Aggressive Fasting: Benefits Beyond Caloric Restriction

Aggressive fasting improves insulin sensitivity and reduces appetite, challenging conventional views on caloric restriction.

### Aggressive Fasting: New Insights from a Controlled Study
* 📊 A recent study published in Cell Metabolism examined the effects of **aggressive fasting** compared to caloric restriction, marking the **first clinically supervised controlled feeding trial in humans** on fasting.
* ⏳ Participants were divided into two groups: one followed a **six-hour eating window** while the other had a **12-hour block**, with both groups receiving calories tailored to **maintain their weight** over five weeks.
* 💪 Results showed that the group practicing aggressive fasting experienced **significant improvements in insulin sensitivity and pancreatic function**, highlighting the **metabolic benefits of fasting beyond mere weight loss**.
* 🧬 Additionally, the study found a **decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS)**, suggesting that a compressed eating window could **positively impact oxidative stress**, a known driver of aging.
* 🍽 Interestingly, despite being required to consume the same amount of calories, participants in the six-hour window reported a **reduced appetite**, indicating **potential long-term weight loss benefits**.
* 🔄 The crossover design of the study further validated the findings, as those who switched from the **12-hour to the six-hour eating window** exhibited **similar metabolic improvements**.
* 📉 While the study supports **more aggressive fasting**, it is essential to note that this was conducted in a **controlled environment**, and such extreme fasting may **not be suitable for everyone**.
* 🔍 Ultimately, this research underscores the **potential advantages of longer fasting periods** compared to shorter ones, challenging the notion that a **14-hour fast is sufficient for metabolic health**.

while the whole world and the whole internet has been talking about this fasting study that came out that shows that fasting and caloric restriction are no different in terms of end result, there's another paper that was published that nobody was really talking about that actually looks at real more aggressive fasting. What do I mean by that? Well, the previous study, and I've done some videos on this, that takes a look and says fasting is the same as caloric restriction. Although I agree with everything it said, everything, nothing I disagree with. Well-crafted study. It was looking at very short-term, like fasting periods were very short fasting periods, rather. It was very, it was like 14-hour fasts, which I don't know, but without even thinking about it, I faster 14 hours, and a lot of people do, so that's not really fasting. So this study was the first clinically supervised controlled feeding trial in humans on fasting, the first of its kind. We're in a very tightly controlled setting, controlled feeding, and controlled metabolic adjustments to compare if

time-restricted feeding in a more aggressive sense, like a six-hour eating window if calories are equal, has any benefit. Very interesting findings after today's video. If you're into fasting, you might want to try Element electrolytes and try their new sparkling electrolytes, which are in a ready-to-drink can, which makes it awesome. I'm a big fan of electrolytes when I'm fasting anyway because it makes longer fasts easier, but it also just gives me something to sip on 'cause I get bored, and it tastes really good. But the sparkling ones are a new level because now it feels like you're kind of drinking a soda, but with no calories, no sugar, and you're getting the same awesome Element flavors and then some. So link down below, you can try their new ready-to-drink Element sparkling, and you can get a free sample pack, sample variety pack of all their different flavors with any purchase. So whether you want to get their stick packs or you want to try their new sparkling via that link down, you get a

free variety pack, so free sample pack of all their different flavors of electrolytes. Huge fan of Element over here, and I have been for a very long time. Those of you that know me know that that link down below is for that special offer, so it's drinklnt.com/Thomas. So this study was published in Cell Metabolism, and what's cool is they gave subjects enough calories to maintain their weight, okay? So it went on for 5 weeks, okay? And it was a crossover design, so when one group finished, the other group went into the other arm. So what's interesting about this study is they didn't put them on a caloric restriction. They didn't even like match calories. What they did is they said, Hey, here's exactly what this person needs to maintain their weight, exactly, and Here's what this person needs to maintain their weight, and This person. It was so designed to a tee, clinically supervised, and absolutely like literal to the tee feeding to make them keep their weight, and it worked. By the end, there was no

weight change and the reason they did this is people will say, Okay, well, benefits come. It's hard to tell if the benefits are coming from the food, from the fasting period, from this, from that, supplements, yadda yadda, or is the benefit just flat out coming from the weight loss. And that's a very valid thing. If you take two people and one person loses 100 pounds and one person loses 50 lb, is the person that's losing 100 lb getting more benefit that looks like it's coming from the diet but in reality, it just came from losing more weight? Or if you had some people that were eating the exact same thing and one person lost weight and one person didn't, would the person that lost weight show more benefits than the person that didn't? And the answer is, of course, they would. Losing weight is going to give you benefits. Losing adipose tissue, not being obese, is going to give health benefits. So where scientifically do we determine what the actual reason people are having improvements or metabolic improvement or glycemic

Improvement is it because they lost weight or is it because of the diet. So, the way we fix that is we get scientific and we get literally down to the calorie for one specific person. How do we make you maintain weight? How do we adjust in this clinical format? Well, they did that. So, one group ate in a 6-hour aggressive fasting window. Okay, they couldn't eat past 300 p.m. The other group ate in a 12-hour block. But remember, it didn't matter with calories because it was all equal. Macros were equal, spacing was obviously different, but as close to equal as they could get in terms of the sequencing. Okay, so the only thing that was different was the timing period. No calorie difference individually as a percentage or relatively speaking. Here's what they found: insulin sensitivity improved. Who would have thought you take a break from food, insulin sensitivity is going to improve? But insulin sensitivity didn't just improve in the short term. Beta cell function improved. Pancreatic function improved. So, over a 5-week period, they had significant improvements in

just the ability to process carbohydrates and manufacture insulin. Okay, well, guess what else happened? There was a decrease in reactive oxygen species. This is fascinating to me because reactive oxygen species is a driver of aging. Okay, so from a longevity perspective, for a long time, for like the longest time, up until probably 15 years ago, 10 years ago, we thought that reactive oxygen species, ROS, oxidative stress was the primary driver of aging. It could still be a primary driver, but we've since found a lot of other things that are driving it, okay? Mitochondrial stuff that's beyond that, but ROS is still a big one, oxidative stress. The fact that just compressing the eating window in an aggressive time reduced ROS is very interesting. Oxidative stress went down, but who would have thought if you stop eating for a little bit, maybe you give yourself a chance for endogenous antioxidants to actually do the job? I love this study because it's just, it's really hard to poke holes in it. The other thing that's interesting is that appetite went down, even though they had

to eat the same amount. Appetite went down, right? So they were maintaining weight, but they had less desire to eat. But they ate anyway because they had to, because they were eating to maintain weight, but they actually didn't even want to eat that much. So it's like some would say, Well, the benefits of intermittent fasting as far as the consumption is concerned and the lack of appetite comes because you're restricting your stomach, shrinking, and that could be true. But in this particular case, they were feeding them just enough to maintain weight, and they still had a reduction of appetite. So there's a good chance that even after the study, maybe they would continue to lose weight. But it gets better in the fact that they crossed over, and those that did the 12-hour went to the 6-hour, and they had the same effects. So it was like double proven in this metabolic, like supervised situation. The thing that makes me happy about this study is this one actually looked at real fasting compared to some of these other studies.

that are looking at 12 hours or 14 hours or sometimes even 16 hours. That's just not enough time, and I've preached this for so long, and yes, I'm tooting my horn here, but I have like, if you want the benefits of fasting, you need to go more aggressive. The caveat with this is I don't think everyone should just model this. This was a contr situation for 5 weeks, which is about as far as I would probably push it in this case before it might be too much fasting. However, calories were set to keep the metabolism somewhat high, so maybe it would be okay if you were doing it this way. But the short-term, like three times a week, more aggressive fasting is probably the way to go, and I think this kind of study demonstrates that compared to the other study that was published in the annals of internal medicine just a couple of weeks ago that says like, Hey, 14-hour fasts every day don't do that much. However, let me make a note. I talked about this in

that other video that broke that study down. A 14-hour fast still showed improvements in insulin resistance in their H IR. It wasn't highlighted in a lot of people's reviews of that study because it was statistically insignificant, but when you actually look at the literal graph, it's pretty darn significant. And if you know scientific journals at all, you know that statistically significant and absolute significance in like what it actually is in real life is a little bit different because it's more about the parameters that are set on the study versus the actual outcome. So, it means that it was not statistically significant beyond what was pretty much expected, but it was still significant enough to say, Hey, it's significant. Bottom line, it works. I'll see you tomorrow.

Shocking Results of 1st Ever Human Controlled Trial on Intermittent Fasting (supervised clinical)

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Aggressive Fasting: A New Study's Findings

A lesser-known study is examining more aggressive fasting, specifically a six-hour eating window, in a controlled setting.

The study aims to determine if this time-restricted feeding, with equal calories, offers any benefits.

The author promotes Element's new sparkling electrolytes as a helpful tool for fasting, offering a free sample pack with any purchase.

Study on Weight Maintenance and Health Benefits

A study published in Cell Metabolism provided subjects with precisely the calories needed to maintain their weight for five weeks, using a crossover design.

Despite the controlled feeding, there was no weight change among participants, challenging the notion that weight loss is the sole driver of health benefits.

The study aimed to determine the true source of metabolic and glycemic improvements, highlighting the complex relationship between weight loss and health benefits.

A study compared two groups with different eating windows: one had a 6-hour fasting period, while the other ate over 12 hours, but both had equal calories and macros.

The results showed improved insulin sensitivity, beta cell function, and pancreatic function in the fasting group, along with a decrease in reactive oxygen species, which are linked to aging.

Additionally, the aggressive time-restricted eating led to a reduction in appetite, highlighting the potential benefits of fasting for overall health.

Intermittent fasting can lead to a reduced appetite while maintaining weight, as seen in a study with participants on a controlled feeding schedule.

The study's crossover design, with participants switching from a 12-hour to a 6-hour eating window, further validated the effects.

The author advocates for more aggressive fasting protocols, suggesting that short-term, intense fasting three times a week may be more beneficial than longer, less intense fasts.

The Impact of a 14-Hour Fast on Insulin Resistance

A 14-hour fast showed improvements in insulin resistance, though the results were statistically insignificant.

The graph from the study indicated a more significant impact than the statistics suggested.

The difference between statistical significance and real-life impact can vary, but the bottom line is that the 14-hour fast is still effective.