We Need A Good Reminder To Be Careful Of Diet Fads:
This post might be more of a small note, but it’s still brings up themes that are important to consider.
So, there’s nothing that the nutrition space or the supermarket checkout line loves more than a fad diet.
Whether it’s Paleo, South Beach, Zone, celebrity hot-sauce-water, etc.
There’s supposed to be some magic formula to solve your problems and make the pounds fall off easily.
But one of the more recent plans does seem to work like magic, with all kinds of benefits.
-Until now…
The Short Answer:
- Intermittent-Fasting is a very popular diet with some good research behind it.
- So unlike a lot of others, there’s a chance it’s not just a fad.
- It has a ton of alleged benefits.
- But few studies have considered the downsides until now.
- Subjects who reported an 8-hour eating window had a 91% increased rate of death from heart-disease.
- This may be just a quirk in the study, and may not be the final word.
- It looks more like a note of caution to those who have heart disease already or those at-risk for it.
- The data does suggest that a 10-hour window may be safer.
- This would still count as I-F.
- But overall, this could easily be a case of “Correlation does not equal causation”.
- There are still many benefits to I-F.
- The study may not be without its flaws.
Read on to find out the details…
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There Are Only Two Diets That Have Biochemistry Magic:
And who’s to say all the different diets are really that bad?
They do in-fact get you to pay attention to what you’re doing, and follow a routine.
-Two very powerful tools if you want to make progress in anything.
It’s just the unreasonable gimmicks they’re based on that suck.
BUT! There are only a few we know of that do have some kind of actual biochemistry magic in them.
Keto and Intermittent-Fasting.
The second is the one with the problems we’re going to discuss here.
The Preliminary Study That Puts A Shot Across The Bow Of I-F:
Because in a study that spans 20,000 subjects across 15 years,
Researchers just found a worrying stat that makes for a good Scare Headline.
People who ate in a window that averaged 8 hours had A 91% INCREASED CHANCE OF DEATH FROM HEART DISEASE, when compared to those who ate across a 12 or 16 hour window.
-Boom.
Okay, now let’s unpack this.
But It May Not Be Quite That Straightforward:
The data that’s been out in the press releases is a little misleading.
Because it only establishes some link, but nothing more.
And this is one of those times the old health-study-Grammar-Nazi phrase really needs to be said, “Correlation does not equal causation.”
The actual truth looks more like a Norm MacDonald headline: The people who had increased rates of early mortality from heart disease already had heart disease.
Maybe A Little More Caution Is Your Best Friend?:
So right now, it looks like the most cautious path to take is to have an eating window larger than 8 or even 10 hours for people who already have heart disease.
The (pre-publish) study does not show that 8-on 16-off I-F -causes- heart disease, or death from it.
It’s looking like just an important note.
The other line of reasoning that might be worth thinking about is if there’s some way a person might be at-risk for it; like family history, etc.
The good news is that most of the research that’s been done on I-F is on the 10-on/14-off version.
There might be a chance that’s less dangerous; but like most of this type of stuff, that’s for the doctor to decide for someone.
Let’s Remember Some Of Intermittent-Fasting’s Benefits:
On the other hand, just as a reminder, Intermittent-Fasting has been found to:
1) Improve blood-pressure
2) Improve blood-sugar
3) Reduce insulin-resistance
4) Improve cholesterol levels
5) Clean up Zombie-cells
6) Increase lifespan
7) Cause weight-loss nearly as well as calorie-counting
8) Reduce inflammation
So, for those of you not in an at-risk group, like those who suffer from heart-disease or other serious ailments mentioned in the source material,
It might still be a good plan.
(and if you dig into the data in this preliminary, the 10-hour crowd may have a risk of 5% lower to only 15% higher)
Footer 1, Some Other I-F Risk Groups:
There are some other health concerns that put someone in a group that might not be suited to this plan.
They can include:
1) Diabetes/Blood-Sugar Issues
2) Eating Disorders
3) Medication Plans That Mandate Food-Intake
4) Kids Who Are Still Growing
5) Women Who Are Pregnant Or Breastfeeding
Footer 2, Some Study Parameters To Consider:
For a few more facts & figures that could inform choices, here are some other notes on the study:
- Average age: 49 years old
- Average study window: 8 years
- Maximum: 17 years
- Half men, half women
- 73% non-Hispanic Whites
- Small windows of Self-report data (so accuracy problems)
- No word on quality of food
- They haven’t published/considered other factors like obesity, exercise, or stress yet
- Study data comes from 2003-2018
- The individuals in the study were probably doing I-F accidentally, as it hadn’t become massively popular in the US until a bit before 2018
Wrap-Up. Is Intermittent-Fasting Done-For, Then?:
Anyway, to sum-up. Does this look like the end of the road for I-F?
No.
It just means that it’s a good idea to consider all your potential issues and work with a pro in some way.
-Even if it’s just getting pointed in the right direction, and for check-ins.
Otherwise, if you’re healthy but a little chubby, I-F may be just as good, or even better than all the other stuff out there.
PS: This preliminary might also add a little more weight to the 10/14 plan.
References & Links:
• Source: AHA Newsroom
• Source Study(Preliminary):
AHA – Association of 8-Hour Time-Restricted Eating with All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortalityy
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