Naina_Marbus
Active member
The power of intermittent fasting
When I was growing up, I found that most of the elders in the house – parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties - observed fasting at the drop of a hat - not just on ekadasi, chathurthi, ashtami, amavasya, saturday, tuesday, etc. When my mother recommended that I also start such upavasams, I dodged her saying that I was not ready for them. I did not think I was ever going to observe them, that is until recently, when I came across an article describing the science behind fasting ( Fasting ), and I was amazed at the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors.
An excerpt of this article is given below.
The aging process is controlled by our genes, and there is not much we can do about that. Research has shown that calorie restriction, which means eating well but in smaller amounts, extends life expectancy. A hormone called IGF-1(insulin-like growth factor) is one of the key molecules which keep our bodies in the dynamic mode, driving the cells to reproduce. This is alright while young, but not so good later in life. High levels of IGF-1 appear to accelerate ageing and age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes, while low levels are protective.
Scientists have created a genetically engineered mouse type that produced only very low levels of the hormone IGF-1, resulting in a 40% enhancement of life-expectancy, equivalent to humans living for 120 years or longer.
Research suggests that IGF-1 levels can be lowered by what you eat. Calorie restriction - eating less helps, but it is not enough. In addition to cutting calories, one has to cut protein intake also. Not entirely - that would be a very bad idea. Just don't obsess about not getting enough protein. A typical Indian vegetarian meal with dhal and vegetables, with yogurt/curd and/or buttermilk may be sufficient for most elders.
The explanation is that when our bodies no longer have access to food, they switch from "growth mode" to "repair mode", when levels of the IGF-1 hormone drop, and a number of repair genes appear to get switched on, according to ongoing research by Professor Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.
One area of current research into diet is Alternate Day fasting (ADF), involving eating what you want one day, then a very restricted diet (fewer than 600 calories) the next. Surprisingly, it does not seem to matter that much what you eat on non-fast days.
Dr Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago carried out an eight-week trial comparing two groups of overweight patients on ADF. She says that "If you were sticking to your fast days, then in terms of cardiovascular disease risk, it didn't seem to matter if you were eating a high-fat or low-fat diet on your feed (non-fast) days." [Caution:Just because of this report, don't start using ghee and butter without checkingwith your doctor.]
Michael J. Mosley, a British journalist, is well known for his episodes of "Inside the Human Body" featuring the human body and how it works. He decided to figure out for himself if fasting really works. He felt he couldn't manage ADF. So he improvised an easier version, the so-called 5:2 diet. Eat normally for 5 days a week, then for two days a week, eat just 500 - 600 calories. There were no hard and fast rules as to what to eat on fasting days. On other days, he ate normally, without gorging on food. He stuck to this diet for 5 weeks, during which time he lost nearly 20 lbs and his blood markers, like IGF-1, glucose and cholesterol, improved.
When I was growing up, I found that most of the elders in the house – parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties - observed fasting at the drop of a hat - not just on ekadasi, chathurthi, ashtami, amavasya, saturday, tuesday, etc. When my mother recommended that I also start such upavasams, I dodged her saying that I was not ready for them. I did not think I was ever going to observe them, that is until recently, when I came across an article describing the science behind fasting ( Fasting ), and I was amazed at the knowledge and wisdom of our ancestors.
An excerpt of this article is given below.
The aging process is controlled by our genes, and there is not much we can do about that. Research has shown that calorie restriction, which means eating well but in smaller amounts, extends life expectancy. A hormone called IGF-1(insulin-like growth factor) is one of the key molecules which keep our bodies in the dynamic mode, driving the cells to reproduce. This is alright while young, but not so good later in life. High levels of IGF-1 appear to accelerate ageing and age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes, while low levels are protective.
Scientists have created a genetically engineered mouse type that produced only very low levels of the hormone IGF-1, resulting in a 40% enhancement of life-expectancy, equivalent to humans living for 120 years or longer.
Research suggests that IGF-1 levels can be lowered by what you eat. Calorie restriction - eating less helps, but it is not enough. In addition to cutting calories, one has to cut protein intake also. Not entirely - that would be a very bad idea. Just don't obsess about not getting enough protein. A typical Indian vegetarian meal with dhal and vegetables, with yogurt/curd and/or buttermilk may be sufficient for most elders.
The explanation is that when our bodies no longer have access to food, they switch from "growth mode" to "repair mode", when levels of the IGF-1 hormone drop, and a number of repair genes appear to get switched on, according to ongoing research by Professor Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.
One area of current research into diet is Alternate Day fasting (ADF), involving eating what you want one day, then a very restricted diet (fewer than 600 calories) the next. Surprisingly, it does not seem to matter that much what you eat on non-fast days.
Dr Krista Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago carried out an eight-week trial comparing two groups of overweight patients on ADF. She says that "If you were sticking to your fast days, then in terms of cardiovascular disease risk, it didn't seem to matter if you were eating a high-fat or low-fat diet on your feed (non-fast) days." [Caution:Just because of this report, don't start using ghee and butter without checkingwith your doctor.]
Michael J. Mosley, a British journalist, is well known for his episodes of "Inside the Human Body" featuring the human body and how it works. He decided to figure out for himself if fasting really works. He felt he couldn't manage ADF. So he improvised an easier version, the so-called 5:2 diet. Eat normally for 5 days a week, then for two days a week, eat just 500 - 600 calories. There were no hard and fast rules as to what to eat on fasting days. On other days, he ate normally, without gorging on food. He stuck to this diet for 5 weeks, during which time he lost nearly 20 lbs and his blood markers, like IGF-1, glucose and cholesterol, improved.
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