Rubenerd

There’s a resurgent interest online about intermittent fasting, based on the increase in tweets, news articles, and videos being posted about it. Most extrapolate off a research paper published in 2016, titled Intermittent Fasting and Human Metabolis. It concluded:

It is well known that in humans, even a single fasting interval (e.g., overnight) can reduce basal concentrations of metabolic biomarkers associated with chronic disease such as insulin and glucose. For example, patients are required to fast for 8–12 hours before blood draws to achieve steady-state fasting levels for many metabolic substrates. Therefore the important clinical and scientific question is whether adoption of a regular intermittent fasting regimen is a feasible and sustainable population-based strategy for promoting metabolic health. In addition, research is needed to test whether these regimens can complement or replace energy restriction and if so, whether they support long-term weight management. Below, we briefly summarize the major conclusions that can be drawn based on the current evidence.

Click through and read all their findings, it’s well worth it.

I was told the story growing up that you needed to eat a huge breakfast, and then many times during the day. It always felt like a struggle, unless it was a treat when travelling. So I decided to skip breakfast beyond some water and a black coffee most days since early February, and felt no difference in energy. And without any other changes in my lifestyle, I’ve gone down a belt hole size.

Vague anecdotes based on a paper concluding more research needs to be done is almost, but not entirely, meaningless. But passing on out of interest.