Intermittent Fasting

Dr. Luigi Fontana is professor at Brescia University Medical School and Washington University Medical School where he is also co-director of the Longevity Research Program.  His longevity work on simple organisms, animals and humans is among the the most cited by researchers around the world.

Calorie restriction has been highly correlated with increased lifespan and a much lower incidence of chronic conditions especially cardiovascular disease and cancer. People who long term have eaten 40% fewer calories than standard needs for age, weight, sex and activity levels appear 20 years younger by many tests of body and tissue age. Although some people choose this eating style, most of us are unwilling to consider it. Dr. Fontana has looked at many variations in eating patterns to determine whether total calorie restriction or dietary restriction (changes in eating patterns and/or foods eaten) determines health and longevity. His conclusion is that eating patterns and the food eaten are what is critical. Those who calorie restrict control times of eating and what they eat but calorie restriction itself is not the key to health and longevity.

Patterns of eating which are particularly healthy:

Consuming most of your calories early in the day

Consuming all calories in one 5-7 hour period during the day (intermittent fasting)

Fasting every other day or at least two days a week

My son John switched to intermittent fasting a few years ago after I told him of Fontana's research. He has his first meal of the day after noon and an early dinner- no breakfast, snacks or late night meals. He finds this pleasant, not difficult and it does not harm his strength(he's a weight lifter) or energy. He also lost 15 -20 unwanted pounds. Intermittent fasting does not lead to weight loss unless calories are also decreased. John and many others on this regime do lose weight because they naturally eat less with this schedule.

Fontana L and Partridge L: Promoting Health and Longevity through Diet: From Model Organisms to Humans. Cell 161(1) 
26 Mar15 106-118