Intermittent Metabolic Switching, Neuroplasticity And Brain Health

[rei]

Intermittent metabolic switching (resulting from periods of fasting or hard exercise) is extremely beneficial and might be necessary for optimal health. Intermittent metabolic switching, neuroplasticity and brain health

The common understanding of the extreme health benefits of exercise might be true only in modern cultural context where intermittent fasting has been ejected in favour of consumerism. Who has not heard "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"? No scientific evidence was behind that one, yet marketers made generations of people believe.

Personally i can attest to this even if it goes against some core views of dr. Peat. Starting intermittent fasting was probably the most significant step i took in improving my health after realizing mainstream guidelines are worth nothing. It is astonishing to look back how i needed to eat twice per day to be able to function, when nowadays i can go 2 days without any food and suffer no crash.

 

[Collden]

It is astonishing to look back how i needed to eat twice per day to be able to function, when nowadays i can go 2 days without any food and suffer no crash.

The crucial point is how do you feel after eating? Do you eat substantial amounts of carbs?

This review was written by Mark P Mattson who's practiced IF and calorie restriction for quite some time. He doesn't look hypothyroid, though I cannot imagine that chronic caloric restriction has good effects, it will at the very least crush your libido.

 

[Luckytype]

IF and a reasonable caloric reduction(coming by way of eliminating garbage food) was perhaps one of the biggest influences of my metabolism crashing

 

[ecstatichamster]

study people who live a really long time, and they eat small portions of the SAME foods on an ongoing basis. No variety really. And they don't mess with fasting.

I think the body gets used to a pattern and it can work best with that. The pattern of eating frequency and food choices. Enzymes and things activate around the pattern. Breaking that pattern has benefits but it is also stressful. In the long run, it may not be a good idea to vary things too much.

 

[Collden]

study people who live a really long time, and they eat small portions of the SAME foods on an ongoing basis. No variety really. And they don't mess with fasting.

I think the body gets used to a pattern and it can work best with that. The pattern of eating frequency and food choices. Enzymes and things activate around the pattern. Breaking that pattern has benefits but it is also stressful. In the long run, it may not be a good idea to vary things too much.

That is an interesting point. I wonder if its also why people who constantly mess around with different diet philosophies often fail to improve their health. The more you keep searching for the perfect diet and changing things around the more elusive health improvements become.

Same goes for supplements and hormones.

 

[Soren]

IF and a reasonable caloric reduction(coming by way of eliminating garbage food) was perhaps one of the biggest influences of my metabolism crashing

This

 

[Luckytype]

The more you keep searching for the perfect diet and changing things around the more elusive health improvements become.

Same goes for supplements and hormones.

Louder for the people in the back

 

[rei]

This

Interesting, because studies show that (intermittent) fasting increases metabolic rate. Maybe you had bad nutrition and you crashed? Bad eating in IF regimen is worse than pure longterm fasting.

"Noradrenaline levels are increased so that we have plenty of energy to go get more food. For example, 48 hours of fasting produces a 3.6% increase in metabolic rate, not the dreaded metabolic ‘shut-down’. In response to a 4-day fast, resting energy expenditure increased up to 14%. Rather than slowing the metabolism, instead the body revvs it up."

 

[Soren]

Interesting, because studies show that (intermittent) fasting increases metabolic rate.

"Noradrenaline levels are increased so that we have plenty of energy to go get more food. For example, 48 hours of fasting produces a 3.6% increase in metabolic rate, not the dreaded metabolic ‘shut-down’. In response to a 4-day fast, resting energy expenditure increased up to 14%. Rather than slowing the metabolism, instead the body revvs it up."

Yes you might see a temporary metabolic boost but it is likely down to a stress response rather than a healthy metabolism. As you said it gives a boost in noradrenaline. Being in a fasted state chronically over a long period of time crushes the bodies metabolism. I did fasting for a number of years and it destroyed my body.

 

[rei]

If you see a stress response while doing IF after an adaptation period then something is wrong (maybe you need a larger eating window?). At least for me both bp and hr dropped indicating less stress, and it is exactly how i feel. The paper also mentions some such aspects (like increased hr variability).

 

[Soren]

If you see a stress response while doing IF after an adaptation period then something is wrong. At least for me both bp and hr dropped indicating less stress, and it is exactly how i feel. The paper also mentions some such aspects (like increased hr variability).

A drop in BP and HR is not necessarily a good thing it depends. If you have low blood pressure and a low heart rate it could be a sign of a slow metabolism. A healthy metabolism typically has a heart rate of 75-85 BPM. When I was doing IF my blood pressure and heart rate also dropped dramatically now it is higher and I feel a lot better.

 

[Mountain]

Who has not heard "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"? No scientific evidence was behind that one, yet marketers made generations of people believe.

I always found this hilarious; as though people who fast think this is some revelation. Basically every adult of my parents' generation skips breakfast and they're all burning out stressballs. Also in my country there were big initiatives at one point to encourage kids to eat breakfast (even supplying breakfast before school to kids for free) because of the well known benefits to concentration and learning that eating breakfast brings.

 

[nwo2012]

If you see a stress response while doing IF after an adaptation period then something is wrong (maybe you need a larger eating window?). At least for me both bp and hr dropped indicating less stress, and it is exactly how i feel. The paper also mentions some such aspects (like increased hr variability).

Wrong. The slowing in metabolism drops blood pressure and heart rate.

You do not know the difference between a robust metabolism and one running on stress hormones. Anyone can feel great about any state if they believe in it. Like all the vegans destroying themselves with bucketloads of seeds and soy. But they 'feel great'. Its all in the mind, Ive been there.

 

[danielbb]

Wrong. The slowing in metabolism drops blood pressure and heart rate.

You do not know the difference between a robust metabolism and one running on stress hormones. Anyone can feel great about any state if they believe in it. Like all the vegans destroying themselves with bucketloads of seeds and soy. But they 'feel great'. Its all in the mind, Ive been there.

I've been there with veganism myself. I was grumpy all the time and my metabolism was goofed up with low body temperatures, low heart rate, and cold fingers. I was probably eating too many raw vegetables as well and I have no doubts that was a contributing factor. Other than those things, it was great - just like I convinced myself and as you note here @nwo2012.

I am convinced no diet suggestion works the same for all people. Almost all of Ray Peat's ideas have worked for me (knock on wood) except for coconut oil. I found that sugar worked great for my body and that is how I found Ray Peat because I had been told my whole life sugar was bad for you. Most of his ideas seem to work nicely for me but I am always testing things to make sure it is "actually working" and not some dogmatic approach that has "convinced me" otherwise.

 

[nwo2012]

I've been there with veganism myself. I was grumpy all the time and my metabolism was goofed up with low body temperatures, low heart rate, and cold fingers. I was probably eating too many raw vegetables as well and I have no doubts that was a contributing factor. Other than those things, it was great - just like I convinced myself and as you note here @nwo2012.

I am convinced no diet suggestion works the same for all people. Almost all of Ray Peat's ideas have worked for me (knock on wood) except for coconut oil. I found that sugar worked great for my body and that is how I found Ray Peat because I had been told my whole life sugar was bad for you. Most of his ideas seem to work nicely for me but I am always testing things to make sure it is "actually working" and not some dogmatic approach that has "convinced me" otherwise.

In complete agreement.

 

[rei]

As i kinda expected from this forum, not one comment has yet addressed the science presented in the paper because some of it is in disagreement with the prevailing view on things here

Even when other aspects are in complete agreement. Like for instance the tremendously decreased serotonergic & endotoxin load on the body when it is not in acute digestion mode.

 

[lollipop]

I wonder about long term results. I can imagine short term benefits and then a person passes that point of diminishing returns where benefits tumble the other direction towards adverse affects.

 

[Lejeboca]

As i kinda expected from this forum, not one comment has yet addressed the science presented in the paper because some of it is in disagreement with the prevailing view on things here

This is a review paper only. Its claim that " .. metabolic switch in cellular fuel source [from glucose to ketones] is accompanied by cellular and molecular adaptations of neural networks in the brain that enhance their functionality and bolster their resistance to stress, injury and disease..." stems from the references that
* show mice enduring injury to CNS better with food restriction (FR) than when fed an ad libitum (AL) diet ;
* "Ketones (principally β-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate (AcAc)) are an important alternative fuel to glucose for the human brain" [ Inverse relationship between brain glucose and ketone metabolism in adults during short-term moderate dietary ketosis: A dual tracer quantitative positron emission tomography study ] .

The former raises the question: Is it better to FR, IF or whatever, than eating the NIH-07 standard diet that is mainly PUFA and starches :) . While for the latter, it is known that glucose methabolism is ~3 times more efficient than the ketone one, and Peat suggests to fix the glucose metabolism, if defective, rather than masking the glucose problems with other kinds of metabolism that lead to even bigger problems long term.

 

[Terma]

The great challenge in health is indeed that of our genome may have spent too much of our history adapting to scarcity rather than abundance.

I agree with the article in principle, the only question is how often hormesis is ideal. Quite a lot of it is simply autophagy, and (separately) managing protein. Your article reiterates the stuff about mTor/AMPK/authophagy, but it's so well-known and accepted it's extremely tiresome at this point. The AMPK -> PGC1α -> mitochondrial biogenesis is also quite established, but unlike autophagy that can be promoted other ways.

Indeed one important thing to note is the growth factors such as BDNF, NGF and all the others, GH for some people may only trigger through hormesis. Whether that's the best they can theoretically achieve or not, it can be the only solution within known reach.

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The most common RP diet implementations revolve around high protein constantly which is extremely unusual in life extension circles - and questionable despite the suggestions to use glycine and taurine.

If you want to ease into such a protocol, the most gentle is the protein cycling diet approach:
Protein Cycling Diet
(more links; disclaimer: I haven't fully read these ones)
http://prolon.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2013.3.11.pdf
Autophagy: Intermittent fasting protein cycling (IFPC)

It's the only diet strategy I've ended up on long-term myself. Basically never restrict carbs beyond normal, but on one or two days a week (at most), cut out protein and just eat fruit. My only modification is that in addition, on regular days, I consume most protein (and starch) in the evening, and only a few isolated aminos in the morning and during the day (Phen, Tyr, Lys, mostly [and choline/GPC, before I forget again; I figure part of benefits of eating eggs in the morning is simply the choline]). Short intense/muscle exercise is timed to occur just before higher protein intake, avoiding it on the low-protein days.

It doesn't give you the full hardcore autophagy; you can probably do a little fast once or twice a year, but I don't bother, it's much too risky with my problems. Most people under 60 don't worry much about their connective tissue health (besides gums, which is a regular issue here), but it's a huge focus in mine (which is the biggest reason I laugh heartily at GH being labeled the "hormone of death"), and full fasting is a huge risk there.

 

[Brandin]

Interesting, because studies show that (intermittent) fasting increases metabolic rate. Maybe you had bad nutrition and you crashed? Bad eating in IF regimen is worse than pure longterm fasting.

"Noradrenaline levels are increased so that we have plenty of energy to go get more food. For example, 48 hours of fasting produces a 3.6% increase in metabolic rate, not the dreaded metabolic ‘shut-down’. In response to a 4-day fast, resting energy expenditure increased up to 14%. Rather than slowing the metabolism, instead the body revvs it up."

So, increases metabolic rate in a bad way? ok...

In my understanding that is really bad. The fact that adrenalin blockers increase lifespan should point to that right?