Valter Longo, Ph.D. on Fasting-Mimicking Diet & Fasting for Longevity, Cancer & Multiple Sclerosis

Wow! I awoke early this morning from a bit of a bender last night and have a similar feeling of mania (the positive, productive kind). At first I attributed it to a GABA rebound, but thinking back, a sleep fast has historically injected a sense of urgency and vigour. I have been fasting intermittently after reading Valter Longo's metabolic oxidation research (the term they used for aging research to get it published). I skip breakfast and try to leave 16-18 hours between meals. Have been losing weight but keeping muscle tone almost effortlessly. My skin has also improved. No negative effect so far. Good interview about I.F.: [this video]

I'm on a day 4 of a water-only fast and have completed a two-week medically supervised fast as well as many other shorter fast. As an anecdote, I can say water-only fasting in combination with a high nutrient density plant-based diet has helped me overcome some serious allergies and other health conditions. As an added bonus, I've lost 65 pounds from my peak weight over the last few years and my weight has been stable. It's not a panacea, but I've found it to be a net benefit. For those interested in a deeper dive on the benefits of water-only fasting and diets that try to mimic its benefits, as well as time-restricted feeding, see: Valter Longo, Ph.D. on Fasting-Mimicking Diet & Fasting for Longevity, Cancer & Multiple Sclerosis [1] Dr. Valter Longo on Resetting Autoimmunity and Rejuvenating Systems with Prolonged Fasting & the FMD [2] Dr. Satchin Panda on Time-Restricted Feeding and Its Effects on Obesity, Muscle Mass & Heart Health [3] Dr. Satchin Panda on Practical Implementation of Time-Restricted Eating & Shift Work Strategies [4] [1] [this video] [2] [link] [3] [link] [4] [link] [Edit to fix typos and formatting]

Interestingly, the legacy of Biosphere 2 includes the recently emerging fasting and fasting-mimicking science demonstrating some interesting healthspan promoting properties. Dr. Roy Walford of Biosphere 2 helped kick off the caloric restriction field thanks to his experiences. Valter Longo explains that his tenure in Walford's lab as one of the preludes to some of his great work demonstrating that some of the benefits of CR are achievable by using discrete periods of fasting as opposed to long-term restriction, which has obvious challenges of practicality and undesirable effects like emaciation just to name a few. He talks about Dr. Walford's time in biosphere 2 and how it impacted both Walford's work and, ultimately, his own. Starts around here around 00:01:45... [this video]