr Mercola, www.mercola.com | June 16, 2014

Last Updated: June 16, 2014 2:19 pm


















    






Feedback







(Shutterstock*)







You may also like
An Overview of Intermittent Fasting for Fat Loss
Intermittent Fasting – Is It for You?
Intermittent Fasting Infographic
How Alternate-Day Fasting Can Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals
Fasting Reduces Cholesterol Levels in Prediabetic People Over Extended Period of Time, New Research Finds


More in Fitness &amp; Nutrition
Healthy Foods for Growing Teens
Homemade Cashew Milk Recipe
6 Ways to Improve Fertility












In the featured documentary, Eat, Fast, and Live Longer,&nbsp;British
 author and journalist Dr. Michael Mosley documents his journey as he 
decides to try fasting, to see if it might improve his health.
At the outset, his blood work revealed he was borderline diabetic and
 his cholesterol was high, which his doctor wanted to treat with 
medication.
Concerned by this diagnosis—especially as he considers himself 
somewhat of an expert on conventional health strategies—Dr. Mosley sets 
out to investigate his alternatives.
“I have always been interested in self-experimentation as a 
research device because so many of the most important discoveries came 
from scientists and doctors who used themselves as test subjects,” he says, “but I had never before performed a series of trials on my own health.” 
His journey takes him across the United States, where he meets with 
both long-lived, healthy folk, and health and longevity experts, to 
learn the secrets of their success.

Your Body Was Built for Periodic Cycles of ‘Feast and Famine’
Fasting, it turns out, has a number of health benefits that most 
people seek: from improved cardiovascular health and reduced cancer 
risk, to gene repair and longevity.
In short, he discovers that part of what appears to be driving the disease process is the fact that we’re eating too frequently. When you’re in constant “feast mode,” your body actually forgoes much of its natural “repair and rejuvenation programming.”
It’s true that severe calorie restriction promotes both weight loss 
and longevity in animal models, but this kind of “starvation diet” is 
not a very appealing strategy for most people.
However, newer research shows that you can get most if not all of the
 same benefits of severe calorie restriction through intermittent 
fasting, i.e. an eating schedule where you feast on some days, and 
dramatically cut calories on others.
This effectively mimics the eating habits of our ancestors, who did 
not have access to grocery stores or food around the clock. They would 
cycle through periods of feast and famine, and modern research shows 
this cycling produces a number of biochemical benefits. In short, by 
altering what and when you eat, you can rather dramatically alter how 
your body operates. And that’s great news.

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Fasting is historically commonplace as it has been a part of 
spiritual practice for millennia. But modern science has confirmed there
 are many good reasons for fasting, including the following:

Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, and boosting mitochondrial energy efficiency:
 One of the primary mechanisms that makes intermittent fasting so 
beneficial for health is related to its impact on your insulin 
sensitivity.

While sugar is a source of energy for your body, it also promotes 
insulin resistance when consumed in the amounts found in our modern 
processed junk food diets. Insulin resistance, in turn, is a primary 
driver of chronic disease—from heart disease to cancer.
Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to use fat as its primary 
fuel, and mounting evidence confirms that when your body becomes adapted
 to burning FAT instead of sugar as its primary fuel, you dramatically 
reduce your risk of chronic disease

Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as “the hunger hormone”
Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production: Research has shown fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women, and 2,000 percent in men,&nbsp;which
 plays an important part in health, fitness, and slowing the aging 
process. HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which helps explain why 
fasting is so effective for weight loss
Lowering triglyceride levels and improving other biomarkers of disease
Reducing oxidative stress: Fasting decreases the 
accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents 
oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids 
associated with aging and disease

There’s also plenty of research showing that fasting has a beneficial
 impact on longevity in animals. There are a number of mechanisms 
contributing to this effect. Normalizing insulin sensitivity is a major 
one, but fasting also inhibits the mTOR pathway, which plays an important part in driving the aging process.
Intermittent fasting is by far the most effective way I know of to 
shed unwanted fat and eliminate your sugar cravings. Since most of us 
are carrying excess fat we just can’t seem to burn, this is a really 
important benefit. When sugar is not needed as a primary fuel, your body
 will also not crave it as much when your sugar stores run low.








As
 mentioned above, the other mechanisms that makes fasting so effective 
for weight loss is the fact that it provokes the secretion of HGH—a 
fat-burning hormone that has many well-recognized “anti-aging” health 
and fitness benefits.
Last but not least, intermittent fasting has also been identified as a
 potent ally for the prevention and perhaps even treatment of dementia. 
First, ketones are released as a byproduct of burning fat, and ketones 
(not glucose) are actually the preferred fuel for your brain.
In addition to that, intermittent fasting boosts production of a 
protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which activates
 brain stem cells to convert into new neurons, and triggers numerous 
other chemicals that promote neural health. It also protects your brain 
cells from changes associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. 
Research by Dr. Mark Mattson, a senior investigator for the National 
Institute on Aging, suggests that alternate-day fasting (restricting 
your meal on fasting days to about 600 calories), can boost BDNF by 
anywhere from 50 to 400 percent, depending on the brain region.3 

The 5:2 Intermittent Fasting Plan
Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that covers a wide array of fasting schedules.
 As a general rule, it involves cutting calories in whole or in part, 
either a couple of days a week, every other day, or even daily. Dr. 
Mosley became so convinced of the health benefits of intermittent 
fasting he wrote a book on the subject, called The Fast Diet: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Live Longer with the Simple Secret of Intermittent Fasting.4
The fasting schedule he ultimately suggests in the book (after trying
 a couple of variations in the film), is to eat normally for five days a
 week, and fast for two. This schedule is sometimes referred to as the 
“5:2″ intermittent fasting plan. On fasting days, he recommends cutting 
your food down to one-fourth of your normal daily calories, or about 600
 calories for men and about 500 for women, along with plenty of water 
and tea. Dr. Mosley claims to have lost 19 pounds in two months by 
following this 5:2 intermittent fasting plan.



Alternate-Day Fasting—Another Alternative
Yet another variation that is quite common is the alternate-day fast.
 This fasting protocol is exactly as it sounds: one day off, one day on.
 When you include sleeping time, the fast can end up being as long as 
32-36 hours. The drawback is that it requires you to go to bed with an 
empty stomach every other day, which can be tough for most people—at 
least initially.
However, according to Dr. Krista Varady, author of The Every-Other-Day Diet: The Diet That Lets You Eat All You Want (Half the Time) and Keep the Weight Off, the alternate-day fasting schedule does have a much higher compliance rate than many other fasting schedules. In the end, the best fasting schedule is the one that you will comply with. If you’re constantly cheating, it won’t work.
Dr. Varady’s research shows that alternate-day fasting, where you 
consume about 500 calories on fasting days and can eat whatever you want
 on non-fasting days, works equally well for weight loss as complete 
fasting, and it’s a lot easier to maintain this type of modified fasting
 regimen.
In her study, which was recently completed, participants ate their 
low-calorie fasting day meal either for lunch or dinner. Splitting the 
500 calorie meal up into multiple smaller meals throughout the day was not
 as successful as eating just one meal, once a day. The main problem 
relates to compliance. If you’re truly eating just 500 calories in a 
day, you will lose weight. But when eating tiny amounts of food multiple
 times a day, you’re far more inclined to want more, so the cheat rate 
dramatically increases.