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Shane Watson
Six signs you’re
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Page 22FAMILY
FEATURES
SHUTTERSTOCKB
ack in 2009, long before most people had
heard of fasting for health, I visited the
VivaMayr Clinic in Austria. I went along to
interview the owner, Dr Harald Stossier, about a
new book he was publishing about his clinic’s
detox, which involved vegetable broth, Epsom
salts in warm water, the odd bit of chewy spelt
bread and not a lot else.
I came back half a stone lighter, energised and
evangelical about the benefits of fasting. While I
was there, Dr Stossier explained that most of us
in the Western world, even normal-weight
adults, eat far too much and that giving your
organs a break from endlessly processing three
meals a day (plus snacks) acts as a kind of cellular
spring clean.
Ten years on, fasting has exploded in
popularity, and the benefits have been found to
extend far beyond weight loss. Studies suggest it
can reverse type 2 diabetes, slow the onset of
Alzheimer’s and help reduce the risk of heart
disease and certain cancers.
Advocates also enthuse that fasting disrupts
negative eating habits, such as snacking, and
resets our relationship with food.
“Studies are increasingly showing that our
bodies are used to shutting down for periods of
time and not having food,” says Tara Kelly, a
research associate dietitian who studies the
effects of fasting at Newcastle University.
“We don’t know all the answers yet, but we do
know that our modern habit of consuming and
snacking all day long isn’t how our bodies are
designed to eat. It’s not so much what we eat but
when we eat that has the most impact on our
health.”
The most recent study, published this week by
a team of researchers at the University of Graz in
Austria, found that restricting your calories
every other day – also known as “calorie cycling”- lowers cholesterol levels, improves heart
health and extends life expectancy in otherwise
healthy adults.
Experts agree that fasting is not suitable for
everyone and should be avoided by certain
groups, such as children and teenagers, pregnant
or breastfeeding women, the over 70s, and those
with any history of eating disorders – and you
should seek medical advice before beginning
any kind of extreme diet regimen.
However, such is the evidence for this
dietary method that a flurry of different
approaches have now emerged, from
alternate day fasting – eating normally
one day and severely restricting (or
even cutting out) calories the next – to
the 5:2 diet, popularised by Dr
Michael Mosley, which involves only
eating 600 calories for two days of
every week.
Then there’s time-restricted
eating, where you only eat meals
within a certain time window – a
12-hour fast is the most basic, where
you eat your last mouthful at 9pm
and nothing until 9am the next day,
but the so-called 16:8 diet is also Continued on page 22
attracting attention – here you only eat during an
eight-hour window in the day. Others advocate
an extreme fast – going down to just 500 or 600
calories a day, for about five days – once or twice
a year. So, which one is right for you?Fasting for... weight loss
Professor Valter Longo, a gerontologist at the
University of Southern California and a leading
fasting expert, has developed the ProLon diet (it
stands for pro-longevity and not, as many
believe, Prof Longo), which is a five-day diet,
with calories limited to 500 per day, that mimics
the effects of fasting.
Fans include Benedict Cumberbatch – and
Telegraph writer Victoria Lambert, who was the
first person in the UK to try it when it launched
in 2016.
“I initially did it to lose weight and, at 500
calories a day, it was the most effective weight
loss method I’ve ever tried, but the effects went
far beyond that,” she says.
“I began sleeping fantastically, my sugar
cravings disappeared and, after I completed it,
my entire approach to eating changed. I no
longer tied myself to a three-meals-a-day
routine, and instead listened to my body’s
hunger signals.
“Professor Longo told me that if you’re
otherwise healthy, like I was, you can do it a
maximum of two to three times a year as a
reset for your metabolism. If you’re
overweight, however, he advises doing three
fasts one after the other, with a month’s break
in between.”
Research by Prof Longo on 100 people
found those who did his five-day diet every
month for three months lost weight and body
fat and also saw improvements in blood
pressure, cholesterol and the hormone
insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which is
linked to ageing and disease.
For gentler, more gradual weight loss,
time-restricted eating may be more suitable.Fasting for... brain health
Studies have suggested that fasting can delay
the onset of Alzheimer’s and other
neurological conditions, like Parkinson’s.
Animal trials show that intermittent
fasting – such as time-restricted eating- promotes the growth of new brain
cells, though this is yet to be shown in
humans.
“Fasting is a challenge to your
brain, and we think that your
brain reacts by activating
adaptive stress responses that
help it cope with disease,” says
Mark Mattson, a professor of
neuroscience at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine.
“From an evolutionary
perspective, it makes sense your
brain should be functioning well
Fasting works – but
which diet should
you choose?
From extreme fasts to time-restricted eating, the benefits of
controlled calorie consumption extend beyond weight loss.
Maria Lally asks the experts how to find the one that best suits you
The Daily Telegraph Thursday 29 August 2019 *** 21
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