There is a funny saying: The total number of things that everyone eats in this life is fixed. Whoever finishes eating first will leave first!

Although this statement is just a folk joke, it actually reflects people's concern that there is an inevitable connection between dietary intake and health. It is well known that there is a direct correlation between dietary intake and body weight.

Moreover, many medical studies have proven that effective weight control is indeed effective in maintaining human health and prolonging life. Therefore, from this perspective, controlling diet can reduce weight, losing weight can maintain health, and maintaining health can naturally prolong life.

But a new question also arises from this. What if the food is too tempting and the amount of food cannot be controlled well? Are the greedy “foodies” destined to live long and healthy lives? Is it really impossible to have your cake and eat it too?

As a result, two scientists from Duke University in the United States who both love food and have a spirit of research conducted a series of studies on this. Finally, after a series of experiments, they found that if they wanted to eat as much as they wanted, they could live a healthy and long life as long as they did intermittent fasting. To put it bluntly, how many meals and when you eat are very important! The discovery of these two people not only won the support of many gourmets, but also attracted the attention of the scientific community. Their research results were also published in the authoritative "Nature Metabolism".

This question is like a score-giving question. The purpose is of course to prolong life, and the principle is of course to reduce calorie intake!

First of all, this is the right answer! On the premise of maintaining the daily intake of nutrients such as water, vitamins and minerals, if the human body reduces calorie intake, it will definitely lose weight and be beneficial to health. To this end, researchers have conducted many relevant experiments on humans and rodents, and the test results have proven the inevitable connection between reducing average daily calorie intake, weight loss, and lifespan.

But the two Duke University scientists found that in previous experiments, while the experimental subjects were restricted in caloric intake, the frequency and period of intake were also strictly controlled. Although the test results show that weight loss will inhibit the inflammatory response in the experimenter's body and extend the life span, the test results do not clearly distinguish the effects of caloric intake, intake frequency and intake period on body weight and life span respectively. influence. In other words, whose credit is it for extending life? If this question cannot be confirmed, it means that it is impossible to clarify whether the principle of weight loss is to reduce caloric intake or to control the period and frequency of intake.

So these two Duke University scientists designed a whole new set of experiments using mice as subjects.

In the experiment, the mice were divided into three groups: A, B, and C. Each group received the same total amount of food every day. The difference is that group A has no limit on the number of meals a day, group B eats three times a day, and group C only eats one meal a day.

The results showed that the blood sugar regulation ability of the mice in group C was significantly improved compared with that of groups A and B. In addition, the mice in group C had lower body weight, lower body fat levels, and higher fat metabolism rate. Moreover, the metabolites (amino acids, carbohydrates, various nucleotides and other substances) in the mice of group C also changed significantly, which means that the metabolic pathways in these mice have changed, and this change even affects them. genes have an impact.

In the livers of these mice, the level of an amino acid called methionine was significantly increased, and this substance can change the binding state of histones and DNA, thus affecting a large number of Inheritance of genes related to metabolism.

In terms of health lifespan, when the hair of the mice in groups A and B began to fall off and fade due to aging, the hair of the mice in group C remained as healthy as ever, which shows that they age faster than those in group A. and Group B later. Finally, the test results also verified this. The life span of mice in group C was 10% longer than that in group A.

The test results show that when the dietary intake is the same, intermittent fasting is the key to maintaining health and preventing aging.

The results of this experiment also provide a more comprehensive answer to the question about the relationship between weight loss and health and longevity.

First of all, there is no doubt that weight loss has an auxiliary role in health and longevity, but this is not the most effective way, because intermittent fasting is more helpful in health and longevity. In other words, if you keep your caloric intake at a normal level and use intermittent fasting instead of heavy dieting, you will even achieve better health and longevity results.

First of all, it is important to note that medical research shows that intermittent fasting has different effects on mice and humans. If you eat only one meal a day, it doesn't matter whether you eat it in the morning or at night for mice, but it's different for people. If this meal is eaten in the evening, it may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but if it is eaten in the morning, this problem will not occur.

(1) 16+8 fasting method

16 is the fasting time, and 8 hours is the time when you can eat. To put it simply, if you have breakfast at 8 am, you can still have lunch and dinner before 4 pm. However, eating is prohibited after 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day.

(2) 24 fasting method

This is a more stringent fasting method, commonly known as the "soldier meal". 20 is the number of fasting hours and 4 is the number of eating hours.

In addition to the above two intermittent fasting methods, some people have summarized the alternate-day fasting method of eating one day and not eating, and the weekly intermittent fasting method of eating for 5 days and not eating for 2 days (non-consecutive). But here, we do not recommend these two intermittent fasting methods. Because some studies have found that fasting, which results in not eating on a certain day or eating only one meal a day, may have adverse effects on the long-term stability of blood pressure and blood sugar.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that although intermittent fasting can keep the body healthy and longevity without doing a lot of dieting, it is based on a healthy diet. In other words, the intermittent fasting method is a health method that adds icing on the cake, rather than turning decay into a magical medicine. If you eat unhealthy food and your food intake significantly exceeds normal standards, it is absolutely unrealistic to use intermittent fasting to offset the negative effects of these bad eating habits!

Netizens who have already experienced intermittent fasting are also very welcome to come here to share your valuable and interesting experiences.

References:

1 "Research Progress on the Weight Loss Effect and Mechanism of Intermittent Fasting" CNKI:SUN:SDYY.0.2019-34-030

2 "On Scientific Fasting and Health Promotion" CNKI:SUN:XDJZ.0.2015-17-308