By Sagar Kamprath, MD, UTMB Fellow, Integrative and Behavioral Medicine Fellowship Program
“A little starvation can really do more for the average sick man than can the best medicines and the best doctors.” -Mark Twain
As a health care provider, I’ve come to appreciate the limited impact I can have on my patients through pills and procedures alone. In fact, I’ve come to agree with what was etched onto an ancient Egyptian pyramid inscription from 3800 B.C., “Humans live on one-quarter of what they eat; on the other three-quarters lives their doctor.” The idea of three balanced meals a day is essentially a product of enculturation, not biologic necessity. Native Americans used to eat whenever they had an urge to, be it once or twice a day. This rather affronted the European settlers who graciously civilized our unfortunate brothers into the three meals per day paradigm. In a hunter gather society, which we evolved from, it was common to feast on a catch and then survive with little or no food until the next big yield. Until agriculture became well established, eating three meals a day was rather an impossibility. The idea of daily ritualistic eating has been cemented by the food industry, and mostly remains in the interest of monetary gain, and not population health. As Dr. Michio Kaku states, “On average, animals that eat 30 percent fewer calories live 30 percent longer.” This has been shown in yeast cells through primates, the only organism lacking deliberate testing remains humans. As a population, we tend to be overeating, and many of our health problems can be attributed to what we are putting into our bodies.
Aging essentially is the cumulative damage accumulated to your DNA over time. In fact, not eating stimulates the Sirtuin proteins which are responsible for DNA repair; furthermore, fasting stimulates the production of neurotropic growth factors, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes the growth of neurons in the brain suggesting that this may also help people with Alzheimer’s or cognitive decline. If a machine is constantly burning fuel, it is going to experience wear and tear, eventually degrading its parts. Similarly, if our bodies are constantly digesting, we are going to experience the accumulation of such processes over time.
Constantly consuming carbohydrates allows glucose to remain in the blood stream, akin to pouring syrup into an engine, mucking up the cellular machinery. This harmful inflammatory process called glycation leads to insulin resistance, and accumulation of body fat. Despite having adequate energy stores, we feel hungry when our insulin is high and feel the need to increase our blood sugar regularly through constant snacks.
Fortunately, there is another more efficient source of energy. Instead of glucose, ketone bodies that are produced by the liver from fatty acids, may be used once glycogen (stored glucose) is depleted. This typically takes 10-12 hours and forms the crux behind intermittent fasting. You think ketosis means “starvation mode,” but by no means does intermittent fasting suggest you starve. Hunger comes in waves, and with prolonged fasting, the hunger hormone ghrelin does not increase proportionately, in fact it decreases- the longer you go without food, the less hungry you will become. Through calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, one enters ketosis which entails a whole host of health benefits. Ketone bodies protect neurons against multiple types of neuronal injury and can also boost cognition by producing the previously mentioned BDNF in addition to other beneficial components.
Exactly how does one enter a state of ketosis? The simplest and most easily applicable method is to follow the 12/3 rule. That is 12 hours between the end of dinner and the next day’s first meal, and three hours as a minimum time between the end of dinner and bedtime to keep insulin levels from spiking before sleep. If you are feeling adventurous consider dinner at 8pm, a cup of green tea or black coffee upon awaking, and lunch at noon to make a 16 hour fast. A benefit of a 12-16 hour fast is autophagy, a process in which cells recycle components of destroyed damaged proteins and mitochondria.
Perhaps you are inspired to try intermittent fasting, or scratching your head at the apparent dietary anarchism. Regardless of whether I managed to pique your curiosity or scare you away from the idea of ketosis, I encourage you to be critical of the food products you ingest and attempt to consume more whole foods closer to their original constituents. That is as we move forward in life, to eat mindfully, listen to our bodies and provide ourselves with the best internal environments for growth and continued well-being.