Hi all, I’m new here. I don’t have much to add to most of the discussion (most here clearly know more than I do about most topics), but I do know a fair amount fasting. Ergo, my first post is here.
You make the point about rigidly held convictions- I’ll address some of yours…
“Fasting” is, intuitively, the norm in human evolution. We didn’t have a fridge and we didn’t start out farmers. We started out having to kill to survive (yes, we are omnivores, but animal meat was essential). We’d kill and eat our fill. We didn’t kill 3x/day. We had weather impacting food availability and causing famines. Survival was difficult.
My obvious point is that to call IF likely harmful ignores this reality. I would argue that there is no way our bodies are designed to eat multiple times per day. Once you get used to IF, it’s very easy. I average 19/5. Hungry sometimes, but rarely. More often, I lose track of time and realize I better eat because I’m 22, 24 hours with zero calories. It’s an easy adaptation for most- I believe that’s for good reason: THIS is normal, what everyone else does is abnormal, and only made possible due to advancements in food availability.
Taken further, going a couple few (or more) days between eating (ie: longer term fasting) was also the norm- just like other animals. Our bodies know what to do: switch to ketones, autophagy, etc. Why do our bodies know to do this? Obviously, because this reality was ALWAYS there and, thus, “designed in”. Starting day 3-4, it actually gets easier because your body realizes/thinks that it needs to operate well to find food in a difficult environment.
It’s becoming fairly accepted that fasting during chemo days for cancer patients is beneficial. Many find longer fasts (7 days+) heal long held ailments, pains, rashes, etc. Fasting has been used in many cultures for centuries. By definition, fasting starves the pathogens (especially of glucose)- again, intuitive if you give it a thought.
As to lean muscle loss… Muscle memory is forever. Any muscle “lost” comes back VERY quickly after the fast IF (a big IF) you do resistance training. For people incapable of doing resistance training due to injury/whatever- I agree with you. For everyone else, they’ll be back where they were , or stronger, in a matter of days. If you feel you lost too much weight during a fast, then bump up your caloric intake 5-7 days after the fast.
There’s a fair amount of evidence out there that shows things that make the body uncomfortable (heat, cold, fasting), cause the body to adapt in ways that are beneficial. Again, intuitively easy to understand- the body’s job is to survive.
I would posit that fasting should be even more beneficial to the type of people in this group. Many fast then go back to ice cream, cake and Mountain Dew. This group is more disciplined with their normal diet than average. So the post-fasting adjustment back to normal eating will be with a much better base diet to begin with.
As to whether fasting is additive to Rapamycin? I don’t know. Hell, much of what Rapamycin does is a mystery insofar as why and how. Fasting is way more understood that Rapamycin.
Ideally, I’d like to fast 5-7 days 3-4x/year with a couple 2-3 day fasts thrown in when doable (this isn’t too difficult when you eat 19/5 anyway). Am I following this right now? No. 5-7 days, especially a dry fast (my preference) is tough to schedule 4x/year. I’ve managed 2x 5 day dry fasts/year with a few 2-3 day fasts thrown in, along with my normal IF which I do about 90% of the time.
For anyone fasting who isn’t keto (I’m not), I’d suggest that the 24 hours before the fast be keto so that your glycogen stores are already well towards depleted from the get go.
