Healthy, metabolically flexible cells are resilient to stress, illness, and disease. Ultimately, intermittent fasting keeps the billions of cells in your body in good health and on the path towards healthy longevity.

Meanwhile, studies show that, on average, people eat or snack during 14—15 hours of their hour day. If you follow this schedule, your body may never get a chance to shift your metabolism and fully activate your innate fat-burning machinery.

When your body is out of balance and exclusively operating in the fed metabolic state growth mode , you are more likely to gain weight. Researchers have found that unrestricted meals and snacks, a. Consequently, round-the-clock eating patterns have been linked to weight gain and declines in metabolic health.

Intermittent fasting enables your body to naturally balance fed vs. fasted metabolism. Compared with restrictive diets that require a lot of discipline, intermittent fasting is a more sustainable lifestyle approach to maintaining healthy body weight and may be superior for weight loss.

Intermittent fasting is an excellent way to reduce overall oxidative stress, which otherwise damages your DNA and causes you to age faster. In a three-year follow-up study of adults over 60 years old, intermittent fasting just a couple times a week was shown to naturally reduce inflammation and boost natural anti-aging processes.

In a nutshell, intermittent fasting helps protect your DNA and thereby promotes longevity at the cellular level. Chronic inflammation is believed to be a causal factor in atherosclerotic disease which can lead to heart attacks and insulin resistance.

Intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce circulating inflammation markers more effectively than alternative strategies like calorie restriction. As your metabolism shifts to burning fat and producing ketones, you activate anti-inflammatory pathways that are turned off in the fed state.

Previous studies demonstrating this mechanism are supported by a new study that identified intermittent fasting as an effective method to improve insulin sensitivity, gut microbiome health, and overall inflammation throughout the body. A significant body of evidence suggests that fasting regimens, especially in middle-aged adults and older, protect against common age-related diseases, like heart disease.

Researchers believe that intermittent fasting produces longevity benefits and reduces disease risk without the adherence and biological challenges associated with chronic calorie restriction diets.

Autophagy is an important, natural process in which your body clears older, tired, or worn-out cellular components so that your cells can function optimally. Intermittent fasting helps you do this. In humans, fasting for at least 18 hours can increase autophagy signals. In a study , overweight adults were split into two groups: one group fasted for 18 hours per day while the other group fasted for 12 hours per day for four days.

Not only can snacking pack on additional calories, but even a small handful of chips can prevent you from reaping the benefits from your fasting window by causing blood sugar and insulin levels to rise, which can suppress autophagy 9.

And I think the two things people can do to dramatically improve their health is to get rid of liquid sugar calories and not snack. Cell biologist Rhonda Patrick, Ph. told podcaster Tim Ferriss that she practices time-restricted eating. Animal studies suggest that fasting may offer brain-boosting benefits like increased resistance to stress, improved memory, and reduced risk of neurodegenerative disease According to research published in , a intermittent fasting schedule may help reduce the risk of developing chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and cognitive decline In the study, healthy participants were asked to fast for 14 hours from dawn to sunset for 30 consecutive days.

Plus, researchers found the day fast was associated with a serum proteome—a complete set of proteins—that is protective against cancer. Patrick thinks coffee may break your fast —even if you just drink it black. But the amino acids in coffee may interrupt those processes, says Patrick.

Fasting deactivates growth pathways like IGF-1 and mTOR, which are activated by amino acids. Once you consume amino acids, she says, those pathways reactivate. As part of his longevity-boosting routine , Andrew Huberman, Ph.

On the Huberman Lab podcast, he frequently discusses the benefits of time-restricted eating and fasting like aiding weight loss, boosting mental clarity, and improving focus. When you eat carbs, your body converts them into glucose—a type of sugar that your body burns for energy Huberman told Derek Cole that he almost always opts for steak or ground beef with Brazil nuts and sometimes vegetables to break his fast.

How Longevity Experts Use Intermittent Fasting. Which expert's fasting schedule will reign supreme? By Rebekah Harding Fact-checked by Joy Ferguson June 14, David Sinclair Australian-American biologist David Sinclair, Ph.

Pro tip: Tweak your timing If a four-hour eating window feels too narrow, extend it. MORE SINCLAIR. Peter Attia Peter Attia, M. Pro tip: Eat enough protein To build muscle, Attia packs as much protein as possible into his non-fasting window in order to establish an eating pattern that allows him to eat enough to maintain lean mass and long-term activity patterns.

MORE ATTIA. Mark Hyman Functional medicine practitioner Mark Hyman, M. View this post on Instagram. MORE HYMAN. Rhonda Patrick Cell biologist Rhonda Patrick, Ph. Close Search. Faculty Fasting Featured Health and Wellness Nutrition Research. The science of fasting and longevity A fasting-mimicking diet could spur cellular repair and improve health, says USC Leonard Davis Professor Valter Longo.

By Orli Belman April 18, Print. Listen Now. Starving for Answers Longo, who earned his PhD in biochemistry, has been at the forefront of the modern fasting movement for more than 20 years.

Fast Talk In light of the focus on fasting, the USC Leonard Davis School hosted the First International Conference on Fasting, Dietary Restriction, Longevity and Disease. Interested in fasting? Get Medical Supervision. The physician will also let you know if fasting is right for you.

Be wary if you have a preexisting medical condition. Do not fast continually or to lose weight. THE PLAN Eat only between noon and 6 p. WARRIOR DIET To mimic the eating habits of warriors in history, fast for 20 hours during the day, and consume any foods in a four-hour window.

ONE MEAL A DAY OMAD DIET Eat a large meal in a one-hour window, and fast for the rest of the day. THE PLAN Fast two nonconsecutive days of the week, and eat healthy on the other five days.

ALTERNATE-DAY FASTING Fast every other day, and eat healthy on the in-between days. Beth Newcomb January 31, Alzheimer's and Dementia Featured Health and Wellness Policy Study: Dementia Diagnoses Increased after Medicare Risk Adjustment.

Beth Newcomb January 29, USC Leonard Davis Communications January 11, Share Tweet Share. Visit Us. Contact Us. Support Us. Our School History What is Gerontology? Our Expertise Contact Us. Newsroom Honors and Awards Publications Resources for Journalists.

For the researchers, the role of time was a big clue to how fasting is linked to longevity. They found that autophagy, a cell-cleaning process, kicks in after fasting, but only when fasting occurs during the night.

Autophagy Greek for self-eating is known to slow aging by cleaning up and recycling damaged components of the cell. Human cells use the same cell-cleaning processes, so the findings raise the possibility that behavioral changes or drugs that stimulate the cleaning process could provide people with similar health benefits, delaying age-related diseases and extending the lifespan.

Unlike dietary restriction, which reduces caloric intake, intermittent fasting does not. It merely limits feeding to specific hours of the day.

Nonetheless, intermittent fasting is far from effortless. It would be much easier to get the same health benefits if we could enhance autophagy pharmacologically, specifically at night. The potential for pharmacological applications may be realized if researchers continue to study how circadian regulation and autophagy control aging and lifespan.

In the current study, the researchers identified circadian clock components Tim, Per, Cyc, and Clk and essential autophagy components Atg1 and Atg8a as both necessary and sufficient for the anti-aging, lifespan-extending benefits of iTRF. Facebook Linkedin RSS Twitter Youtube.

Sign in. your username. your password. Forgot your password? Get help. Privacy Policy. Password recovery. Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Li Y, Pan A, Wang DD, Liu X, Dhana K, Franco OH, Kaptoge S, Di Angelantonio E, Stampfer M, Willett WC, Hu FB.

Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancies in the US population. Li Y, Schoufour J, Wang DD, Dhana K, Pan A, Liu X, Song M, Liu G, Shin HJ, Sun Q, Al-Shaar L. Healthy lifestyle and life expectancy free of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking and Tobacco Use: Fast Facts. Kim ES, Shiba K, Boehm JK, Kubzansky LD. Sense of purpose in life and five health behaviors in older adults. Preventive Medicine. Guimond AJ, Shiba K, Kim ES, Kubzansky LD.

Sense of purpose in life and inflammation in healthy older adults: A longitudinal study. Crowe CL, Domingue BW, Graf GH, Keyes KM, Kwon D, Belsky DW. Associations of loneliness and social isolation with health span and life span in the US health and retirement study.

The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. Yu B, Steptoe A, Chen Y. Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality: A cohort study of 35, Chinese older adults.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Joyce J, Ryan J, Owen A, Hu J, McHugh Power J, Shah R, Woods R, Storey E, Britt C, Freak-Poli R, ASPREE Investigator Group.

Social isolation, social support, and loneliness and their relationship with cognitive health and dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Lisko I, Kulmala J, Annetorp M, Ngandu T, Mangialasche F, Kivipelto M. How can dementia and disability be prevented in older adults: where are we today and where are we going?.

Journal of internal medicine. Harling G, Kobayashi LC, Farrell MT, Wagner RG, Tollman S, Berkman L. Social contact, social support, and cognitive health in a population-based study of middle-aged and older men and women in rural South Africa.

Kivipelto M, Mangialasche F, Ngandu T. Lifestyle interventions to prevent cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer disease. Nature Reviews Neurology.

Irwin MR, Vitiello MV. The Lancet Neurology. Sleep disturbance and the risk of cognitive decline or clinical conversion in the ADNI cohort.

Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders. de Cabo R, Mattson MP. Effects of intermittent fasting on health, aging, and disease. New England Journal of Medicine. Mattson MP, Longo VD, Harvie M. Impact of intermittent fasting on health and disease processes. Ageing research reviews.

Dong TA, Sandesara PB, Dhindsa DS, Mehta A, Arneson LC, Dollar AL, Taub PR, Sperling LS. Intermittent fasting: a heart healthy dietary pattern?. The American journal of medicine. Gervis JE, Fernández-Carrión R, Chui KK, Ma J, Coltell O, Sorli JV, Asensio EM, Ortega-Azorín C, Pérez-Fidalgo JA, Portolés O, Lichtenstein AH.

Associations between taste perception profiles and empirically derived dietary patterns: an exploratory analysis among older adults with metabolic syndrome. Pisano M, Hilas O. Zinc and taste disturbances in older adults: a review of the literature.

The Consultant Pharmacist. Correia C, Lopez KJ, Wroblewski KE, Huisingh-Scheetz M, Kern DW, Chen RC, Schumm LP, Dale W, McClintock MK, Pinto JM. Global sensory impairment in older adults in the United States.

Rolls BJ. Do chemosensory changes influence food intake in the elderly?. Fluitman KS, Hesp AC, Kaihatu RF, Nieuwdorp M, Keijser BJ, IJzerman RG, Visser M.

Poor taste and smell are associated with poor appetite, macronutrient intake, and dietary quality but not with undernutrition in older adults. The Journal of nutrition. Olofsson JK, Ekström I, Larsson M, Nordin S.

Olfaction and aging: A review of the current state of research and future directions. Tsugane S.