AGEING, LONGEVITY AND MAGICAL INTERVENTION : Part- 9, Calorie Restrictions Part-4

By His Grace and Blessings, I write

Calorie Restrictions Part-4

My last blog covered the topic of Sirtuins and also various types of intermittent fasting and cellular and molecular mechanisms through which it affects our bodies. In this blog I will further elaborate these mechanisms and benefits of intermittent fasting with some more scientific evidence. I will also highlight some of the precautions and drawbacks of fasting in this blog.

Mechanism and Benefits of Intermittent Fasting/Calorie Restrictions:

• Reduced oxidative stress
• Reduced DNA damage and increased repair
• Reduced inflammation and Auto-immunity
• Increased autophagy
• Increased metabolic efficiency
• Increased mitochondrial biogenesis
• Effective epigenetics
• Modulation of insulin signalling
• Improved stress response
• Lower glucose and insulin levels
• Weight loss
• Improved lipid profile and BP
• Slower ageing

I have discussed many of the above benefits in detail in my previous blogs. However, I will delve a little deep into the issues of oxidative stress and inflammation.

The oxidative stress occurs when reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to formation of free radicals. These free radicals  destroy healthy cells of the body by damaging DNA, causing neurological degeneration and damage mitochondria. ROS or free radicals in the body are the major reason for ageing. On the other hand, chronic inflammation  damages bodily cells, causes unhealthy mutations leading to cancer and to various cardio vascular diseases etc. In fact, research suggests that it is not cholesterol but inflammation that cause heart attacks and various other heart problems. Cholesterol is just preventive response of the body to chronic inflammation of the arteries, similar to an ambulance at an accidental site.

Both chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are caused by a host of factors which includes our lifestyles, our poisoned food chains and environments, and our exposures to toxicity. Intermittent fasting by restricting our calorie intakes has been found to be very helpful in reducing the chronic oxidative and inflammatory states in the body. Thus it not only delays ageing but also stops occurrence of various chronic diseases.

Scientific Studies

A study at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute by Prof Eric Ravussin selected a group of 220 subjects for practically testing the calorie restrictions hypothesis. The participants were meticulously selected out of 5,000 subjects initially zeroed in for selection. The idea was to select people who had normal BMIs and who could adhere to rigorous schedules of 25% reduced calorie. These 220 participants were  further subdivided into  sub-groups who were to alternatively undergo  different kinds of  intermittent fasting schedules (time restricted fasting say 16-8 hours schedules, alternate day fasting say eating full calories one day and less then half the alternate day, periodic multi day fasting of say 72 hours once in a quarter etc.). The study was conducted over a period of 2 years and candidates were monitored through various electronic and medical gadgets on an everyday basis. The weights, the blood sugar levels , metabolism , BMI etc were monitored by the researchers. The result from the study showed …

-weight loss of more than 10% in people with normal weights (more in case of people who are obese and overweight not covered)

-cholesterol level dropped

-insulin resistance improved

– mean blood pressures improved

-slower metabolism

-triglycerides dropped

Further studies on intermittent fasting have established that if we reduce our calorie intake timings by 3 hours, the chances of pre diabetics/ diabetics get reduced by 20%. The chances of breast cancer in women gets substantially reduced. As also discussed, the reduced rates of metabolism , the removal of senescent cells through autophagy, lower insulin levels occurred due to intermittent fasting and thus  significantly enhanced longevity and health-spans.

Drawbacks and precautions….

Intermittent fasting can sometime lead to nutritional deficiencies and can thus cause dizziness and general weakness. It may also cause mild headache and sometime hunger may become unbearable. Constipation may also result from lowered calorie intakes. For diabetic patients it may lead to hypoglycemia or low blood sugars. Without consultation from doctor it is not advised to pregnant and lactating mothers, children and older people and those with history of hormonal imbalances and eating disorders.

All the problems stated above and resulting from intermittent fasting usually prevail during the initial phases of intermittent fasting. There are many experts who might seem to suggest that intermittent fasting may not work in certain kind of diseases. However, comparison must not be made on these basis. The risk of doing intermittent fasting and not doing it is what shall be compared. Intermittent fasting/calorie restriction is a clear winner.

Matthiew Richards : Considered  The Happiest Man alive. He seem to suffer from no chronic oxidative and inflammatory stress because he meditates, and eats like a true Buddhist monk with calories restricted through intermittent fasting schedules..

I will continue my next blog with more discussion around longevity and ageing. The discussions around calorie restrictions come an end with this blog. I may have missed some more aspects of calorie restrictions and that is because of my limited abilities to completely fathom such a broad area.

By His Grace and Blessings, I write…

Dr. Seema Chaudhary