A Guide to Intermittent Fasting
"Calorie restriction is proven to help you live a longer life."<p>This is essentially false for anyone reading the article. The studies that showed mice living longer lives from calorie restriction were restricted <i>from birth</i>, and thus their growth was stunted, and smaller creatures live longer (think about dogs; big ones die earlier).<p>Studies of animals where the calories restriction was started mid-life all show increased mortality. The immune system and wound healing are compromised.<p>That being said, I've been using a system basically like Leangains since March for the purpose of losing weight. It's just cutting calories and I find that two meals a day plus a big plate of vegetables for dinner allows me to fast from Noon to breakfast the next day with minimal hunger.<p>But this is a calorie deficit/weight loss strategy because I'm overweight, not a lifestyle thing I'm going to keep up forever. And so far I've lost 29 lbs since March, so that's nice.<p>There are benefits to fasting occasionally I think, but that's not calorie restriction. It's just giving your body a 24 hr period to engage in autophagy and clear out some of the junk; you make up the calories on the other days.