– weight loss
\n– postponement of dementia (eq. of 10 yrs)<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.nutritionaction.com\/daily\/diet-and-weight-loss\/are-there-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting\/<\/span><\/p>\n Are There Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that if you reduce the calorie intake of rats or mice, they live much longer,\u201d says Mark Mattson, chief of the laboratory of neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in Baltimore.<\/p>\n What happens in species closer to humans is more complicated. Rhesus monkeys fed 30 percent fewer calories lived longer in a study at the University of Wisconsin, but not in a study at the NIA.<\/p>\n Act now to download your FREE copy of\u00a0Diet and Weight Loss: Trim Calories Per Bite to Trim Pounds<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>without cost or obligation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why the different results? One possibility: The Wisconsin monkeys were fed fewer calories than monkeys fed as much high-sugar, high-fat food as they wanted. In contrast, the NIA monkeys were fed fewer calories than monkeys fed as much (low-sugar, low-fat) food as they\u00a0needed<\/em>\u00a0to maintain their weight.<\/p>\n \u201cOne take-home message is that if you are an overweight monkey like those in Wisconsin, cutting back on calories will extend your lifespan,\u201d says Mattson. \u201cWhereas if you are eating a healthy diet and not overweight like the NIA monkeys, cutting back on calories may not extend your life, although you may experience some health benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n What if you\u2019re human? In the first good study in normal-weight or slightly overweight (but not obese) people, researchers asked roughly 150 men and women to consume 25 percent fewer calories at each meal than they needed to maintain their weight, and 75 similar people to follow their normal diet, for two years.<\/p>\n The calorie cutters managed to eat 12 percent fewer calories, and they lost 10 percent of their body weight. That may explain why their blood pressure was lower and their insulin worked better than those who ate their normal diets.<\/p>\n \u201cThey lowered their risk factors for heart attack, stroke, and diabetes,\u201d says Eric Ravussin, director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The study hasn\u2019t yet been published.<\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t the calorie cutters cut more? \u201cEating less than you would like to every day is a struggle,\u201d says Ravussin. \u201cSome people can do it, but many cannot.\u201d<\/p>\n But cutting calories only on\u00a0some<\/em>\u00a0days may be easier.<\/p>\n Mon<\/strong>, Tues, Weds,\u00a0Thurs<\/strong>,\u00a0Fri<\/strong>,\u00a0Sat<\/strong>,\u00a0Sun<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s the alternate-day modified fast,\u201d says Ravussin. \u201cEvery other day you eat only one meal with maybe 30 percent of your normal daily calorie intake.\u201d<\/p>\n And there\u2019s the 5:2 diet, in which you eat a normal diet five days of the week, and only 30 percent of what you would normally eat on the other two days.<\/p>\n \u201cWhichever it is, you have to make sure you don\u2019t overeat on the normal days,\u201d cautions Ravussin.<\/p>\n So far, intermittent fasting shows promise in both animals and people.<\/p>\n \u201cLaboratory animals that get no food at all on alternate days live about 30 percent longer than animals that eat their regular diets every day,\u201d says Mattson.<\/p>\n In humans, the 5:2 plan seems to hold an edge over fasting every day.<\/p>\n In two of the best studies, Mattson and colleagues divided 166 overweight middle-aged women into two groups. Both were told to cut calories by 25 percent\u2014one by trimming the calories in each meal, the other by following a 5:2 plan.<\/p>\n In both studies, the women were told to eat a high-protein \u201cMediterranean-type\u201d diet with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seafood, and olive oil, and only moderate amounts of dairy, poultry, eggs, and lean red meat.<\/p>\n On the two fasting days of the 5:2 diet, one study prescribed just four cups of low-fat milk, four servings of vegetables, and one serving of fruit. The other study prescribed about 9 oz. of lean protein, 3 servings of low-fat dairy, 4 servings of low-carb vegetables, and a low-carb fruit. Both also recommended low-calorie drinks and a multivitamin-and-mineral.<\/p>\n In each study, both calorie-cutting groups lost about the same weight. \u201cBut insulin resistance declined more in the 5:2 groups than in those who cut calories daily,\u201d says Mattson. And in the three-month trial (the other trial lasted six months) the women on the 5:2 regimen lost more body fat.<\/p>\n Why did the 5:2 dieters do better? They were more likely to stick to their plan. \u201cAnd on the two days that they ate only 500 to 600 calories, their metabolism shifted to burning fat,\u201d says Mattson.<\/p>\n Brain Diet?<\/p>\n Middle-aged rats, after being deprived of all food every other day for three months, lost 23 percent of their body weight and had better motor coordination and cognitive skills than similar rats who could eat all they wanted.<\/p>\n One possible reason: \u201cIntermittent fasting increases brain levels of a protein that stimulates the growth of new brain cells and the connections between them,\u201d says Mattson.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think what\u2019s happening is that when you\u2019re hungry, your brain cells are more active so you can figure out how to find food,\u201d he explains. \u201cDuring evolution, those who were able to figure out how to get food were the ones who survived.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, our brain cells may respond in a similar way when we\u2019re hungry.<\/p>\n Intermittent fasting also seems to postpone dementia, at least in animals. In mice bred to show signs of Alzheimer\u2019s disease by middle age, eating only every other day delays the onset of dementia by the human equivalent of about 10 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a big effect,\u201d says Mattson. \u201cBut we\u2019re nowhere near being able to say the same about humans.\u201d<\/p>\n The bottom line:<\/strong>\u00a0Cutting calories may not prolong your life, but it may lower your blood pressure and make your insulin work better.<\/p>\n Sources:\u00a0Science 325<\/em>: 201, 2009;\u00a0Nature 489<\/em>: 318, 2012;\u00a0Mech. Ageing Dev. 55<\/em>: 69, 1990;\u00a0Int. J. Obes. 35<\/em>: 714, 2011;\u00a0Br. J. Nutr. 110<\/em>: 1534, 2013;\u00a0Age 34<\/em>: 917, 2012;\u00a0Endocrinology 144<\/em>: 2446, 2003;\u00a0Neurobiol. Dis. 26<\/em>: 212, 2007.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" – weight loss – postponement of dementia (eq. of 10 yrs) http:\/\/www.nutritionaction.com\/daily\/diet-and-weight-loss\/are-there-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting\/ Are There Benefits of Intermittent Fasting? Here is what researchers have discovered about fasting some days per week David Schardt\u00a0\u2022 March 24, 2014 \u201cWe\u2019ve known for a long time that if you reduce the calorie intake of rats or mice, they live much … Continue reading Benefits of Intermittent Fasting<\/span> Here is what researchers have discovered about fasting some days per week<\/h2>\n