On this episode of Anti-Aging Hacks, we talk all about Fasting.

We answer some of these questions, among many others:

1. Why we are eating so much as a society, and also eating many meals and snacks every day?

2. What are the benefits of fasting for a healthy body, weight loss and for anti-aging?

3. What are the different types of fasts, from daily Time Restricted Feeding to longer fasts including the 5 day water and Fasting Mimicking Diet?

My guest today is James LaValle. He is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board certified clinical nutritionist, and expert and educator in integrative and precision health. Dr. LaValle is probably best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital.

James is author of 16 eBooks and 20 books including the most recently released, Your Blood Never Lies, as well as his best seller, Cracking the Metabolic Code He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine.

Here are some details of our conversation:

Why are we Eating so Much 9:00

– Primitive nervous system wants to eat food all the time

– With stress in the modern times, people want to eat for comfort

– Finding macro foods for the average person according to their physical activity is important

Benefits of Fasting and Caloric Restriction for Anti-Aging/Longevity  12:00

– Every time you eat, most likely you bump your sugar up, which causes cortisol to spike and causes an inflammatory response

– Very important to eat low glycemic foods to avoid inflammation

– Muscle is currency of aging, so need to keep muscle as you get older

– A 5 day water fast and a Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) causes a cell protection and cell renewal effect

– mTOR is a compound in our body that is anabolic, and excess mTOR has been shown to cause chronic disease

– Insulin like Growth Factor is also anabolic

– Fasting turns down nutrient sensing, and causes a down regulation of both IGF1 and mTOR get down regulated during fasting

– Fasting also triggers autophagy, which cleans up the waste proteins and other debris in cells, and stem cells get released in day 3-5 that boost anabolic effect when people start eating

Stem Cells in Fasting 21:20

– Keck Center for Research found that stem cells were released during fasting

– Great results also reported when people fasted before surgery

Improvement Blood and Biomarkers 23:00

– Fasting or FMD: Lean body mass retained, fat mass goes down

– Improvement in blood sugar, LDL and total cholestrol, reduction in C-Reactive Protein and the classic markers of cardio-metabolic health

– 3-5 days of fasting has shown the best effects for cell protection and cell renewal and anti-aging benefits

How do Preserve Lean Muscle Mass 24:20

– The direct mechanism isn’t clear

– Fasting improves blood sugar efficiency and lipids, this improves insulin receptor signaling, and this burns fat more effectively

– Mitochondrial activity goes up

– But longer term fasting can cause muscle loss

What are the Different Types of Fasting

Time Restricted Feeding 26:20

– Sometimes cortisol goes up in 16 hour fasts

– Jim encourages people to stay in 12-14 hour fast per day

– 23/1 fast has some challenges as your body can only absorb so much at a time

Alternate Day Partial Fasting 28:10

– 500 calories on off day as a woman, 800 as a man on fast day

– On other day you can eat as much as you want

– Problematic as it is easy to cheat due to stress etc. not good for consistency

Alternate Day Complete Fast 29:10

– Modern world brings challenges

– On fast days, not everybody can handle full fasting no food days

– On eat days, people start to eat whatever they want which is problematic

– Need to adopt lifestyles such as Time Restricted Feeding and Fasting Mimicking Diet

3-7 Day Fast 31:20

– Water only fast for 3-7 days. Plenty of people have done this.

– Digestive rest is important.

– Nutrient sensing pathways get down regulated: mTOR, IGF-1, induction of stem cells, autophaghy, clearing up waste cells, rejuvenative effect on cells occurs

– Water only fasts for 3-7 days are very challenging because so many people are disglycemic

Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) by Valter Longo 34:00

– This program mimicks the effects of fasting while you are eating

– People are applying FMD very well

– Macronutrients and timing of food is adjusted to induce autophagy, mTOR, IGF-1, stem cell recruitment, and how to improve the biomarkers

– Can do FMD 5 days per month to correct a lot of issues in body, then rest of the month direct people to eat well

How often to do Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD) 40:40

– Jim recommends people do 3 cycles of 5 days on 25 days off

– Do this for 3 months, and then can do it twice a year

– Athletes do it before season and after season

– Helps to reset people’s appetite and show them they can eat less than they think

Who should not do FMD 47:00

– People that are excessively thin (BMI under 18)

– Women who are pregnant

– People with stage 3 or 4 kidney diseases

– Insulin dependent diabetic, or 3 or more medications for diabetes

– All these conditions are listen on L-Nutra

Jim’s Top Anti-Aging and Longevity Hacks 47:40

– Get enough sleep, make sure you don’t have apnea

– Exercise but not too much

– Pay attention to heart rate and blood pressure. Get heart rate under 62 if possible

– Eat during the circadian cycles

L-Nutra Prolon FMD Fasting program

– Prolon FMD (can buy the fasting kit here)

Contact Information 50:45

@jimlavalle on Twitter, @jim_lavalle1960 on instagram, Jim Lavalle on Facebook

Email is frontdesk@lavallemetabolix.com.