SciPodChat

S01-E02: The Ancient Practice of Intermittent Fasting Meets Modern Science for Health Benefits

• Dr Biswajit Podder • Season 1 • Episode 2

Share episode

Description: Intermittent fasting is a scientific way to get your body to use its natural healing cycle! Ever think about how this old practice, which is now supported by science, has the power to change people? I'm Dr. Biswajit Podder, and in this exciting show, we'll learn about the amazing ways that intermittent fasting can change your hormones, speed up cell repair, and even help you live a longer, healthier life. Get ready to be amazed by how the body changes its main energy source from glucose to fat and by autophagy, our body's "cleansing" system that may play a key role in preventing disease.

Come with me as we look at the proof of the real health benefits of timed eating, such as losing weight and improving digestive health. Another way to lose weight that some people think might work is occasional fasting. Find out how making this change to your lifestyle can help fight chronic inflammation and reset your insulin sensitivity. This could help you lose weight and live longer. This episode will help you understand how your body reacts to fasting, no matter how experienced you are or how interested you are in trying it for the first time. Let's figure out what's going on and enjoy the huge benefits that intermittent fasting can bring to your health.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only, and SciPodChat is not intended to replace professional advice. Please note that the views, information, or opinions expressed during SciPodChat are solely those of the individuals involved, not any professional organization in which they are involved.


We Talk Science

Biswajit Podder:

Hello Science Lovers. This is SciPodChat, a podcast where we explain science puzzles in a way everybody understands. I am your host, Dr Biswajit Podder, a scientist with more than 12 years of research experience. Thank you for joining us. This episode is brought to you by StemDorado. Stemdorado is owned by scientists and run by scientists. The goal of StemDorado is to make learning fun and interesting for kids with games and exercise that are fun and educational, kids can learn math and science at the same time. Discover the joy of learning with StemDorado. Thank you for listening, saipur Chet. We were delighted to discover that you are listening to Saipur Chet from 20 different countries and over 100 cities around the world. If you have enjoyed our podcast, please consider leaving us a review and writing whatever you listen to Saipur Chet, your support means everything to us and helps our goal to bring you more excellent content. As we begin today's episode, I hope you will find it as interesting and educational as the previous one. Without further ado, let's dive into today's episode.

Biswajit Podder:

After huge success of our last episode, we got a lot of requests to talk on intermittent fasting the science, the myths and its impact on health and weight loss. Today, I am going to talk the mystery behind intermittent fasting. Imagine your body as a complex machine. Just like a machine needs rest and maintenance. Fasting is a way of giving your body a break from the constant intake of food, allowing it to repair and revitalize. But the next question is what exactly is intermittent fasting Right? It's a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting and eating. There are various methods, but they all focus on choosing regular time periods to eat and fast. For instance, the 16-8 method involves fasting for 16 hours each day and eating all your food within an hour window. So now let's dive into the scientific aspects of intermittent fasting. When you fast, several things happen in your body on the cellular and molecular level. Your body adjusts hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible. Your cells also initiate important repair process and change the expression of genes. Let's break it down with an analogy. Think of your body as a factory. Doing fasting, your factory starts a repair mode where it cleans out old and damaged components, a process known as autophagy, which we discussed in our previous episode.

Biswajit Podder:

Using intermittent fasting, the body undergoes a repair mode, a shift from using glucose as the main fuel source to using fat. This transition happens in multiple stages. Firstly, glucose regulation. Initially, as you fast, your body uses glucose stored into your liver and muscles. The supply typically lasts for about 6 to 8 hours. Next, fasting state Once the glucose is depleted, the body begins to break down fat for energy, a process which is called lipolysis. This leads to a production of ketone bodies, which become the primary energy source for many cells in your body. And thirdly, hormonal changes. Several hormonal changes occur. To facilitate the energy shift, the insulin levels drop significantly and, improving insulin sensitivity, human growth hormone levels can increase, potentially adding in fat loss and muscle preservation. Lastly, which is called cellular repair what we have discussed in our first episode the body initiates important cellular repair process, such as autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside our cells.

Biswajit Podder:

So the next questions okay, I am doing intermittent fasting, so what can be happened in the future and what kind of benefits can I get from intermittent fasting? So, moving on to the health benefits, various studies have shown that intermittent fasting can lead to weight loss. Yeah, probably many of my audience they want to lose their weight. Yeah, more often, as a scientist, I receive discussions from my non-scientist friends and they want to know how they can control their weight gain process. So there are multiple studies have shown that intermittent fasting can lead to weight loss and also it can improve metabolic health and also it protects against many diseases, perhaps perhaps even help you live longer. It's like giving your body a tune up by intermittent fasting and you also reduce the insulin levels in your body. You can reduce inflammation and improving other factors, which is related to disease.

Biswajit Podder:

Intermittent fasting affects weight loss primarily by creating a calorie deficit and changing hormone levels that facilitate weight loss. That is how fastly fastly, which is called calorie deficit by limiting the eating window, like, as I mentioned earlier, that eight hours window period you can eat many people naturally consume fewer calories and lean to weight loss. And also you can improve your insulin sensitivity and also you can increase insulin levels. Lower insulin levels make store body fat more accessible for use as energy. Next, probably most important things, you can burn your body fat. With decreased insulin levels and increased growth hormone levels, the body shifts towards using fat as a primary energy source, which lead to fat loss in your body. And lastly, you can control or regulate your appetite. Fasting can lead to changes in hunger hormones. There is a hormone called Gralin which produces inverse tomah, which may help in regulating appetite and reducing overall food intake. So you can, if you can do intermittent fasting and it changes the behavior of Gralin, which is called hunger hormones, you will be less hungry. Another important thing is regulation of appetite, so fasting can lead to changes in hunger hormones, which is called Gralin, which produces inverse tomah, and if you can control that hormones then may help in regulating appetite and reducing overall food intake. So you can easily can gain the calorie deficit Fasting.

Biswajit Podder:

Fasting doesn't have only the weight loss benefit. It also have other health benefits. For example, it can improve metabolic health, it can reduce factors of insulin resistance and also lower blood sugar levels and it can improve lipid profiles and also it can reduce the type 2 diabetics and also cardiovascular disease. As I mentioned earlier, they can increase longevity. Intermittent fasting may improve cellular repair processes and potentially increase longevity. Next, it can help also our brain health. It may increase the production of brain derived neurotrophic factor, which is called VDNF. It is a protein that contributes to the growth of new neurons and supports brain health.

Biswajit Podder:

Intermittent fasting also cause to reduce inflammation. Some studies suggest that intermittent fasting can decrease proteins of inflammation, which is a key driver of many chronic diseases in our body. So if you can control inflammation, so you can get rid of many diseases. I think intermittent fasting would be a good choice to control or to reduce inflammation in our body. And lastly, I want to mention, as I am a scientist in cancer biology, that a few research suggests that fasting might reduce the risk of cancer or improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatments, though more research is needed in the area. However, like when I was working in my previous job, I used to work at the auto-visi field and I was trying to find out auto-visi inhibitors then ultimately it can help to treat pancreatic cancer patients. So, yes, I would say there is a lot of opportunity if you can deep dive into auto-visi field and we can develop some molecules which can be used as a drug to control cancer or to cure cancer. So I strongly believe it could be an option.

Biswajit Podder:

Actually, the next question is is it safe for our body if we do intermittent fasting? How can one start intermittent fasting safely? Actually, it is very crucial to consider the safety level. You are trying to help your body through intermittent fasting, but let's say like if you are doing intermittent fasting in the wrong way, then it might have negative effect in your body. You can get other problems where initially you wanted to help your body. So it is very important to consider whether if the fasting is safe for you or not. That's why I would highly recommend you should consult with a doctor, especially if you have underlying health conditions like diabetes, kidney disease etc. Breaking a fast safely is also crucial to maximize the benefits of intermittent fasting. It will minimize the potential side effects in your body.

Biswajit Podder:

So firstly, I will suggest gentle reintroduction. What does it mean? Start with small, easily digestible foods that are gentle on the digestive system. Don't try with big portion of meat or fatty things. I would recommend good options could be soups, broths, yogurt or soft fruits. And next is very, very important and I personally do intermittent fasting and it helps me when my body is well hydrated. So I would recommend hydrated, hydrated, hydrated your body and sure you are well hydrated before consuming solid food.

Biswajit Podder:

And next important things to get maximum benefit from intermittent fasting, I would say avoid all sugary and processed foods. Actually, they are called food, so you have to control from it diet, the sugary foods and also processed foods. I know many people like processed foods or maybe they are busy in their life so they don't have time to prepare their meals. So they go easy food that they can buy and they can warm into microvins, and I know it's convenient. But I would say it's not healthy because you don't know what you are eating. In the processed foods, right, they use a lot of emulsifiers, lot of preservatives and so on. So breaking a fast with high sugar or heavily processed foods can cause rapid spikes in blood sugar and insulin, and which is a negative effect.

Biswajit Podder:

And next thing I would say listen to your body. Whenever you are doing intermittent fasting, pay attention to how your body reacts after fasting. If you experience discomfort, adjust your approach accordingly or consult your doctor. The main thing is listen to your body. You will know better your body than anyone else. So if you see something is going wrong in your body you feel dizzy, you cannot walk and some discomfort in your stomach then I would recommend step back, try to discuss with your doctor and then you can resume again the intermittent fasting.

Biswajit Podder:

Next, I would recommend balance meals, balance, balance, balance. Once you have a broken the fast with something light, aim for a balance meal that includes proteins, healthy fats like avocado or extra virgin olive oil, and make sure that in your meals you have sufficient fibers to stabilize blood sugar, so you can get the fibers from leafy vegetables and I would also recommend to get an micronutrients. Try to put green and yellow, red I mean colorful vegetables in your meal, which will provide you a sustained source of energy and so it will help you to maximize your intermittent fasting. Let's say you are doing intermittent fasting and you are having any kind of fast foods and it will not gonna help you even though you are doing intermittent fasting. So it's very important to have healthy meals and try to see that you in your plate you have healthy fats, proteins and fibers and micronutrients, and try to avoid all kind of high sugar foods and processed foods. And this is the take your message from this part of my discussion.

Biswajit Podder:

So next question are there any rigs or people who should avoid intermittent fasting? Yes, while intermittent fasting is safe for many, it's not suitable for everyone. Here are some consideration. Firstly, I mentioned about it before as underlying health condition, like people with diabetes, low blood pressure or a history of eating disorder should consult with a medical doctor before starting intermittent fasting. But what I have mentioned in here is not limited, so you can also consider other diseases. So fasting fast. Before starting your intermittent fasting, consult with your doctor and your doctor will say better. So I would suggest don't blindly follow all the internet things. You will find a lot of information in the web, so I would not recommend to follow blindly. And the same goes for individuals taking any kind of medication that require food intact.

Biswajit Podder:

The next thing is pregnant and breastfeeding women, and fasting could be detrimental to both mother and child. Let's say a woman are pregnant and she's not having enough food, so meaning that you are depriving the mother body and also child, because whenever a woman in pregnancy is pregnant, you should not nothin it. Someone should tray stays. They need more nutrition, more energy source. I think it's not a very wise decision to do intermittent fasting while you are pregnant. And then children and teenagers young individuals need sufficient nutrients for growth and development. I would say making strict fasting regimes is inappropriate because children and teenagers need a lot of energy, because for children and teenagers, this is the ideal time for development. They grow their muscles, they grow their brain, they grow their bones and whole body, so there is more energy. So it's very important that I think intermittent fasting is not ideal for children and teenagers.

Biswajit Podder:

However, I'm always saying that consult a doctor before taking any decision. So, lastly, I would say about under wet individuals, meaning that who has a lower number of BMI, so meaning that, like the individuals, might not have sufficient wet what he or she should have. So I would say who are under wet or having no nutrient deficiency should avoid fasting due to the risk of further wet loss and nutrient deficiency, because it is not going to help ultimately to their body. So it is important to consider that not to do intermittent fasting Because, as I mentioned in the very beginning, that whenever you do intermittent fasting, you also do energy deficit. So whenever you do energy deficit, you eat less actually, so then it could not provide to your body energy and also macro and micronutrients.

Biswajit Podder:

It is very important, I would say that, to consider those parameters. So that's why I always say listen to your body and try to consult your medical doctor and then you can take a decision whether intermittent fasting is appropriate for your body or not. So I know that you will get a lot of information in social media like Facebook, instagram, tiktok and so on, but you know that everybody is different than others. So you have to listen to your body and you have to make a decision based on your situation, not others. So as you wrap up today, remember that intermittent fasting isn't just a diet, it's a lifestyle change. It's about understanding your body needs and responding in a way that promotes overall health and breaks the journey. Be patient with yourself and always prioritize your well-being. So that's all for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed today. Until next time, stay curious, stay inspired and stay tuned for more exciting conversations right here on your favorite SciPodChat. Take care, bye, bye.