4 ms·

>Proper sleep, a complete diet, minimizing stress (I'm personally biased towards meditation), intermittent fasting, and vigorous cardiovascular exercise complem

>Proper sleep, a complete diet, minimizing stress (I'm personally biased towards meditation), intermittent fasting, and vigorous cardiovascular exercise complemented by strength training Yes, but the problem is this is such a broad brush stroke. For example, most people who are chronically stressed will generally never be able to obtain relief. There is a common joke about abs being made in the kitchen not in the weight room, and another one about not being able to outrun a poor diet. The truth is the best diet in the world, cardio and strength training will never overcome the damaging effects of cortisol as a result of chronic stress. The same for proper sleep. Its not just about 6-8 hours, its about quality. If you aren't getting quality sleep, most people don't have a solution. Then when they look for solutions its generally a bombardment of sleep products (from beds, to pillows, to supplements) that are backed by million/billion dollar companies that are targeting you when you perform a search for information/help. As to intermittent fasting, that has become a major fad since the Nobel Prize for Autophagy (with the most popular implementation being a 8/16 time restricted eating "fast"). In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting). Finally "a complete diet", not only is there no general consensus what that is, you generally can't even have a conversation about diet without triggering a flame war. It doesn't matter if you are WFPB, keto, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, carnivore...not only will people oppose your diet, they will aggressively attack it. I remember I once mentioned "detoxing" and couldn't believe people referring to it as voodoo, and telling me there is no such thing as detoxing the body, but then when I ask them what the function of the liver and kidneys are, and they had no idea.

maxduckworth 7y ago
How would you go about reducing chronic stress? Or are the causes of chronic stress so differentiated that there isn't a prescription you can make? Also, how did you go about detoxing, in your case?
lawrenceyan 7y ago
> most people who are chronically stressed will generally never be able to obtain relief This really stood out to me. If this is how you feel, I strongly recommend trying out meditation. I at one point in my studies while in college felt the same, and it really is night versus day in being able to experience a life without constant stress/anxiety. > The same for proper sleep. Its not just about 6-8 hours, its about quality. If you aren't getting quality sleep, most people don't have a solution. Stress/anxiety from above is generally the most common cause of poor sleep. Fixing that will give quality sleep for the majority of people. The next thing to try is to check with your doctor whether you have sleep apnea as that's probably the second most common trigger. For some, sleep apnea is treatable with better sleeping posture and for others it will require more active work to resolve. A note that obesity is the most common cause of sleep apnea. The third most common cause is likely some kind of thyroid condition. More than that is probably going to be a case by case basis where you'll have to individually look at your genetic profile through something like SNPedia (https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/SNPedia https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/SNPedia) to try and pinpoint your underlying issue. Usually though, the first three things will cover the vast majority of people looking for better sleep. > In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting For most normal people, it's unrealistic to be able to do day fasts. That's why the 8/16 method is so popular. You'll still see benefits as you are incorrect that, there has to be a strict limit of precisely 20 hours to get beneficial effects. Autophagy like any other biological process in the body is a series of continuous interlinking upregulating and downregulating mechanisms that ensure homeostasis. Autophagy is always happening. It's just that the longer you fast, the more your body gets tilted towards consuming/recycling until of course you end up in starvation which is effectively just extreme autophagy. > Finally "a complete diet", not only is there no general consensus what that is, you generally can't even have a conversation about diet without triggering a flame war. A complete diet to the best of our knowledge, consists of getting enough macronutrients like protein, lipids, and carbohydrates in addition to an immense number of different micronutrients that while seemingly daunting in size are actually relatively easy to get enough of as long as you eat a diverse mixture of different foods. If that answer doesn't satisfy you, there have been many different studies and current ongoing ones as well to try and pinpoint all the essential trace nutrients the human body needs to survive. From the ones that we've been able to gather over the years, if you were to solely supplement yourself based on those listed, you'd probably be fine. Though it's likely that there would be some things missing.
rsync 7y ago
"In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting)." I can't comment on how long it takes to achieve autophagy - I am happy to stipulate that you are correct. However, digestion is a very all-encompassing, rigorous and expensive activity for your body. If we believe that there are more "cleanup" mechanisms than just autophagy, it's not much of a reach to suggest that we engage in extra digestion at the expense of these maintenance tasks.
- throwaway_tech 7y ago
  >However, digestion is a very all-encompassing, rigorous and expensive activity for your body. If we believe that there are more "cleanup" mechanisms than just autophagy, it's not much of a reach to suggest that we engage in extra digestion at the expense of these maintenance tasks. Make no mistake I think there are potential benefits to IF fasting such as these. For most people yes it will let their digestive system rest and even potentially reduce the overall intake of calories. Again it is all potential though, obviously not everyone needs to do IF to restrict calories if that is their goal, and there are ways to consume calories while simultaneously not digesting solid foods (that are typically outside the accepted scope of IF or fasting). My point is the reason IF became a phenomena so widely discussed and implemented (edit: for increasing life span/expectancy) is directly related to the Nobel Prize in 2016; however, that work is related to autogaphy and fasting, not IF and IF related benefits. Edit:
godshatter 7y ago
>As to intermittent fasting, that has become a major fad since the Nobel Prize for Autophagy (with the most popular implementation being a 8/16 time restricted eating "fast"). In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting). There's always OMAD (one meal a day). I generally fast 23 hours out of every 24. I rarely think about my next meal until I get home from work and it's time to cook something.
so_tobeclear 7y ago
Agreed as to your finale, most people have a pop culture understanding of physiology, but remain vehemently opposed to certain ideas largely accepted by alternative health communities. (And the functions, for those of you still unclear, are many including balancing the blood pH and removing actual toxins from the body.) However, regarding fasting, one of the most recent studies (<1month, dec19) around is pretty compelling.(0) Though the breakdown is 6/18 vice 8/16 and it seems they do advocate for a weekly fast of 5/2 days (eat/fast). How's that for a weekend? 0. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136

maxduckworth 7y ago

How would you go about reducing chronic stress? Or are the causes of chronic stress so differentiated that there isn't a prescription you can make? Also, how did you go about detoxing, in your case?

lawrenceyan 7y ago

> most people who are chronically stressed will generally never be able to obtain relief This really stood out to me. If this is how you feel, I strongly recommend trying out meditation. I at one point in my studies while in college felt the same, and it really is night versus day in being able to experience a life without constant stress/anxiety. > The same for proper sleep. Its not just about 6-8 hours, its about quality. If you aren't getting quality sleep, most people don't have a solution. Stress/anxiety from above is generally the most common cause of poor sleep. Fixing that will give quality sleep for the majority of people. The next thing to try is to check with your doctor whether you have sleep apnea as that's probably the second most common trigger. For some, sleep apnea is treatable with better sleeping posture and for others it will require more active work to resolve. A note that obesity is the most common cause of sleep apnea. The third most common cause is likely some kind of thyroid condition. More than that is probably going to be a case by case basis where you'll have to individually look at your genetic profile through something like SNPedia (https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/SNPedia https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/SNPedia) to try and pinpoint your underlying issue. Usually though, the first three things will cover the vast majority of people looking for better sleep. > In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting For most normal people, it's unrealistic to be able to do day fasts. That's why the 8/16 method is so popular. You'll still see benefits as you are incorrect that, there has to be a strict limit of precisely 20 hours to get beneficial effects. Autophagy like any other biological process in the body is a series of continuous interlinking upregulating and downregulating mechanisms that ensure homeostasis. Autophagy is always happening. It's just that the longer you fast, the more your body gets tilted towards consuming/recycling until of course you end up in starvation which is effectively just extreme autophagy. > Finally "a complete diet", not only is there no general consensus what that is, you generally can't even have a conversation about diet without triggering a flame war. A complete diet to the best of our knowledge, consists of getting enough macronutrients like protein, lipids, and carbohydrates in addition to an immense number of different micronutrients that while seemingly daunting in size are actually relatively easy to get enough of as long as you eat a diverse mixture of different foods. If that answer doesn't satisfy you, there have been many different studies and current ongoing ones as well to try and pinpoint all the essential trace nutrients the human body needs to survive. From the ones that we've been able to gather over the years, if you were to solely supplement yourself based on those listed, you'd probably be fine. Though it's likely that there would be some things missing.

rsync 7y ago

"In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting)." I can't comment on how long it takes to achieve autophagy - I am happy to stipulate that you are correct. However, digestion is a very all-encompassing, rigorous and expensive activity for your body. If we believe that there are more "cleanup" mechanisms than just autophagy, it's not much of a reach to suggest that we engage in extra digestion at the expense of these maintenance tasks.

throwaway_tech 7y ago
>However, digestion is a very all-encompassing, rigorous and expensive activity for your body. If we believe that there are more "cleanup" mechanisms than just autophagy, it's not much of a reach to suggest that we engage in extra digestion at the expense of these maintenance tasks. Make no mistake I think there are potential benefits to IF fasting such as these. For most people yes it will let their digestive system rest and even potentially reduce the overall intake of calories. Again it is all potential though, obviously not everyone needs to do IF to restrict calories if that is their goal, and there are ways to consume calories while simultaneously not digesting solid foods (that are typically outside the accepted scope of IF or fasting). My point is the reason IF became a phenomena so widely discussed and implemented (edit: for increasing life span/expectancy) is directly related to the Nobel Prize in 2016; however, that work is related to autogaphy and fasting, not IF and IF related benefits. Edit:

godshatter 7y ago

>As to intermittent fasting, that has become a major fad since the Nobel Prize for Autophagy (with the most popular implementation being a 8/16 time restricted eating "fast"). In other words the goal is to trigger the body to begin consuming/recycling dead cells and other cellular waste; however, this typically isn't triggered by time restricted eating, but requires longer periods of fasting (usually kicking in around after 20-24 hours of fasting). There's always OMAD (one meal a day). I generally fast 23 hours out of every 24. I rarely think about my next meal until I get home from work and it's time to cook something.

so_tobeclear 7y ago

Agreed as to your finale, most people have a pop culture understanding of physiology, but remain vehemently opposed to certain ideas largely accepted by alternative health communities. (And the functions, for those of you still unclear, are many including balancing the blood pH and removing actual toxins from the body.) However, regarding fasting, one of the most recent studies (<1month, dec19) around is pretty compelling.(0) Though the breakdown is 6/18 vice 8/16 and it seems they do advocate for a weekly fast of 5/2 days (eat/fast). How's that for a weekend? 0. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1905136