Fasting for better health, wellness: What 10 experts said
They're top advocates who teach fasting as a therapeutic practice for health, wellness
Here’s a list of doctors and health experts who advocate or teach fasting as a therapeutic practice for health and wellness.
Many of them are authors who promote various forms of fasting, such as intermittent fasting, extended fasting, or time-restricted eating, often for benefits like improved metabolism, weight loss, cellular repair, and longevity.
Studies on the benefits of fasting as a health and wellness "tool" have shown significant positive outcomes in areas such as metabolic health, cellular repair and anti-inflammation therapy.
Here, we present the leading lights in this growing body of scientific research:
He said: “Ultimately, treating the root causes of overeating—whether emotional, habitual, or related to the time and frequency of meals—is crucial for sustainable weight loss. Time-restricted eating can help by limiting the opportunities to overeat, which can make calorie control easier to maintain. The hormonal effects, particularly of insulin, must also be addressed.
"By lowering insulin levels, fasting allows the body to access stored energy (fat), which helps meet the body's energy needs without requiring additional calorie intake. The combination of both hormone management and calorie control offers the best chance for success in achieving weight loss and improved metabolic health.”
By identifying the machinery for autophagy in yeast, Dr Ohsumi made available the research tools required to investigate autophagy in humans. His discovery now helps scientists know that autophagy controls important physiological functions where cellular components need to be degraded and recycled.
Autophagy can rapidly provide fuel for energy and building blocks for renewal of cellular components – and is therefore essential for the cellular response to starvation and other types of stress. Cells also use autophagy to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles, a quality control mechanism that is critical for counteracting the negative consequences of aging.
He said: “The reason why we have a Circadian rhythm is to have daily rhythms in food-seeking behaviour and eating and also go through a period of time when we should be fasting. And then on the other hand, all the metabolic regulators also have to follow that rule."
"Almost all metabolic regulators, everything that we can think of connected to metabolising macronutrients, protein, carbs, and fat, they should also have a Circadian rhythm or diurnal cycle to align or misalign.”
He said: “Fasting improves your glucose tolerance. By fasting, you create an anti-inflammatory status. Our body is a balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory states. Any change in this equation will lead to more inflammation — or less inflammation.”
He said: “Eating for 12 hours and then fasting for 12 hours is likely safe for most people. That pattern of eating is very common among people who have record lifespans. It seems to match both science and tradition.”
She said: "There are many apps available for intermittent fasting tracking. You can also join fasting communities for support. Align your fasting with your Circadian rhythm. This is important because many people are hesitant about intermittent fasting due to their sleep-wake cycles and hormone regulation. Circadian fasting involves adjusting your fasting periods according to your body's natural rhythms.”
He said: “Sugar is celebratory. Sugar is something that we used to enjoy. Now, it basically has coated our tongues. It’s turned into a diet staple, and it’s killing us…The American food industry produces 3,900 calories per person per day, with about 29 percent wastage, but we should rationally eat 1,800–2,000. Who eats the difference? We do! Throughout evolution, humans could eat only a fixed amount, but today that amount is limitless.”
He said: "Fasting does good things for the brain. There’s evidence that if you restrict the time window that you eat each day to eight hours or less, that’s long enough to shift the energy metabolism (to burning fat). One thing that happens when you fast that does not happen when you eat three meals a day is that energy metabolism shifts so that you start burning fats and you produce what are called ketone bodies. Now it turns out, ketone bodies are very good for your brain."
"Fasting is a challenge to your brain and your brain responds to that challenge of not having food by activating adaptive stress response that ways in help your brain copy with stress and resist disease. Our hunter/gatherer ancestors would not have survived unless their brain was functioning at high level when they were hungry."
He said: “In the 1970s, the average American adult male weighed 173 pounds. Now the average American man tips the scale at nearly 200 pounds. Unfortunately, in today’s unhealthy society, ‘normal’ or ‘average’ is not the same as ‘optimal’."
"In July of 2009, a study published in Science found that rhesus monkeys that had been fed a reduced-calorie diet for more than two decades had lived markedly longer than those who were allowed to eat freely…My rule of thumb for any eating pattern is that you must eat enough to maintain lean mass (muscle) and long-term activity patterns.”
She said: “Everything in our body runs on a clock, including our metabolism…There’s also an argument for needing a rest period for your gut and digestion because energy is diverted there when you’re digesting food. That takes energy away from other things, like repair."
"Repairing processes usually happen when you’re in a fasted state. When you sleep, your brain shuts down for repair; if you didn’t sleep, your brain wouldn’t repair. The same goes for other organs; they need a rest period too. The longer the rest period, the better for having enough energy to do repair processes.”
[This is for information purposes only and is not intended as professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional regarding any health concerns or before making any decisions related to your diet and health.]