"Being unfit is not an option."
~Someone I know
As an avid trekker and outdoor enthusiast, staying fit is a priority (or at least a strong aspiration). My quest has led me to explore various fitness fads, and intermittent fasting has been one of the more enduring ones.
I have been practicing intermittent fasting for a few years now, and I thought it’s time to share the notes I have collected over this period.
How it started 🌱
Years before Intermittent fasting came in limelight, I was reading about Alzheimer’s disease and came across an excellent TED talk titled "Why Fasting Bolsters Brain Power" by Mark Mattson [1].
At the time of the talk Mark Mattson was the Chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging. He was also a professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University.
The talk is long but packed with excellent points. My key takeaways were
Every time you eat a meal the energy goes into your liver and it's stored in the form of glycogen and it's always tapped into first. And it takes about 10 to 12 hours before you deplete the glycogen stores in your liver.
And once you deplete the glycogen stores in your liver then you start burning fats, and you produce what are called ketone bodies. It turns out ketone bodies are very good for your brain
~ From the talk
The Fasting Timeline 🕙
Over the time I figured out timeline of fasting (by reading or watching)
0-4 hours: Your body continues to burn glucose (sugar) from your last meal for energy. You might feel a bit hungry.
4-8 hours: Glucose stores start to deplete. Your body switches to burning glycogen (stored sugar) in your liver and muscles. Hunger pangs might increase.
8-12 hours: once you deplete the glycogen stores in your liver then you start burning fats, and you produce what are called ketone bodies. It turns out ketone bodies are very good for your brain.
12-20 hours: Ketone production ramps up. Your body enters a state of autophagy. Autophagy is your body's cellular cleanup process where it breaks down and recycles damaged cells and proteins for energy. You might feel more energetic and focused during this phase.
Autophagy ✨
The word autophagy comes from the Greek words auto- meaning "self" and phagein meaning "to eat". Autophagy is a process that degrades and recycles cellular components, and plays a key role in cancer and other diseases.
Japanese scientist Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries about autophagy.
Data science Meets Intermittent Fasting 📊
Intermittent Fasting is an effective heuristic
I came across an insightful post by Noah Gift [2], which explores intermittent fasting from a data science perspective. My most important takeaway was:
Why is Intermittent Fasting so effective? It also skips past the unsolvable complexity of counting calories to lose weight. Intermittent Fasting is an effective heuristic. Instead of counting calories, you don’t eat during blocks of the day
Data science Meets Intermittent Fasting (Dec 27, 2019)~ Noah Gift
Most recent one: Fasting and cancer 🧬
One of the most interesting talks I’ve come across recently discusses the link between fasting and cancer. Dr. Thomas Seyfried, a Professor of Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry at Boston College, explains the role of metabolic treatments in preventing and managing cancer.
It’s fascinating to learn how cancer cells obtain energy and how fasting can influence this process. Tumor cells are dependent on glucose and glutamine and can't use ketone for energy unlike normal cells. With fasting / nutritional ketosis, we can replace glucose and glutamine with Ketone bodies so we selectively marginalize tumor cells.
If you’re curious, Dr. Seyfried has also published a book titled ‘Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer’. [3]
You can check out his talk here
Discussion with Dr. Thomas Seyfried on Cancer [4]
My observations 📋
I follow the 8/16 fasting method—eating within an 8-hour window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours. During fasting hours, I allow myself black coffee or plain lemon water if needed. Black coffee, in particular, is believed to have benefits, including supporting liver health.
Lately, I’ve started working out in a fasted state, as many references suggest it has additional benefits. Initially, I was worried about my energy levels during workouts, but I didn’t experience any adverse effects. In fact, I felt lighter and enjoyed the “empty stomach” feeling. Now, the idea of stuffing myself in the morning feels uncomfortable.
Recently, I’ve also been trying to reduce the number of meals to two and avoid snacking in between. However, resisting the temptation of late afternoon snacks is still a bit challenging.
At the start, I lost some weight, which concerned me a little, but over time, my weight stabilized and has remained constant for years.
Other interesting reads
Dr Dixit Diet: Jagannath Dixit is an Indian professor who is known for propounding a diet plan to reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes.
What the research says about 'is intermittent fasting good overall?' Is intermittent fasting good overall? - Consensus
Intermittent fasting is overrated - @theliverdr
📚 References
Why fasting bolsters brain power: Mark Mattson at TEDxJohnsHopkinsUniversity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UkZAwKoCP8
Data Science meets Intermittent Fasting https://noahgift.com/articles/datascience-meets-intermittent-fasting/
Dr Thomas Seyfried's book ‘Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer’.
Discussion with Dr Thomas Seyfried on Cancer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaVC3PAWqLk&ab_channel=TheDiaryOfACEO
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