Key Messages
How Fasting Regularly Can Help You Live Longer And Stay Healthy
Fasting has the potential to do more than just help you stay healthy and fit.
Research shows that fasting can also lead to positive mental health outcomes, such as a decreased risk of depression.
Fasting helps us to connect with our body’s needs and can give us an opportunity for rest and reflection.
The Fast Diet book provides readers with valuable insights into the benefits of fasting not just for physical health, but for mental health as well.
You’ll learn how intermittent fasting can lower your risk of disease like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and depression.
You’ll also understand why our bodies aren’t designed to handle the sort of food we eat today.
And finally, you’ll discover how occasional fasting can increase your lifespan while also improving psychological wellbeing by reducing stress hormones and fostering mindful eating habits.
So if you’re looking to become healthier, happier, and longer-living, take a look at The Fast Diet!
Intermittent Fasting: An Effective Solution To Obesity, Hypertension And Other Diseases
Humans have been evolving over millennia, and the environment in which we lived had periods of scarcity that our bodies responded to.
It’s only recently that the amount of food available, plus lifestyle choices like snacking all day long, have caused obesity rates – and associated health concerns – to skyrocket.
Instead of following conventional wisdom and eating three meals a day, fasting intermittently can be more in line with our evolutionarily “normal” bodies.
When we do this, our bodies experience several health benefits like reduced oxidative damage and inflammation, optimized energy metabolism and enhanced cellular protection within the body.
These findings are backed up by a study conducted at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine where two groups of type 2 diabetics consumed the same calorie count per day, but it was split into two versus six meals daily – with those consuming two larger meals experiencing greater waist loss than those who ate smaller meals more frequently.
It would seem that fasting is much preferable to eating three meals every day if you want to lose weight while staying as healthy as possible.
The research suggests that reducing intake frequency can help mimic our natural environment from back in evolutionary times – making intermittent fasting a healthier option for us now than ever before!
Fasting Intermittently Could Help Slow Aging And Prevent Cancer, Research Suggests
Fasting intermittently can have great benefits to overall health, including a decrease in the likelihood of developing cancer and even an extended life span.
How is this possible? A large part of that may be due to a reduction in the amount of the hormone IGF-1, or insulin-like growth factor 1, which happens when you fast.
In experiments on mice that were genetically engineered not to produce IGF-1, Dr.
Valter Longo of the University of Southern California’s Longevity Institute found that they lived almost twice as long as mice with IGF-1 and also did not develop diabetes or cancer.
This further suggests that while higher levels of IGF-1 are needed while we’re young and developing, elevated levels later in life may lead to accelerated aging or even cancer.
But proof wasn’t limited just to animals – Longo’s studies on Ecuadorians with Laron syndrome, which results in extremely low levels of IGF-1 in the body, showed that those with it never developed diabetes or cancer either.
Longo eliminated external factors like environment since some relatives without Laron syndrome had developed cancer and some with it did not.
So fasting reduces your probability of getting cancer and can help you live longer too!
This could be due to a decrease in IGF-1 and signals from the body being sent out for maintenance rather than growth when you are fasting
Reap The Benefits Of Fasting: Become Smarter, Happier And Healthier In Later Life
Fasting has the power to affect our brain chemistry, meaning that it could protect us from degenerative illnesses like Alzheimer’s and other devastating diseases.
Dr.
Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at the National Institute of Aging, conducted a study on how fasting affects the human brain by genetically engineering mice to make them more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s.
The results were incredibly impressive; when mice consumed a normal diet, they started having problems with memory and learning – early signs of Alzheimer’s – by one year old (equivalent to when humans become middle-aged).
But when the mice were put on an intermittent fasting diet, it delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s for 20 months!
This is modern day equivalent to being 80 years old as humans.
Why was this significant? The fasting induced an increase in production of a vital protein called “brain-derived neurotrophic factor” which helps stimulate stem cells in the hippocampus area of your brain that control and regulate learning and memory.
In essence, if we are starving and require quickness in learning how to find food sources – this chain of events works in our favor.
Furthermore, evidence has indicated this same protein can produce antidepressant effects skilfully combating mental illness too!
Thus, it is clear that incorporating fasting into your routine could significantly reduce chances of developing degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s while also making you smarter and happier!
Intermittent Fasting: An Effective Way To Lower Your Risk Of Diabetes And Improve Insulin Efficiency
We’ve all heard of diabetes, and most know that it can have serious health consequences if left untreated.
But did you know that there is an effective way to reduce the risk of developing this disease? Intermittent fasting can help your body regulate insulin levels, thus curbing diabetes and other preventable diseases.
Intermittent fasting refers to abstaining from food for certain periods of time.
In a study conducted in 2005, eight healthy men were asked to fast every other day for 20 hours a day over a two-week period.
On fasting days, they could only eat between 6pm and 10pm.
After the two weeks had passed, the participants’ weight and fat levels remained the same, but their bodies’ sensitivity to insulin had substantially increased – meaning the same amount of insulin worked much more efficiently in their bodies than before the fast period.
By fasting intermittently, our body’s break down fat cells for energy and distract from reducing insulin levels; thus allowing it to work more efficiently in regulating blood glucose levels which helps curb diabetes or prevent its development in those at risk.
Fasting May Help Relieve Asthma, Eczema And Other Inflammatory Diseases
It’s widely known that allergens, both natural and artificial, can cause chronic inflammatory diseases like asthma and eczema.
But did you know that fasting may help with these conditions too?
This is what one 44-year-old discovered herself after she began fasting to lose weight.
Not only did she manage to shed 14 pounds but her breathing also improved.
A medical study was also done on obese asthmatics – ten individuals were placed on a fasting diet for eight weeks and had eating days where they could consume 20% of their normal caloric intake.
After two months, the participants lost an average of 18 pounds and even more surprisingly, many of their asthma symptoms became relieved within just two weeks!
The researchers believe this is due to a decline in proteins like tumor necrosis factor which are responsible for creating an inflammatory response in the body – since asthma is an inflammatory condition this result of fasting can be hugely beneficial.
And it doesn’t end there.
Fasting may even be able to help those suffering from eczema find relief – one woman reported improved symptoms after beginning a fast and several patches between her fingers had disappeared completely!
In conclusion, fasting definitely has its advantages when it comes to inflammatory diseases such as asthma and eczema!
The Benefits Of Fasting: How Michael Mosley Reaped The Rewards Of Intermittent Fasting
If you’re looking to become healthier, take a page out of Michael Mosley’s book.
The author of The Fast Diet embarked on a three-month five-to-two intermittent fasting journey and saw tangible results.
After just three months, he’d lost 19 pounds and his body mass index had gone down from 26.4 to 24.
Not only was he no longer overweight after his fasting journey, but his waist size went from 36 inches to 33 inches!
Perhaps the most impressive part of his success story is the fact that he managed to lower his glucose levels from 7.3 millimoles per liter to a healthy 5 millimoles per liter, effectively avoiding diabetes long-term.
And don’t forget about lowering IGF-1 levels which decreased his prospect for developing cancer and other age-related diseases as well!
Turns out it wasn’t too tough either; 600 calories on 2 days out of the week is still manageable and won’t leave you feeling overly deprived or starved through your journey.
In fact, most fasters report that it gets easier as soon as they get past the first few weeks of implementation.
They also rely on methods like drinking tea, taking walks, or having a shower when cravings attempt to arise during social events or periods of emotional stress.
Michael Mosley’s experience clearly showed that by implementing an intermittent fasting diet plan with proper nutrition in mind (as well as staying calm), you can definitely achieve all those health goals – big or small – that you’ve been hoping for!
Wrap Up
The Fast Diet is a great book that presents an easy approach to losing weight, reducing one’s risk of developing chronic diseases, and potentially delaying the onset of dementia.
The key message in this book is that fasting has been part of mankind’s evolution and the actionable advice given is to avoid sugary and fatty foods.
Through experiments done on mice, it was discovered that those who ate high-fat and sugar diets developed Alzheimer’s much earlier than those with a more balanced diet.
All in all, The Fast Diet successfully presents how powerful fasting can be for maintaining good health and how a healthier diet can act as a protective shield from disease.
