For the pious, fasting torments the body in order to strengthen the soul. However, for those professing secular faiths, fasting has become associated with good health.
Numerous recent reports (both breathlessness reports and scientific reports) make fasting an attractive route to health. Non-religious fasting can range from not eating for more than 24 hours to intermittent fasting for up to 16 hours a day. It is thought to push cells into autophagy, a Greek word meaning “self-eating'' or “self-digestion,'' which is one of the body's major cleaning functions that removes waste products that have accumulated in the body. Autophagy may contribute to the prevention of diabetes, dementia, heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease. And it is triggered when energy levels are depleted, that is, when you are hungry.
For several years I have been practicing intermittent fasting. You don't eat any calories for about 16 hours, then eat a light snack for an additional 8 hours, followed by a large dinner. The web and social media are full of graphs showing daily fasting and feeding rates depending on age. As we get older, we need to fast for more time as autophagy is said to slow down with age.
Anyway, 16:8 seemed to work until a few months ago. That's when hunger hit me. Rather than just eating dinner at the end of the 8 hours, we brought forward a hearty lunch at the beginning of the “free eating” period. ” Double dimples appeared on my waistline. Although it was well-nourished, I was worried about its voluptuous bulge. I was already walking 6-8 miles a day. What else can I do?
There are very few ready-made ones that will help. Fasting is negative economics. It doesn't consume anything. Lower calories are bad for most businesses, with the exception of clothing.
Still, there are ways to monetize fasting and commercial shortcuts to getting the body you want. These measures are not superficial for diabetics or the extremely obese (for whom managing their diet is a matter of life or death), but for people who don't mind paying to satisfy their vanity. available for. Diabetic drug Ozempic has a weight-loss doppelganger in his Wegovy. But a month's worth of once-a-week injections could cost as much as $3,000, according to some estimates. Bodybuilders seeking toned physiques are known to use metformin, a much older diabetes drug (costing about $20 for 60 tablets), to reduce fat from their muscles. There are substances designed to treat bipolar disorder that can induce autophagy without starving you. Depending on the type, bariatric surgery costs him close to $30,000 (for example, for a medical tourist to Turkey, it costs only $3,000).
I'm not ready for Wegovy to take over my life (when I quit, the brain center that suppresses appetite reboots back into you). I would like to avoid surgery if possible. When it comes to autophagy inducers, it's better to starve yourself.
And a few weeks ago, ever-slim British Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed that he would start every week with a 36-hour fast. He said his day-and-a-half fast (starting at 5 p.m. Sunday and ending at 5 a.m. Tuesday) and his exercise allowed him to indulge his sweet tooth the rest of the week. This is 20 hours longer than the 16 hours when I was already hungry in the morning after only having 2 cups of coffee (no milk or sugar). Can I do it?
Short answer: After three days of over 20 hours and another day dropping to 16 hours, I managed to get to 23 and a half hours. This record was achieved because I spent most of Saturday lying in bed, trying to sleep and not think about how hungry I was. I was difficult and easily reacted to imaginary threats, so I wasn't cut out to be around humans. “Why are you kicking me down the stairs?” “Don't cough so close?” “I'm walking down here!” It was very loud inside.)
I had a vision of Dante's Ninth Circle of Hell, specifically of Count Ugolino, who was walled up in Pisa with his four sons by his enemies. Within days, the young men would die of starvation, but he stopped short of urging his father to eat their flesh to survive. Suffering from hunger, Ugolino lamented, “Fasting has made it possible that misery never happened'' – until the poet's terrible premonition of cannibalizing the dead appears. So I returned to the topic of autophagy. Remember when cells eat parts of themselves? So I read a little more.
The science itself is relatively new. Mammalian autophagy was first observed in his 1950s, but its actual mechanism was not documented until his 1990s (both milestones occurred in his 1974 and his 2016, respectively). led to him winning the Nobel Prize). Still, proponents of long-term and intermittent fasting credit autophagy for everything from sound health to improved mental clarity. In animals that have been deprived of food, symptoms can develop between 24 and 48 hours. However, we don't know when the process begins after humans start fasting, or what doses are effective against disease. It is not yet clear how (or if) it contributes to weight loss.
I now wonder if numbers like 16:8 are backed by as much research as the Japanese-originated 10,000 steps a day recommendation. For years, everyone seemed to accept it as a scientific approach to health and weight management, but to make the point that we shouldn't be sedentary, we grabbed it out of thin air. It turns out it's just a big fat number.
It was also then that I realized that increasing my fasting time simply limited my eating opportunities, meaning I had less time to burn calories. You can munch on both ends of the feeding band over an 8-hour period. However, if he only has 4 hours (or less) to eat, it will be physically difficult for him to consume the same calories. What I was on was an old-fashioned calorie-reduction diet in the form of fancy fasting.
I can't say I've lost weight, but I feel less bulky and it's easier to get dressed. I think that's enough (sorry, Uniqlo). With moderation in mind, I'm going to make room for lunch again, knowing that if I eat too much of a good thing, I might have to go into long-term fasting mode again. Perhaps Sunak's girlfriend's 36-hour fast has real benefits. However, if the level of calorie deficit actually increases further, I don't think there will be anyone left to eat with me. And I love eating out, and my Instagram account proves it. Fasting is not the panacea everyone wants. But thanks to this temporary effort, I was able to get my weight under control and enjoy the restorative benefits of the restaurant.
One of the joys of Ramadan, which begins this weekend, is the iftar dinner that ends the day. The discipline of fasting is lonely and difficult to bear. But at the end comes the feast, when society and conviviality are restored and family and friends are reunited over a meal. If you must fast, aim for such heaven.
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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Howard Chua-Eoan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering culture and business. He previously served as international editor for Bloomberg Opinion and is a former news director for Time magazine.
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