factors and biomarkers for aging, diabetes, cancer, and
neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disease.^12
From the available options, which style of fasting should
you choose? Henry David Thoreau famously observed that
“life is frittered away by detail.” When it comes to picking
(and sticking to) a protocol, most people, male or female,
will benefit from not eating for an hour or two (or more)
after waking, and not eating for two to three hours before
bed. This will make use of the body’s natural rhythms to
optimize ketone creation, among other positive things.
CREATINE: A MUSCLE (AND BRAIN) BUILDER
In the sea of overhyped marketing claims that support a
billion-dollar-per-year supplement industry, creatine holds
court as one of the few markedly effective tools with both a
strong evidence record and safety profile. It’s a natural
substance produced in the body and found in red meat and
fish (one pound of raw beef contains 2.5 grams of creatine),
and supplementing with it leads to substantially increased
muscle performance.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy currency of
cells, used during muscle contraction. Once ATP gets used
by a cell during intense exercise, creatine acts like an energy
reserve, recycling it to create new ATP. No additional
glucose or oxygen is needed, and ATP output remains
constant. Consuming additional creatine leads to increased
cellular energy stores in muscle, which allows for increased