Effect of Intermittent Fasting on Health Living - Part II

In Part II, Peter Bowes presets the results of the clinical trials he underwent during the intermittent fasting. Really interesting, yet to be validated with more clinical and field trials, are these facts:

1. Changes in the levels of a growth hormone known as IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor). 

High levels of IGF-1, which is a protein produced by the liver, are believed significantly to increase the risks of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. Low levels of IGF-1 reduce those risks. Studies in mice have shown that an extreme diet, similar to the one I experienced, causes IGF-1 levels to drop and to stay down for a period after a return to normal eating.

The author's trial data showed exactly the same pattern.

2. Author's blood tests also revealed that the major inhibitor of IGF-1, which is called IGFBP-1, was significantly up during the fasting period, indicating the body is switching to a healthy and more conducive way of ageing.

Part II of the article:

Many of the changes in my body when I took part in the clinical trial of an intermittent fasting diet were no surprise. Eating very little for five days each month, I lost weight, and I felt hungry. I also felt more alert a lot of the time, though I tired easily. But there were other effects too that were possibly more important.

During each five-day fasting cycle, when I ate about a quarter the average person's diet, I lost between 2kg and 4kg (4.4-8.8lbs) but before the next cycle came round, 25 days of eating normally had returned me almost to my original weight.

But not all consequences of the diet faded so quickly.

"What we are seeing is the maintenance of some of the effects even when normal feeding resumes," explains Dr Valter Longo, director of USC's Longevity institute, who has observed similar results in rodents.

"That was very good news because that's exactly what we were hoping to achieve."

Clinical tests showed that during the diet cycles my systolic blood pressure dropped by about 10%, while the diastolic number remained about the same. For someone who has, at times, had borderline hypertension, this was encouraging. However, after the control period (normal diet), my blood pressure, like my weight, returned to its original - not-so-healthy - state.

The researchers will be looking at whether repeated cycles of the diet could be used to help manage blood pressure in people over the longer term.

Arguably, the most interesting changes were in the levels of a growth hormone known as IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor). High levels of IGF-1, which is a protein produced by the liver, are believed significantly to increase the risks of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer. Low levels of IGF-1 reduce those risks.

"In animals studies we and others have shown this to be a growth factor that is very much associated with ageing and a variety of diseases, including cancer," says Longo.

Studies in mice have shown that an extreme diet, similar to the one I experienced, causes IGF-1 levels to drop and to stay down for a period after a return to normal eating.

My data showed exactly the same pattern.

"You had a dramatic drop in IGF-1, close to 60% and then once you re-fed it went up, but was still down 20%," Longo told me.

Such a reduction could make a significant difference to an individual's likelihood of developing certain cancers, he says. A study of a small population of people in Ecuador, who have much lower levels of IGF-1, because they lack a growth hormone receptor, showed that they rarely develop cancer and other age-related conditions.

My blood tests also revealed that the major inhibitor of IGF-1, which is called IGFBP-1, was significantly up during the fasting period. Even when I resumed a normal diet, the IGFBP-1 level was elevated compared with my baseline. It is, according to Longo, a sign that my body switched into a mode that was much more conducive to healthy ageing.

Data from other participants in the study is still being analysed, but if they also show lower levels of IGF-1 and higher levels of IGFBP-1, it could help scientists develop an intermittent fasting regime that allows people to eat a normal diet for the vast majority of the time, and still slow down the ageing process.

One idea being explored by Longo is that a five-day intervention every 60 days may be enough to trigger positive changes in the body.

"This is exactly what we have in mind to allow people, for let's say 55 every 60 days, to decide what they are going to eat with the help of a good doctor, and diet in the five days. They may not think it is the greatest food they have ever eaten, but it's a lot easier, let's say, than complete fasting and it's a lot safer than complete fasting and it may be more effective than complete fasting."

The very small meals I was given during the five-day fast were far from gourmet cooking, but I was glad to have something to eat. There are advocates of calorie restriction who promote complete fasting.

My blood tests also detected a significant rise in a type of cell, which may play a role in the regeneration of tissues and organs.

It is a controversial area and not fully understood by scientists.

"Your data corresponds to pre-clinical data that we got from animal models that shows that cycles of fasting could elevate this particular substance, considered to be stem cells," said Dr Min Wei, the lead investigator.

The substance has also been referred to, clumsily, as "embryonic-like".

"At least in humans we have a very limited understanding of what they do. In animal studies they are believed to be 'embryonic-like' meaning... they are the type of cells that have the ability to regenerate almost anything," says Longo.

It would be highly beneficial if intermittent fasting could trigger a response that enhances the body's ability to repair itself, but much more research is required to confirm these observations.

This diet is still at the experimental stage and data from the trial are still being studied. Other scientists will eventually scrutinise the findings independently, and may attempt to replicate them.

"We generally like to see not only an initial discovery in a trial but we like to see confirmatory trials to be sure that in the broadest kind of sense, in the general population that these findings are going to be applicable," says Dr Lawrence Piro, a cancer specialist at The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute.

"I do believe fasting to be a very effective mechanism. They are pieces of a puzzle, that puzzle is not fully revealed yet, the picture isn't clear yet but there's enough of the picture clear. I think we can be really excited that there is some substantial truth here, some substantial data coming forward and something that we can really be hopeful about."

Future clinical trials will focus on "at-risk" members of community - those who are obese - to gauge their response to a severely restricted diet.

But if this diet, or another intermittent fasting diet, is eventually proven be effective and sustainable, it could have profound implications for weight loss and the way doctors fight the diseases of old age.

Insulin-like growth factor 1

·         IGF-1 is a protein produced by the liver when it is stimulated by growth hormone circulating in the blood

·         It plays a role in the growth of muscle, bones and cartilage throughout the body, and is critical to growth and development during childhood

·         Lower levels of IGF-1, induced by calorie restriction, have been shown in rodents to slow the ageing process and protect against cancer

·         IGF-1 levels in adult humans vary according to age and gender

Credit: BBC News

Effect of Fasting on Healthy Living - Part I

I read this interesting article recently which establishes a clear link between controlled and intermittent fasting with healthy living.

The direct results seems to be the:
- control of obesity (and its related diseases)
- slower ageing
- measurable improvement of vital parameters and vitality

How I am amazed at the fact that Indian culture and traditions have been advocating a veg based similar fasting techniques (though in the name religious beliefs)! 

I recall my teenage when my mother insisted, apart from her and father's following, that we take up fasting twice a week with very minimal intake of veg, rice, soup only for lunch and dinner and go without anything in the morning.

Not only my family but all other believers used to be fasting this way - 2 days a week and 8 days a month much similar to what the author of this article recommends 30 years later now.

There are serious fasting months wherein, a special pilgrimage upcoming, mostly once in a year, we are to follow the above routine for 40 days (yes, 40 days!) at a stretch. The results usually are longer lasting than what is seen in this author's personal clinical trial. We, returning from the pilgrimage, would be slimmer, fitter, healthier and revitalised the effects of which lasted longer till the next fasting season arrives. This is even after returning to normal diet for the rest of year, of course the twice a week routine continuing.

Now having read this experiment, I fully well understand the science and methodology behind what we have been practicing and still being practiced in most parts of India.

The first part of the article:

Intermittent fasting: Enduring the hunger pangs

Scientists in California are conducting a clinical trial to test a diet that may help people lose weight while also boosting resistance to some diseases. One of their guinea pigs was the BBC's Peter Bowes, who reports here on his experience of fasting for five days per month.

Author: Peter Bowes

It's been tried on mice and now it's being tried on humans - a diet that involves multiple five-day cycles on an extremely low-calorie diet. Each of those five days is tough, but the upside is that for much of the time - about 25 days per month - people eat normally, although not excessively.

The low-calorie period includes small amounts of food to minimise the negative effects of a total fast. Designed by scientists to provide a minimum level of essential vitamins and minerals, the diet consists of:

·         vegetable-based soups

·         energy bars

·         energy drinks

·         dried kale snacks

          chamomile tea

·    

Spinach soup: Dinner, three nights out of five

Dried Kale snack

These meals are extremely low in calories - about 1,000 on day one and 500 for each of the next four days. With the exception of water and black coffee, nothing else is consumed.

The limited selection of food (with no choice of flavours) means that everything has to be eaten. It's monotonous... but at least it makes meal planning easy for five days.

"The reason why diets don't work is because they are very complicated and people have an interpretation problem," says Dr Valter Longo, director of the University of Southern California (USC) Longevity Institute.

"The reason I think these diets work is because you have no interpretation. You either do it or you don't do it. And if you do it you're going to get the effect."

Dr Longo established a company to manufacture the food, based on research in his department at USC. He has shown in mice that restricting calories leads to them living longer with less risk of developing cancer.

The food used during the trial is the result of years of experimenting. The idea is to develop a diet that leads to positive cellular changes of the same kind seen in mice that have been made to fast.

"It turned out to be a low-protein, low-sugar-and-carbohydrate diet, but a high-nourishment diet," explains Longo.

"We wanted it to be all natural. We didn't want to have chemicals in there and did not want to have anything that is associated with problems - diseases. Every component has to be checked and tested. It's no different to a drug."

Longo stresses that the experimental food could not be made in your kitchen.

But it is a big leap from laboratory mice to human beings. Restricting the diets of rodents is easy, but people have minds of their own - and face the culinary temptations of the modern world.

I knew the diet cycles would be difficult.

I love to eat. I enjoy a big, healthy breakfast, exercise a lot and - left to my own devices - snack all day before digging in to a hearty evening meal. At 51, I am in good shape. I weigh 80kg (12 stone 8lbs / 176lbs) but like most middle-aged men, I struggle with belly fat. I have never tried any kind of fasting regime before.

The diet meals were better than I expected - at least initially. I was so hungry I would practically lick the soup bowl and shake the last kale crumb from its bag, to tide me over to the next feeding time.

Note: it is no longer lunch or dinner. It is a feeding opportunity. It is certainly not a social occasion.

The diet
	Day 1 (1,000-1,100 cals)	Day 2 (500 cals)	Day 3 (500 cals)	Day 4 (500 cals)	Day 5 (500 cals)
Morning snack	Chamomile tea + bar	Chamomile tea + bar	Chamomile tea + bar	Chamomile tea + bar	Chamomile tea + bar
Lunch	Carrot soup + dried kale	Carrot soup + drink	Beetroot soup + drink	Carrot soup + drink	Carrot soup + drink
Afternoon snack	Tea + energy bar	Tea	Tea	Tea	Tea
Dinner	Beetroot soup + dried kale	Spinach soup + dried kale	Spinach soup + dried kale	Beetroot soup + dried kale	Spinach soup + dried kale

Headaches, a typical side effect of fasting, started on Day 2 but they waned within 24 hours, leaving me in a state of heightened alertness. During the day - and especially in the morning - I was more alert and productive. Hunger pangs came and went - it was just a matter of sitting them out. But they did go.

By the evening - especially on Day 5, I was exhausted. Tiredness set in early.

But I made it through the five days - for three cycles - without deviating from the regime. I lost an average of 3kg (6.6lbs) during each cycle, but regained the weight afterwards.

All participants keep a diary, noting their body weight, daily temperature reading, meals and mood. The feedback - positive and negative - is vital to the integrity of the study, which is partly designed to establish whether the diet could work in the real world.

For me, and for all but about 5% of the volunteers who have completed all three cycles, the diet was do-able - although opinions vary about the taste of the food.

Lead investigator Dr Min Wei says that for some people the diet is a greater wrench than for others, depending on their lifestyle. The absence of carbohydrates and desserts, can hit some people hard, for example, and also the restriction to black coffee alone. "We are fairly strict," he says. "We recommend people stick to the regimen. If people enjoy special coffee - lattes for example - they won't be able to enjoy them."

Data from the volunteers is still being collected and analysed. The early signs are that the diet is safe and could be adopted by most healthy people, providing they are suitably motivated to endure the periods of hunger.

But the full effect can only be measured over the long term. Initial changes in the body may not tell the full story.

"Having dietary factors influence your body sometimes takes years and years," explains Dr Lawrence Piro, a cancer specialist at the Angeles Clinic and Research Institute.

This particular trial now moves into the laboratory. Based on blood tests, has anything changed inside my body to suggest extreme dieting improves my chances of avoiding the diseases of old age?

Credit: BBC News