UK Sunday Times article on intermittent fasting

[Johan August]

In the Sunday Times of 19th February, Jonathan Leake reported on claims by Mark Mattson, Professor of neurosciences at John Hopkins University that eating every other day has the same beneficial effects as calorie restriction. Such diets appear to  " protect the heart, circulatory system and brain against age related diseases, including Alzheimer’s"
 "animals fed intermittently retained a higher sensitivity to insulin"and "also improved the animals’ resistance to a neurotoxin that simulates Alzheimer’s disease.Mattson compared the brains of animals fed a low calorie diet with those of animals that had eaten well. Calorie restricted diets appeared to enhance the function of brain synapses - the junctions between brain cells that promote the generation of new cells and make them more resistant to stress."

[cherimoya_kid]

Fascinating.

[invisible]

One must note that animals that IF unintentionally eat less than those that are continuously ad lib, because  when they are allowed to eat ad lib on eating days they (usually) simply don't eat enough to make up for the fast from the previous day. I have seen Michael Rae (a prominent calorie restriction follower) give a detailed analysis of the data, concluding that IF is not beneficial, per se, and that IF benefits are derived from the unintentional caloric restriction.

[TylerDurden]

Same with me. When I did alternate-day fasting, I would often not eat enough on the days I allowed myself to eat. I did better on a system whereby I did 24-hour IF routines and then did whole-day fasts here and there inbetween.

[Darwinian Fitness]

I have seen Michael Rae (a prominent calorie restriction follower) give a detailed analysis of the data, concluding that IF is not beneficial, per se, and that IF benefits are derived from the unintentional caloric restriction.

He's probably right, but my gut tells me that IF is the way to go over chronic calorie restriction.

IF is the more natural pattern for us and animals. When we make a kill or find a fruit tree, we eat "ad libitum", then we go with no food until we find more.

IF gives the digestive system periods of total rest, but always undereating always keeps it working just as much as any standard 3+meal-a-day eater.