Fasting- my thoughts.

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Whitezombiegirl
Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
It doesn’t switch you into (the dreaded...) ‘starvation mode’ more like it switches you into ‘repair mode’



CAVEAT: This is a simplified view. I have a Biolgy background and an interest in paleoethnology so i KNOW this is a VERY SIMPLE take on this. Its just how I think of things. (feel more than free to correct me and jump in with your thoughts)

Metabolism (eating/breathing) causes ‘free-radicals’, by-products which damage cells (which is why nutrition is so important, not just calories - vitamins & minerals to make the compounds which ‘gobble them up’ and prevent cell damage). In addition protein promotes the production of ‘growth factor’ (growth of nails, skin, hair etc). When we grow our cells divide and they often make tiny in the DNA (where mutations good and bad come from). In ‘grow mode’ this s a constant process. Obviously making bad copies of bad copies will eventually lead to a reduction in quality and more and bigger mistakes- this leads to cancer, heart disease and cell aging. Plus the amount of carbs/sugars we are eating is very unnatural and is causing ‘SyndromeX’ which leads to Diabetes.

In times of plenty we grow and times of famine we repair. Lack of protein (no kill that day/ week) switches off production of growth factor focuses energy of repairing at a cellular level - so when the body gets fed again (protein from a ‘kill’) the resulting growth will be from healthier cells with ‘fixed’ DNA. It has also been show to grow new brain neurons. This cycle is a good and natural thing.

By forcing ourselves in to an artificial constant ‘time of plenty’ we are in full-speed grow mode with no time to ‘rest and repair’. The overall result is devastating amounts of cellular damage, which is why Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, unnatural aging (internally and externally) etc. is increasing in the Western world.

I tend to think of it like this:

Think of workload (eating/food) in an Office (Your body). When there is work on, you are mad-busy being productive and dealing with all the work. When there is no work on, you do the house-keeping. If you never had time to do any house-keeping eventually your productivity would be of poorer quality and the office would be in a mess!

I've been doing 'feed days' and 'fast days' chosing to exrecise on my fast days- does anyone know the sceince behind why i might have tonnes of energy on the fast days? It seems so counter-intuitive to me (but I'm not complaining!)

Replies

  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
    Very interesting

    I was thinking about metabolism last not(not science/training background)

    As was thinking that surely our current lifestyle is the wrong way around. Years ago we would of fattened up during the summer to maintain ourselves during the winter(healthy, repair). And seems to be what every animal does

    We (me) gain weight during the winter and they don;t really lose it during the summer due to ice cream, holidays, beer etc, and it keeps tipping on and on.

    Also I think it would make sense that our met would slow in the winter
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 8,315 Member
    Google "Intermittent Fasting" or "Alternate Day Fasting". There is a lot of material about supposed health benefits associated with this type of eating program. Most conclusions come from animal, as opposed to human research, though.
  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    Winter to me means weight gain purley for the reason of Xmas- chocolates int he office, nights out, increased drinking, Xmas meals etc. I have decided to just ignore it all this year- as i knoe just one bite will lead to many more.
  • DanetteNel
    DanetteNel Posts: 68 Member
    I just read Brad Pilon's 'Eat-Stop-Eat' which goes into great detail as to how and why 24 hour periods of intermittent fasting work. He says that the extra energy on fast days is a common bonus amongst his clients.

    I wonder if it is because the body does not have to use energy breaking down and digesting food?

    After a large meal, all people want to do is sleep - because the body says that it needs to work on processing the food and does not have energy to do anything else...

    I am trying the intermittent fasting as it makes sense to me, and then on non-fasting days I can up my calories a bit as I now monitor calories on a weekly basis.

    Fascinating stuff :wink:
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