Issue #75: The Risks of Fasting
Good morning. It's Wednesday, November 30th. Quite a few birthdays today - Kaley Cuoco and Chrissy Teigen (37), Ben Stiller (56), Bo Jackson (60), Billy Idol (67) and Ridley Scott (85). Stay young everyone!
“Fasting is not nearly so deadly as feasting.”
From the Lab: Don't Do Too Much Too Fast
Take Action: No Medals for Extreme Fasting
Speed Read: Multiple Alphabets
Wednesday Weights: Slide Out Push-Ups (what?)
What We're Listening To: Plain English Podcast
Nearly every religion has some form of fasting. 1.8 billion Muslims across the globe fast from sunrise to sunset each day during the religious month of Ramadan. (NPR)
From the Lab
Yesterday (Issue #74) we covered the benefits of fasting. But like all nutrition studies, this is an imperfect science and there are risks to consider.
Some studies suggest that fasting is correlated with lower free testosterone levels - not good. But these same studies show a decrease in cortisol - with lower stress hormone, it might offset the lower sex hormone - don’t really know yet.
Also, some people report that their sleep is actually worse when fasting (contrary to the stat we shared yesterday from a peer-reviewed study). Sleep expert Matthew Walker explains this might be due to orexin being triggered - without food we need more energy to forage for food so it keeps us awake (video link).
This really comes down to not doing too much too fast.
Just like exercise or a cold plunge, fasting is a stressor on the body. It’s a good stress (hormesis), but not if you try to run 26 miles or to squat 250 lbs without training.
1. Sugar Crash - if your body isn’t able to burn fat (ketones), then as soon as your glucose is expired you’ll feel the inevitable crash of low energy and maybe even a headache.
2. Feel Sick - you know what’s great when you fast, your body does a clean up. But there’s probably a lot of junk (heavy metals, toxins) that gets released and it’s like (no it is) a poison in your body.
3. Lose Muscle - this is not definitive, but if you “over-fast” then you may not get enough protein to build/maintain muscle and bone structure - especially if you’re already skinny or frail.
4. Over Eating - studies show that going beyond the 16:8 window (maybe trying to fit all your eating into 4 hours or the increasingly popular “one meal a day” OMAD) doesn’t improve weight loss and may increase the chance of eating too much.
Also, while everyone should consult their doctor, nutritionist, health coach, etc. (whoever you trust most with your personal health decisions), from what we can tell the following people should not undertake any form of fasting unless instructed to do so by a medical professional:
Anyone under 18 (get lots of good fuel and stay active kids)
Women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant (uh just sounded like one of those creepy pharma commercials)
Anyone with low bone or muscle mass (especially if over 60)
Take Action
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Speed Read
Health & Longevity in the News
State of Play 2022: Some good news - total hours for kids spent playing sports has gone up 22% from pre-pandemic levels! Good thing to make up for the last two years. Spending is down overall, but slightly up on soccer and basketball; and tennis and pickleball are even popular with kids. Credit: Aspen Institute. (Read more)
The World Cup Game Ball Goes High Tech: Want to know how Timothy Weah’s goal that put the U.S. up 2-0 over Iran in 45+5 min of the 1st half was waved off so quickly? The ball. After 6 years of testing, the ball debuted in the world’s most-watched sporting event - nothing like a debut in primetime. 2 state-of-the-art sensors in the ball + real-time streaming spatial data + 12 Hawk-Eye cameras + AI = an integrated system called…wait for it…the “semi-automated offside” program. Catchy. Side note, we won 1-0 and advanced to the knockout round against Holland (yeah, I said it) on Saturday. (FiveThirtyEight)
Multi-Alphabet Over Multi-Lingual: Being bilingual leads to various mental health and social benefits. Now, new research suggests the brain of a bilingual person of multiple alphabets (say not solely Latin-based - e.g., Chinese + English) is even more “different” from that of a bilingual/single-alphabet person (e.g., Spanish + English). Still in review, but keep learning new languages and cultures! (Big Think)
Wednesday Weights
Total body today - start with a Romanian Deadlift (apparently it's named after Romanian Olympian Nicu Vlad) with some rows, finishing with some slide out push-ups. Would love to hear what you all think of these push-ups!
Click HERE to view the workout on our YouTube channel.
Workout and video courtesy of Connor J. Obrochta. Check out all of Connor's workouts on Playbook!
What We’re Listening To
Came across this podcast with Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) a few weeks ago. Spending too much time in the news media isn't healthy for anyone. But Thompson breaks down complex issues into, well "Plain English" - along with a realistic positivity so you can listen (or read) without feeling more stressed. Check out the latest episode on the increased time we're spending alone.
Thanks for joining us today!
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The information in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and may not be appropriate or applicable based on your individual circumstances. Thrive25 Labs LLC does not provide medical, professional, or licensed advice. Please connect with your healthcare professional for medical advice specific to your health needs.