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Is your claim as true for people who care about their health? The kind of person who has the dedication to do intermittent fasting probably has the dedication t

Is your claim as true for people who care about their health? The kind of person who has the dedication to do intermittent fasting probably has the dedication to do a fair amount of exercise.

danieltillett 12y ago
My response was a bit of a throwaway pointing out that humans and lab animinals have rather converged in our lifestyles. What is more of a problem is the observation that human ageing has slowed rather dramatically in an evolutionary short time. The concern is that we have evolved this slower ageing physiology via a few simple adaptions (the low hanging fruit) and these are not reflected in the animal models. The fear is that when we use animal models the interventions we find in them will not apply to humans because we are already utilising these strategies naturally. For example, the level of Uric acid in humans is very high, so high that it tends to precipitate out in the extremities causing gout. One theory of why we have such high levels of Uric acid in our bloodstream is because it is protecting us from age related damage - it is one of the simple 'hacks' that we use to age slowly. Getting to your question there is some concern that calorie restriction won't work in humans for the same reason - we are already using the same pathways activated by calorie restriction in lab animals.
- irremediable 12y ago
  Thanks for your detailed follow-up! My apologies for only reading it now. I was always a bit sceptical of the fasting experiments being representative of humans, but I'd never looked at the specifics of it.
  - danieltillett 12y ago
    If it means anything I think fasting may help in humans - not by slowing ageing directly, but by improving glucose control. I would expect an increase in average life expectancy from intermittent fasting while having little effect on maximum life expectancy.
collyw 12y ago
I started intermittent fasting around a year ago, and usually I do do reasonable amount of exercise. I had a health review as part of my work three months after I started. I really wanted to stop, because the fasting was difficult (I was doing two days a week). While before I was fairly healthy, my blood pressure has always been a bit high, as with my cholesterol. After fasting they were both gone down to good levels. Anyway I cut down to one day a week, which is far more manageable (I am pretty skinny, and I was struggling to keep my weight up). Now it feels good. I have a feeling it is to do with insulin sensitivity, as I no longer feel hunger pangs, and don't get the sleepy feeling after having a huge lunch. So yes, I consider myself reasonably healthy, but even so I had blood pressure and cholesterol that were bordering between normal and high levels.
- mrfusion 12y ago
  I'm strongly considering starting this. Any tips? (Feel free to email if you don't want to share publicly.)
  - collyw 12y ago
    First month is tough, getting gradually easier. Probably easier to have a few small snacks to make up your day, followed by a bulky low calorie meal in the evening (I used to go for a small chicken breast in a stir fry with minimal oil - protein feels more satisfying). Now I kind of enjoy it (one day a week). I occasionally stop, i.e. on holiday, and I do notice a bit of lethargy creeping in a time to time. Otherwise, just get a cookbook and go for recipes that are less than 600 calories (that's the total I allow my self on a fast day). Should have the same health test in March, so hopefully one day a week is still doing well (I have a blood pressure monitor to check that and and mine still down, actually it improved when I went from 2 to 1 day a week, maybe because I was eating a lot of crap to try and keep my weight up). Have a google about for BBC's Horizon "Eat fast live longer". I can't find a full length version on youtube just now, but I am sure it is somewhere on the web. That's what inspired me.
    - mrfusion 12y ago
alextgordon 12y ago
Exercise and living a sedentary life are not mutually exclusive. Pretty much everybody on HN has to remain still for most of the day -- however much exercise they do.
- irremediable 12y ago
  Good point. As ever, things are more complicated than they might appear at first...

Is your claim as true for people who care about their health? The kind of person who has the dedication to do intermittent fasting probably has the dedication to do a fair amount of exercise.

danieltillett 12y ago

My response was a bit of a throwaway pointing out that humans and lab animinals have rather converged in our lifestyles. What is more of a problem is the observation that human ageing has slowed rather dramatically in an evolutionary short time. The concern is that we have evolved this slower ageing physiology via a few simple adaptions (the low hanging fruit) and these are not reflected in the animal models. The fear is that when we use animal models the interventions we find in them will not apply to humans because we are already utilising these strategies naturally. For example, the level of Uric acid in humans is very high, so high that it tends to precipitate out in the extremities causing gout. One theory of why we have such high levels of Uric acid in our bloodstream is because it is protecting us from age related damage - it is one of the simple 'hacks' that we use to age slowly. Getting to your question there is some concern that calorie restriction won't work in humans for the same reason - we are already using the same pathways activated by calorie restriction in lab animals.

irremediable 12y ago
Thanks for your detailed follow-up! My apologies for only reading it now. I was always a bit sceptical of the fasting experiments being representative of humans, but I'd never looked at the specifics of it.
- danieltillett 12y ago
  If it means anything I think fasting may help in humans - not by slowing ageing directly, but by improving glucose control. I would expect an increase in average life expectancy from intermittent fasting while having little effect on maximum life expectancy.

collyw 12y ago

I started intermittent fasting around a year ago, and usually I do do reasonable amount of exercise. I had a health review as part of my work three months after I started. I really wanted to stop, because the fasting was difficult (I was doing two days a week). While before I was fairly healthy, my blood pressure has always been a bit high, as with my cholesterol. After fasting they were both gone down to good levels. Anyway I cut down to one day a week, which is far more manageable (I am pretty skinny, and I was struggling to keep my weight up). Now it feels good. I have a feeling it is to do with insulin sensitivity, as I no longer feel hunger pangs, and don't get the sleepy feeling after having a huge lunch. So yes, I consider myself reasonably healthy, but even so I had blood pressure and cholesterol that were bordering between normal and high levels.

mrfusion 12y ago
I'm strongly considering starting this. Any tips? (Feel free to email if you don't want to share publicly.)
- collyw 12y ago
  First month is tough, getting gradually easier. Probably easier to have a few small snacks to make up your day, followed by a bulky low calorie meal in the evening (I used to go for a small chicken breast in a stir fry with minimal oil - protein feels more satisfying). Now I kind of enjoy it (one day a week). I occasionally stop, i.e. on holiday, and I do notice a bit of lethargy creeping in a time to time. Otherwise, just get a cookbook and go for recipes that are less than 600 calories (that's the total I allow my self on a fast day). Should have the same health test in March, so hopefully one day a week is still doing well (I have a blood pressure monitor to check that and and mine still down, actually it improved when I went from 2 to 1 day a week, maybe because I was eating a lot of crap to try and keep my weight up). Have a google about for BBC's Horizon "Eat fast live longer". I can't find a full length version on youtube just now, but I am sure it is somewhere on the web. That's what inspired me.
  - mrfusion 12y ago

alextgordon 12y ago

Exercise and living a sedentary life are not mutually exclusive. Pretty much everybody on HN has to remain still for most of the day -- however much exercise they do.

irremediable 12y ago
Good point. As ever, things are more complicated than they might appear at first...