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Intermittent fasting- just an acceptable way of starving yourself?

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Replies

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited July 2018
    So, if I might jump in......not to add to the discussion necesarrily, but to provide my definition of what IF is....

    I look at IF as a schedule for eating. Plain and simple. There is an X Hour window in which I do not eat and there is an X Hour window in which I do eat. Pretty basic. Not sexy. Not gonna sell 1,000,000 books. But it is that simple (it just never seems to be easy).

    I was - as in, past tense - following the 16:8 cycle. So, my "DO NOT EAT" window was 16 hours and my "EAT EAT EAT" window was for eight hours.

    Please notice that I am not mentioning anything about skipping meals....I am not mentioning anything about more calories consumed or fewer calories consumed.

    It (IF) is simply the light switch (if you will).....I do consume my calories - whatever they might be for this day | week | month - within these eight hours.

    I am not super smart so I try to K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid) at all times and I do not think that there is anything more to IF than a schedule (or, to repeat the analogy that I used, the "light switch"). To this simple dude, pretty simple.

    Now, are there health benefits to IF?

    Possibly. And that is - at least to this simple dude - what the discussion is (mostly). Lots of smart people in here....I love just shutting up and listening.

    It appears there is some benefit in isocaloric diets using IF for those with insulin resistance. It appears to improve that without weight loss.

    ETA

    https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30253-5

    Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes

    Summary
    Intermittent fasting (IF) improves cardiometabolic health; however, it is unknown whether these effects are due solely to weight loss. We conducted the first supervised controlled feeding trial to test whether IF has benefits independent of weight loss by feeding participants enough food to maintain their weight. Our proof-of-concept study also constitutes the first trial of early time-restricted feeding (eTRF), a form of IF that involves eating early in the day to be in alignment with circadian rhythms in metabolism. Men with prediabetes were randomized to eTRF (6-hr feeding period, with dinner before 3 p.m.) or a control schedule (12-hr feeding period) for 5 weeks and later crossed over to the other schedule. eTRF improved insulin sensitivity, β cell responsiveness, blood pressure, oxidative stress, and appetite. We demonstrate for the first time in humans that eTRF improves some aspects of cardiometabolic health and that IF’s effects are not solely due to weight loss.



  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    So, if I might jump in......not to add to the discussion necesarrily, but to provide my definition of what IF is....

    I look at IF as a schedule for eating. Plain and simple. There is an X Hour window in which I do not eat and there is an X Hour window in which I do eat. Pretty basic. Not sexy. Not gonna sell 1,000,000 books. But it is that simple (it just never seems to be easy).

    I was - as in, past tense - following the 16:8 cycle. So, my "DO NOT EAT" window was 16 hours and my "EAT EAT EAT" window was for eight hours.

    Please notice that I am not mentioning anything about skipping meals....I am not mentioning anything about more calories consumed or fewer calories consumed.

    It (IF) is simply the light switch (if you will).....I do consume my calories - whatever they might be for this day | week | month - within these eight hours.

    I am not super smart so I try to K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid) at all times and I do not think that there is anything more to IF than a schedule (or, to repeat the analogy that I used, the "light switch"). To this simple dude, pretty simple.

    Now, are there health benefits to IF?

    Possibly. And that is - at least to this simple dude - what the discussion is (mostly). Lots of smart people in here....I love just shutting up and listening.

    It appears there is some benefit in isocaloric diets using IF for those with insulin resistance. It appears to improve that without weight loss.

    ETA

    https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(18)30253-5

    Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Insulin Sensitivity, Blood Pressure, and Oxidative Stress Even without Weight Loss in Men with Prediabetes

    Summary
    Intermittent fasting (IF) improves cardiometabolic health; however, it is unknown whether these effects are due solely to weight loss. We conducted the first supervised controlled feeding trial to test whether IF has benefits independent of weight loss by feeding participants enough food to maintain their weight. Our proof-of-concept study also constitutes the first trial of early time-restricted feeding (eTRF), a form of IF that involves eating early in the day to be in alignment with circadian rhythms in metabolism. Men with prediabetes were randomized to eTRF (6-hr feeding period, with dinner before 3 p.m.) or a control schedule (12-hr feeding period) for 5 weeks and later crossed over to the other schedule. eTRF improved insulin sensitivity, β cell responsiveness, blood pressure, oxidative stress, and appetite. We demonstrate for the first time in humans that eTRF improves some aspects of cardiometabolic health and that IF’s effects are not solely due to weight loss.



    This is interesting info and concurs with some other things I've read. My one concern about when someone posts about how something like IF or Keto can help with IR and BG in the absence of weight loss is that most folks who are IR or have BG issues are overweight and that is what caused their IR or BG issues. I'm afraid some will see it as a license to not address the causal health concern and attempt to just treat the symptom with keto/ low carb and IF.

    I realize that you are one of the exception that developed IR, i think it was from previous posts, while being at a healthy body weight. And for people like you, these tools can be life altering if not life saving. I realize you are not responsible for the choices of overweight people that may choose to view these tools as magic pills. But, I sure would like to see a disclaimer of sorts that says something along the lines of, "these techniques should be used in conjunction with weight loss for those that are overweight." Just a thought.

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