re: Intermittent fasting linked to 91% increase in risk of death from heart disease, study.

This was discussed on the health and fitness board. It’s facially absurd.
Just going from the headline:
A) how does one even design such a study? Epidemiological questionnaires? Following the subjects long enough to see them die and apparently at such a rate that we should be dropping pamphlets over Silicon Valley? Control groups. Confounding factors.
B) what is “intermittent fasting”? We all fast intermittently from dinner until break…fast unless we late-night snack or get up and eat in the middle of the night.
C) this 91% is so outrageous as to lead someone to ignore the “study” altogether. Obviously we’re talking relative v. absolute risk and likely a sample size small enough to render crazy scary numbers. But this is likely the least of the issues.

I’m sure this is answered in the “study” and commentary on it. I don’t have time for this shite. I have to go not eat.

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Scientists have been studying its neurologic, anti-inflammatory and cardiac effects of IF - FOR DECADES. They even think it has potential to prevent Alzheimer’s, which IF devotees often call Type III diabetes.

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I'd be curious to know if the lack of calories is the main driver of the benefit or if it's eliminating a glucose spike.

Anybody trying to improve their metabolic health should wear a CGM for a month or two. I was very surprised at what foods did what, and it's not remotely the same for everybody.

I miss the old days when “4 out of 5 doctors” generally was good enough for most anything.

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The entire pharmaceutical industry can frick right off.

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I'm in.

That reminds me.. are eggs good or bad this year?

I was halfass listening to an interview Dr Drew was doing the other day. He mentioned these studies.. not THIS study, but all these randomized controlled studies everyone quotes and a shitload of money gets paid out for.. It's like doing studies is a new industry. Studies on demand..
Anyway. Drew said that instead of studies, the medical community used to rely on the documented observations of clinicians. Then all that changed..
I was going to go back and listen to that part again and got distracted by a Salty Cracker live stream.

After the last few years my vague general mistrust of the pharma industry has turned absolute. I assume everything they and their sponsored vassals in government and media say are not just false, but intended to cause harm.. or profit.. same thing with them.

Scientists are easier to buy than Congressmen. Studies are easier to manipulate than elections.
Everything is fake and gay.

I believe the human race evolved for thousands of years on "intermittent fasting". People didn't have 24-7 access to food until relatively recently. Before then, if you didn't catch anything, you didn't eat.

Took a few minutes to dig into this.

Not peer reviewed. Just an abstract out right now.

Author herself recognizes serious “limitations.”

The whole point of epidemiology is to give scientists direction for actual science. It’s for forming rough hypotheses.

“Journalists,” “influencers” and other societal miscreants make headlines and click bait of this shite for various nefarious reasons.

I don’t have time to look into this further right now. I’ll wait for peer review.

Took a few minutes to dig into this.

Not peer reviewed. Just an abstract out right now.

Author herself recognizes serious “limitations.”

The whole point of epidemiology is to give scientists direction for actual science. It’s for forming rough hypotheses.

“Journalists,” “influencers” and other societal miscreants make headlines and click bait of this shite for various nefarious reasons.

I don’t have time to look into this further right now. I’ll wait for peer review.

NYT Summary (no paywall)

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The Background Intermittent fasting involves cycling between eating and fasting for specific periods of time. A common approach, for example, is to eat only within an eight-hour window each day, said Krista Varady, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Several short-term trials have suggested that this eating style can lead to some weight loss and may lower blood pressure and improve blood sugar control in certain people, she said. But the longest intermittent fasting trial lasted only one year, said Victor Wenze Zhong, lead author of the new study and an epidemiologist at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China. His aim, he said, was to look at longer term health.

The Research
The new study included more than 20,000 adults from the United States. The participants completed two questionnaires, less than two weeks apart, about what time they ate on the previous day. The researchers then calculated the participants’ average eating windows and assumed it was their typical schedule for the rest of the study, Dr. Zhong said. The participants were followed for an average of eight years. During that time, the participants who limited their eating to eight hours in a day had a 91 percent greater chance of dying from cardiovascular disease than those who ate over a 12- to 16-hour time frame, the researchers reported. But there were just 414 people in the eight-hour eating group, Dr. Zhong said. And they tended to be younger; less educated and wealthy; have less access to food; and be more likely to smoke than the other participants. The researchers accounted for these factors in their analysis, Dr. Zhong said. But the study did not show that this style of eating caused deaths from cardiovascular disease, only that the two were linked.

The Limitations
Since the study has not been published or peer-reviewed, it’s challenging to fully evaluate it, Dr. Varady said. A “major limitation” is that they used just two diet questionnaires to accurately represent people’s typical eating pattern, Dr. Varady said; and the study did not seem to evaluate what kinds of foods people ate. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Tufts University, called the study “very problematic.” The eight-hour eating group may have included many people who were very busy, or faced other challenges that forced them to miss meals or eat erratically, he said. The group also could have included people who were already in poor health — those with eating disorders or illness that reduced their appetite, for instance, which may have resulted in them eating during a shorter window, said Satchidananda Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego. And if intermittent fasting is really harmful, it’s not clear why that might be. Dr. Zhong said that his study was not designed to answer that question.
What’s Next
More research is needed to evaluate the long term health effects of intermittent fasting, Dr. Zhong said. Intermittent fasting isn’t a good fit for everyone, said Dr. Pam Taub, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Diego. But many of her patients have enjoyed its benefits, like reduced cholesterol levels. Now, her patients are “confused and scared” by the headlines they’re reading, Dr. Taub said. But she won’t recommend that they change anything based on this study, she said, adding that people should always talk with their doctor before shifting their diet or lifestyle.

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I'd be curious to know if the lack of calories is the main driver of the benefit or if it's eliminating a glucose spike.

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I think it’s the combination of both. The fasting helps regulate your insulin. Basically it’s work to digest food. It spikes insulin, and if you don’t give yourself time to run thru the process- your insulin remains elevated. So - It’s particularly beneficial if you not only fast to give your body the time to process your meals.

It’s crucial to make sure that you’re eating nutritious foods in your window. The most nutritious ones are “anti-inflammatory” in that they focus on good fats, good carbs, (with limited added sugars), and proteins.

I once had a doc tell me during the Covid idiocy that we think of fat as just sitting there - but in fact - it’s “inflammation” which is toxic and harmful to us. Thats why overweight people were more likely to die of Covid bc their bodies are already in an inflammatory state.

You’ll lose weight just by intermittent fasting bc of the reduced calories- but you’ll become more healthy by also making sure that you’re nourishing your body when you’re eating, because you’ll lose weight and inflammation.

I almost never eat breakfast or drink coffee. I certainly wouldn’t describe my morning energy levels as “high”