Why Longevity Experts Are Warning Against Fasting
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the evolving views on fasting, particularly the shift from initial enthusiasm based on rodent studies to a more cautious stance informed by human clinical trials. It discusses the benefits of time-restricted feeding, such as weight loss and improved blood sugar control, and addresses the critical flaw in studies that compared calorie-restricted groups. The video also highlights the importance of protein intake during fasting and the potential muscle loss from prolonged fasts. It concludes with practical advice on integrating time-restricted feeding into a healthy diet and cautions against multi-day fasts due to muscle degradation.
Takeaways
- 🔬 The initial excitement for intermittent fasting came from rodent studies showing benefits like weight loss and increased lifespan, even without calorie restriction.
- 🧬 Autophagy, the cellular process of clearing away damaged components, was observed in rodents during fasting, suggesting potential health benefits.
- 🧐 Human clinical trials have shown that the benefits of time-restricted feeding are largely due to calorie restriction rather than the fasting itself.
- 📉 A meta-analysis by the Cochran organization found no differences in weight loss or blood sugar levels when calorie intake was matched between fasting and non-fasting groups.
- 🏋️♂️ Concerns about muscle loss during prolonged fasting have led experts like Dr. Peter AA and Dr. Ronda Patrick to reconsider their stance on fasting protocols.
- 🥤 To maintain protein intake and support muscle building, it's recommended to include a low-calorie protein shake in the diet, especially during periods of fasting.
- ⏰ The timing of meals is important; having a large breakfast and medium lunch with a small early dinner, followed by a period of no eating, can be beneficial for sleep and recovery.
- 🦵 Muscle is crucial for health, and multi-day fasts can lead to significant muscle loss, which is why they are advised against in the script.
- 📚 The video emphasizes the importance of protein intake and encourages viewers to explore further content on optimizing protein consumption for health.
- 🙏 The video concludes with a thank you to patrons for their support, highlighting the community aspect of health education.
Q & A
Why did Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Ronda Patrick change their stance on fasting?
-Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Ronda Patrick changed their stance on fasting due to new human clinical research that suggests there is no additional benefit from time-restricted feeding beyond calorie restriction.
What was the initial excitement for intermittent fasting based on?
-The initial excitement for intermittent fasting was based on studies in rodents that reported time-restricted feeding reduced body weight, improved blood sugar control, lowered insulin levels, and increased lifespan.
What is autophagy and how is it related to fasting?
-Autophagy is the cellular process where old, damaged components are cleared away to make room for new components. It was observed in rodents during fasting periods and was thought to contribute to the health benefits of time-restricted feeding.
What is the critical point about the rodent studies on fasting?
-The critical point is that even when food intake was matched to the control group, rodents who ate within a smaller time frame lived longer, suggesting potential benefits beyond just calorie restriction.
What flaw was found in most human studies on time-restricted feeding?
-The flaw found in most human studies on time-restricted feeding is that the groups practicing time-restricted feeding typically consumed fewer calories compared to the control group, making it difficult to isolate the effects of fasting from calorie restriction.
What did the 2020 meta-analysis of human studies on time-restricted feeding suggest?
-The 2020 meta-analysis suggested that time-restricted feeding offered greater weight loss and reductions in blood sugar levels compared to diets where people could eat whenever they wanted.
Why did Dr. Attia stop his multi-day fasts?
-Dr. Attia stopped his multi-day fasts due to a lack of good human evidence supporting their long-term benefits and concerns about muscle loss, which he felt was not worth the potential benefits.
How does muscle loss relate to fasting practices?
-Muscle loss relates to fasting practices because prolonged fasting can lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue, which is difficult to rebuild, leading to a net loss in muscle mass and strength.
What is the recommended approach to time-restricted feeding according to the script?
-The recommended approach to time-restricted feeding is to ensure adequate protein intake to support muscle health, possibly by including a low-calorie protein shake during the fasting period.
Why are multi-day fasts discouraged in the script?
-Multi-day fasts are discouraged due to their impact on muscle stores, which are considered too important to waste away, and the lack of evidence for long-term benefits.
What is the significance of brushing teeth after dinner as mentioned in the script?
-Brushing teeth after dinner serves as a powerful signal that eating for the day is finished, which can help divert resources towards repair while sleeping rather than digestion.
Outlines
🍽️ Changing Stance on Fasting Protocols
The speaker discusses the evolution of their views on fasting and meal skipping in the context of longevity. They highlight the influence of Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Ronda Patrick, who have also revised their positions on fasting. The initial excitement for intermittent fasting stemmed from rodent studies that showed benefits such as weight loss, improved blood sugar control, and increased lifespan, even when calorie intake was the same as the control group. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the human clinical trials on fasting, which have led to a shift in their approach. They point out that autophagy, a cellular process that clears out old damaged components, was observed in rodents during fasting but that human studies have not conclusively shown the same benefits. The speaker also raises concerns about the methodological flaws in some studies, such as calorie intake not being properly controlled, which could skew the results. They conclude by suggesting that the benefits of time-restricted feeding may be due to calorie restriction rather than the fasting itself.
🥤 Balancing Caloric Restriction with Protein Intake
The speaker advises against multi-day fasts due to potential muscle loss and a lack of evidence supporting their long-term benefits. They explain that while calorie restriction is beneficial for weight loss and diabetes management, it's crucial to ensure adequate protein intake to support muscle health and recovery from resistance exercise. The speaker suggests incorporating a low-calorie protein shake during fasting periods to maintain protein intake. They share their personal preference for having a large breakfast, medium lunch, and a small early dinner, followed by a 30-minute wait before brushing teeth to signal the end of the eating day. This approach, they believe, helps the body focus on repair during sleep. The speaker also recommends against prolonged fasting, as it can lead to muscle loss, which is a significant concern. They conclude by encouraging viewers to watch a subsequent video that delves deeper into protein intake and its role in health.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fasting Protocol
💡Meal Skipping
💡Autophagy
💡Time-Restricted Feeding
💡Calorie Restriction
💡Protein Intake
💡Multi-Day Fasts
💡Human Clinical Trials
💡Muscle Loss
💡Intermittent Fasting
💡Longevity
Highlights
Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Ronda Patrick have changed their stance on fasting protocols.
Initial excitement for intermittent fasting came from rodent studies showing benefits like weight loss and increased lifespan.
Autophagy, the cell clearance process, was observed in rodents during fasting, suggesting potential benefits for humans.
A 2020 meta-analysis suggested time-restricted feeding might offer greater weight loss and blood sugar control.
Most human studies on time-restricted feeding have a flaw: the fasting groups tend to consume fewer calories.
A 2012 Cochrane meta-analysis found no difference in weight loss or blood sugar levels when calorie intake was matched.
A 2019 study suggested alternate day fasting might reduce fasting insulin and insulin resistance more than calorie restriction.
The benefits of time-restricted feeding appear to be due to calorie restriction rather than the fasting itself.
Multi-day fasts were thought to powerfully activate autophagy, but there's no good evidence for long-term benefits in humans.
Muscle loss is a significant concern with prolonged fasting, which can outweigh potential benefits.
Time-restricted feeding is beneficial for weight loss and diabetes management, but it's essential to ensure adequate protein intake.
A low-calorie protein shake is recommended during the fasting period to maintain muscle mass.
The speaker personally prefers a large breakfast, medium lunch, and a small early dinner for optimal health.
Multi-day fasts are discouraged due to their impact on muscle stores.
Protein intake is crucial for muscle maintenance and overall health.
The speaker encourages patients to consider time-restricted feeding for weight loss but to be mindful of protein intake.
The speaker shares a personal strategy of having a large breakfast and brushing teeth after dinner to signal the end of eating for the day.
The speaker suggests measuring heart rate overnight to compare the effects of different meal timings on sleep and energy levels.
Transcripts
why did I stop my fasting protocol one
of the biggest things I've changed my
mind on over the past few few years is
um my stance on meal skipping why has
Peter AA and Ronda Patrick who are both
famous doctors in the longevity space
changed their position on fasting and
how should we approach fasting based on
the latest human research to optimize
our health we need to get this right
because if we don't it can take years
off our lifespan this topic can be
confusing so in this video I'll be
breaking it down in simple terms giving
you the pros and cons of meal skipping
so that you know what to look out for
and I'll give you a clear plan on how to
approach fasting in case you decide it's
worth it for you now you've probably
heard great things about intermittent
fasting so what's caused the shift in Dr
a and Dr Patrick's approach well the
initial excitement for intermittent
fasting it came from studies in rodents
which reported that time-restricted
feeding or eating within a small window
in the day reduced body weight improved
blood sugar control lowers insulin
levels and increases lifespan and here
is the critical point even when food
intake is matched to the control group
so we know from previous rodent studies
that restricting calories extends rodent
lifespan but here in the time restricted
feeding studies even when both groups of
rodents were eating the same amount of
food the rodents who ate the food within
that smaller time frame in the day were
living longer that Leed to an explosion
in popularity of time-restricted feeding
where even if you don't need to lose
weight it was hoped that if humans also
ate with within that smaller time frame
in the day we too could live longer and
healthier so how was it thought that
time-restricted feeding could offer
these benefits well when rodents were
fasting for a period of time during the
day scientists took biopsies and they
saw that a process called autophagy was
occurring in the cells of these mice so
autophagy is the cell clearance process
where old damaged components are flushed
away and then new components can be
built it sounds wonderful but we are not
rodents what do the human clinical
trials show and as more research came
through that led to Dr Peter AA and Dr
Ronda Patrick to shift their position at
first the research and humans looked
promising for example a 2020 meta
analysis of the human studies suggested
that time-restricted feeding offered
greater weight loss and reductions in
blood sugar levels compared to other
diets where people could eat whenever
they wanted so it all sounds wonderful
but when we dig deeper we find a big
problem most of the studies that were
done on time-restricted feeding have a
fatal flaw the time-restricted feeding
groups they ate less calories compared
to the control group now this isn't the
problem that led Dr AA and Dr Patrick to
change their position that's coming soon
but it's important that we finish off
this thread remember it was hoped that
time-restricted feeding would offer
benefits Beyond simply restricting
calories that's what the rodent study
suggested but when the Cochran
organization performed a metaanalysis in
20121 where they combined all of the
relevant clinical studies together they
found that the trials that matched the
calorie IND intake between both groups
there were no differences in weight loss
or blood sugar levels even studies that
aimed to calorie match the diet groups
struggled take for example this 2019
study which concluded that alternate day
fasting May produce greater reductions
in fasting insulin and insulin
resistance versus calorie restriction
but when you actually look at the data
and explore how many calories both
groups ate the fasting group still ate
less calories compared to the calorie
restriction group so it was the lower
calorie intake that offered those
benefits it didn't seem to have anything
to do with the fasting itself and it's
the same for fatty liver there appear to
be no further benefits from
time-restricted feeding Beyond calorie
restriction and to put another nail in
the coffin a new time-restricted feeding
study was recently published both groups
ate the same amount of calories but one
group ate within a 10hour window and ate
80% of the food before 1: p.m. while the
other group ate an a usual eating
pattern and had over 50% of their food
after 5 p.m overall there were no
differences in weight loss or blood
sugar levels between the two groups
suggesting that any effect that
time-restricted feeding had on weight is
due to reductions in calorie intake but
isn't restricting calories a good thing
should we use time-restricted feeding to
reduce our food intake yes but here is
where the confusion comes in and this is
why Dr AA Dr Patrick and my previous
fasting videos tried to add Nuance to
this topic controlling calorie intake is
great but we need to be mindful about
protein to maximize the benefits of
resistance exercise and to support
muscle building we want 1.6 g of protein
intake per kilogram of lean body weight
per day so if someone is completely
skipping meals it can be quite difficult
to reach those protein targets for
example often when people practice
time-restricted feeding they skip
breakfast and only eat in the afternoon
and evening that can be great for
restricting calories but not so great
for protein intake instead if someone
wants to have their main meals in the
afternoon and evening to restrict their
overall calorie intake one option would
be to include a low calorie protein
shake in the morning we don't need to
worry about so-called breaking a fast
because we know it's not the fasting
itself that offers the benefits it's the
overall reduction in calorie intake but
what if we take fasting a step further
and perform multi-day fasts in theory
fasting for multiple days in a row
should powerfully activate autophagy and
provide the benefits that we see in the
rodent studies this is actually the
strategy that I used to do about 3 to 4
years ago where every 3 months I would
do a water fast for 7 days now what's
the justification for this well a rat
hour is very different to a human hour
rats have a metabolic rate of roughly
6.4 times that of humans so a rat
fasting for 16 hours is roughly the
equivalent of a human fasting for 4 days
now this is a very crude method but it
likely explains why humans don't appear
to get any additional benefit from time
restricted feeding Beyond calorie restri
restriction whereas rats do especially
when you consider that in humans our
liver stores energy in the form of
glycogen and it can take up to 48 hours
to burn through those glycogen stores
before autophagy really kicks in now I
want to be clear that this is
speculation and it's based on
mechanistic reasoning but it's the
justification provided for multi-day
fasts but I stopped doing these
prolonged fasts because of two reasons
the first is that there's no good human
evidence that this is beneficial in the
long term or the that autophagy is being
activated but the second and probably
more important reason is muscle loss so
every day we break down muscle and if we
don't rebuild that lost muscle we're in
a net loss and we lose strength any
potential benefit I was receiving from
these prolonged fasts they were vastly
outweighed by the negative impact on my
muscle stores similar to what happened
to Dr AA you may ask the question why
did I stop my fasting protocol it's very
difficult to gain back the lean muscle
you keep losing so let's try now and
pull everything together there's no
benefit from time-restricted feeding
Beyond calorie restriction that's what
the human clinical research suggests to
us today calorie restriction is great
for weight loss and to treat diabetes so
in my clinic I frequently advise my
patients who want to lose weight or to
reduce their blood sugar levels to
consider time-restricted feeding but I
encourage them to also use a low calorie
protein shake during the part of the day
where they're fasting this is to make
sure that they're getting enough protein
to look after their muscles I advise
this because it's not that something
magical is happening to the body during
these skipped meals or that we're
activating autophagy it's the calorie
restriction that's doing the trick some
patients want to eat their meals in the
afternoon and which case I advise that
they have a low calorie protein shake in
the morning others want to eat their
meals in the morning in which case
they'll have that protein shake in the
afternoon and evening for me personally
I feel best when I have a large
breakfast and medium lunch and a small
early dinner after dinner I wait 30
minutes and then I brush my teeth that's
a powerful signal that I've finished
eating for the day and by using the
strategy I make sure that when I'm
sleeping my body is diverting resources
to repair rather than digestion it's
actually quite an interesting experiment
to run if you have a smartwatch measure
your heart rate overnight and compare
what happens when you have a large late
dinner compared to an early light dinner
your heart rate will be much lower if
you have an early light dinner and the
vast majority of people wake up with a
lot more energy finally I advise my
patients against multi-day fasts due to
the impact on their muscle stores muscle
is far too important to have it waste
away and I've spoken a lot about protein
during this video but I've only scratch
the surface so I highly recommend that
you check out this next video here where
I go into detail about protein intake
and the best strategies to optimize
protein intake for our health and a
massive thank you to all of the patreons
supporting the channel
Voir Plus de Vidéos Connexes
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Why Experts are Warning Against Fasting - Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon
Dr. Peter Attia on The Importance of Strength Training During a Fast | The Tim Ferriss Show
New Science on Best Fasting Length for Fat Loss (12 Hours Through 72 Hours)
How Fasting & Caloric Restriction Impact Health | Dr. Satchin Panda & Dr. Andrew Huberman
Il digiuno intermittente NON fa dimagrire e NON migliora la glicemia?
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