Horizon BBC programme Eat, Fast, Live Longer

manderson27 · August 2012

Any one see Horizon tonight? Eat, Fast, Live Longer

Synopsis. Michael Mosley has set himself a truly ambitious goal: he wants to live longer, stay younger and lose weight in the bargain. And he wants to make as few changes to his life as possible along the way. He discovers the powerful new science behind the ancient idea of fasting, and he thinks he's found a way of doing it that still allows him to enjoy his food. Michael tests out the science of fasting on himself - with life-changing results.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/aug/06/eat-fast-and-live-longer?newsfeed=true

The two things that stood out for me was:

1. That a high protein diet forces the cells to divide and reproduce faster rather than to repair themselves slowly and that this can cause a higher risk of various cancers.

2. That fasting lowers your IGF1 Level and this can also reduce your risk of various cancers. Lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and of lower weight.

The presenter chose to do a 5/2 fast for 5 weeks. He ate normally for 5 days and then restricted calories to between 500 and 600 for the other 2 days. He lost 14 pounds and significantly lowered his IGF1, Cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

His wife (a GP) was very impressed with the results.

They showed several scientific studies that showed evidence in mice that Fasting can also help reduce the onset of Alzheimers by a significant amount. The scientist believed that when you fast it causes the memory synapses to fire to help you remember when you last found food, and this helps keep your memory working.

Sorry if I have made any errors in reporting this. Would be very interested in others opinions on the programme.

alltacht · August 2012

Im actually just watching it now on youtube as I missed it last night. I got to the part about protein and igf1 and paused to see was there anything on the boards about it. A bad word being said against protein on these boards.. unheard of! Anyway its very interesting so far, Ive been doing a form of I.F too with good results. But I also do high protein so that side of it has me intruiged..

yarwell · August 2012

I'm re-watching it to catch the protein bit. I've read intermittent calorie reduction work connected to breast cancer research - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017674 - and asthma - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1859864

The breast cancer folks are also testing intermittent low carb with and without energy restriction. None of their intermittent work has shown a significant IGF-1 reduction, so maybe the key is in the protein. Their low calorie days are an MFP scaring 500 - 600 kcal/day.

AlabasterVerve · August 2012

A bad word being said against protein on these boards.. unheard of! Anyway its very interesting so far, Ive been doing a form of I.F too with good results.

That and severely restricting your calories being beneficial. :laugh: If someone on these boards suggested eating 500 calories every other day there would be pages and pages of people lined up to let them know they're doing irreparable harm to their health and metabolism. And then the thread would probably be locked for promoting eating under 1200 calories and causing "starvation mode".

Fascinating program for sure -- I hope the funding continues and more research into this is done because it really is needed especially considering there's some indication that women respond differently to fasting.

But I can't imagine people are lined up to fund this research considering there's not really a way to capitalize on eating less.
There's nothing to sell -- it's just the opposite, people would spend less money. In fact, it would be pretty devastating for a lot of companies if a large portion of people just up and stopped consuming so much. Less prescriptions, supplements, and "healthy" snacks...exercise equipment, sneakers and protein powders...the diet industry is huge.

I'm sure someone will figure out a way to create a market out of fasting, selling something but for the life of me I can't figure out what it would be if this caught on.

yarwell · August 2012

"severe CR without malnutrition did not change IGF-1 and IGF-1 : IGFBP-3 ratio levels in humans. In contrast, total and free IGF-1 concentrations were significantly lower in moderately protein-restricted individuals. Reducing protein intake from an average of 1.67 g kg −1 of body weight per day to 0.95 g kg −1 of body weight per day for 3 weeks in six volunteers practicing CR resulted in a reduction in serum IGF-1 from 194 ng mL −1 to 152 ng mL −1 "

Long-term effects of calorie or protein restriction on serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentration in humans. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798

KirstFaye · August 2012

I need to go find this online!

AlabasterVerve · August 2012

yarwell, that's really some interesting and exciting research. Thanks for posting.

For those who missed it and aren't in the UK it's on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_539056&feature=iv&list=PLEE0322D24FB93746&src_vid=fI0GizIbEak&v=pSh6Ot8d7bU#t=1m55s

yarwell · August 2012

"Fasting" day food on fast day of alternate day fasting trial 25-30g of protein, 450 calories. Kittens will die.

http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1138/T1.expansion.html

Trial done by Krista Varady who appeared in programme.

JamesBurkes · August 2012

This chap has posted it in several sections on his Youtube channel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSh6Ot8d7bU

ahamm002 · August 2012

It seems like these various fasting methods are just ways to achieve long term low calorie diets. It's been well known for decades that long-term calorie restricted diets can lead to decreased metabolism, decreased body temperature, and basically reduced (slowed) aging. However, unless you naturally have a small appetite, you'd have constant hunger on your fasting days. Furthermore, it would also cause most men to look (and probably feel) like goblins. So no thanks. Those extra few years life at age 95 probably won't be worth it.

Now if you struggle to lose weight on a normal diet, then sure, go ahead and try one of the various fasting regimens.

head_in_rainbows · August 2012

"severe CR without malnutrition did not change IGF-1 and IGF-1 : IGFBP-3 ratio levels in humans. In contrast, total and free IGF-1 concentrations were significantly lower in moderately protein-restricted individuals. Reducing protein intake from an average of 1.67 g kg −1 of body weight per day to 0.95 g kg −1 of body weight per day for 3 weeks in six volunteers practicing CR resulted in a reduction in serum IGF-1 from 194 ng mL −1 to 152 ng mL −1 "

Long-term effects of calorie or protein restriction on serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentration in humans. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798

Can you explain this charts? I don't understand it

sydnisd183 · August 2012

DISCLAIMER: this is my experience only, i'm just sharing it.

I've completed 3 full weeks, and I'm in my 4th week of Intermittent Fasting. I eat approximately 1800 calories or so a day, and I give myself a 6-7 hour eating window per day to do it. From 2-9 pm. My meals are planned, with protein being about 50% of my total caloric intake. In 3 weeks I have lost 12 lbs and 6+ inches overall. I train fasted, and eat after I train. I feel incredible amounts of energy and focus, and all of my lifts have all gone up. I train heavy with compound movements 3x a week and I run 3x a week, and each workout lasts about an hour.

I love eating big after I train. I really like IF in general. I couldn't stand fiddling over 6 small meals/snacks daily.
I got my info from leangains.com., and a video on the YT entitled "How to Begin IF" by Dr. M. Lara. I heard about this UK program but since i'm in US obviously I couldn't check it out. Thanks for the links!

VMarkV · August 2012

Will watch later, thanks for sharing!

AlabasterVerve · August 2012

It seems like these various fasting methods are just ways to achieve long term low calorie diets. It's been well known for decades that long-term calorie restricted diets can lead to decreased metabolism, decreased body temperature, and basically reduced (slowed) aging. However, unless you naturally have a small appetite, you'd have constant hunger on your fasting days. Furthermore, it would also cause most men to look (and probably feel) like goblins. So no thanks. Those extra few years life at age 95 probably won't be worth it.

Now if you struggle to lose weight on a normal diet, then sure, go ahead and try one of the various fasting regimens.

Did you watch the program? I didn't think it was the same old information at all. And weight loss certainly wasn't the focus or living to 95, it was about staying a healthy functioning adult -- both mentally and physically -- as long as possible. Definitely worthwhile, in my opinion.

llstacy · August 2012

I know fasting is safe but for those who have looked into the research available do you think there's enough to do it on a regular basis for your health?

yarwell · August 2012

Can you explain this charts? I don't understand it

Sure, no worries.

The study compared three diets - low protein, low calorie and "western". Those are the three columns.

They measured various things (hence the four charts). IGF-1 is Insulin-like Growth Factor and is the thing they are seeking to reduce to promote longevity / reduce disease risks. You can see in the top left chart that IGF-1 was quite a bit lower on the low protein diet.

The symbol above the first bar indicates "statistical significance" ie the difference between the diets is bigger than could have happened through chance (given that different people are on the different diets, etc).

The other charts are insulin (top right), the ratio of IGF-1 to IGBF insulin-like growth factor binding protein (bottom left) and C-reactive protein (CRP) which is protein found in the blood, the levels of which rise in response to inflammation (bottom left).

The take home message is that the reduced protein diet reduced these four things, and reducing calories alone did not.

In mice etc I think these factors were found to reduce with reduced eating, hence the whole CALERIE project to look at long term calorie restriction in humans. The study above concluded that calorie restriction in humans was not enough, protein had to be reduced.

yarwell · August 2012

I know fasting is safe but for those who have looked into the research available do you think there's enough to do it on a regular basis for your health?

Enough evidence to justify doing it long term ? Hard to say. It appears to be popular with Breast Cancer researchers and others, so anyone with a family history of relevant ailments might be attracted to it.

If you want to live longer / healthier you may also be motivated, providing you get on with the IF so it doesn't make life unbearable as well as extended.