Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Interesting article on IF that goes beyond the simple question of can you lose weight doing it:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 084351.htm

The journal citing (behind a paywall): https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1905136

And the whole article as a free PDF: https://www.gwern.net/docs/longevity/2019-decabo.pdf

I would recommend reading my full thread on intermittent fasting. It covers all these issues, not just the supposed weight benefits but also the supposed metabolic benefits. It was never just about weight.

There is nothing new here. It’s just a review of old data which is covered in my thread.

I am most surprised that a piece of crap like this, got published in the new England Journal of Medicine.

In health
Jeff

Your right Jeff, this is a review article of previous studies. And I am tired of all the articles claiming some miraculous additional weight-loss atributable to IF, which we know is simply not true...a calorie is a calorie and weight managment is simply about controlling energy balances.

However the idea of this "switching metablolism" and evolutionary metabbolic pathways due to stress intrigues me as does the potential life extension effects. Whether thats better done on an MWL style CR program or an IF type CR program is an interesting question to me. (or maybe a mixture of MWL and IF in a CR program?) I know the science isn't there yet and its more just hypothesis than theory. To be honest, my experimenting with timed eating has shown no effect or change in myself but that has been short term...no more than 4-6 weeks. But then, I'm maybe not a good example because my health has improved so dramatically over the last several years due to this program. It could be I'm not giving it enough time, or it could be these switching evolutionary metabolic pathways are already being enjoyed by myself or they could just be bogus. I usually have pretty strong opinions on these things, especially when the science is there (thats why I'm here). But these types of articles do fuel speculation in areas that interest me, I will go back and re-read your IF threads to get a fuller understanding...

geo wrote:I'm maybe not a good example because my health has improved so dramatically over the last several years due to this program.

And there my friend, is the bottom line.

There is nothing that IF is “proposed” to do that is above and beyond what has already been attributed to and/or achieved by one eating a truly health supporting diet and maintaining a healthy diet, weight and lifestyle.

However, it has been associated with greater adverse effects and higher drop out rates.

People want a short cut to get to where you have gotten to, but there is none.

On the last Webinar we did for the 10-Day Alumni, we respond to the question, once you achieve all the health benefits and you have both time and adherence under your belt, what is the next step? How do you take this to the next level?

Dr Lim, Dr Lisle and I all responded and said the exact same thing. The next level is to continue to maintain your adherence to the basic program over time.

Much easier said then done, especially in a world full of quick fixes.

In Health
Jeff

Thank you Jeff, always the voice of reason and thoughtfulness. We often lose sight of enjoying health when all we ever do is chase after it...health in and of itself is whats most important, enjoying it IS the next step