Everyday Systems

Science is showing that we must fast between meals. Even healthy snacking is bad for us.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 184138.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2009) — A body that is provided with food too often gets caught up in the maelstrom of a lack of exercise, obesity and ultimately diabetes. The trigger is a molecular switch that is controlled by insulin, a new study by scientists from ETH Zurich has revealed.


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Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. And nothing in between: no snacks, no sweets, not even anything we think of as healthy. For in order to stay healthy the body needs to fast between meals. At least this is what nutritionists would recommend were they to translate the results of a new study from ETH Zurich into practical terms. After all, the research group headed by Markus Stoffel, a professor from the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology at ETH Zurich, has discovered an important molecular mechanism that underlies a lack of exercise and therefore obesity.

The researchers present their findings in the current issue of the journal Nature.

Hunger makes you active

The key switch player in this is a transcription factor called Foxa2. Transcription factors are proteins that make sure other genes are activated and converted into proteins. Foxa2 is found in the liver, where it influences fatburning, but also in two important neuron populations in the hypothalamus -- the region of the brain that controls the daily rhythm, sleep, intake of food and sexual behavior. The control element for Foxa2 activity is insulin, in both the liver and the hypothalamus.

If a person or animal ingests food, the beta cells in the pancreas release insulin, which blocks Foxa2. When fasting, there is a lack of insulin and Foxa2 is active. In the brain, the scientists have discovered, Foxa2 assists the formation of two proteins: MCH and orexin. These two brain messenger substances trigger different behavior patterns: the intake of food and spontaneous movement. If mammals are hungry, they are more alert and physically active. In short, they hunt and look for food. "If you watch a cat or a dog before feeding it, you can see this very clearly," says Stoffel.
Explanation found for lack of movement

The researchers discovered a disorder in obese mice: in these animals, Foxa2 is permanently active, regardless of whether the animals are fasting or full. This explains a well-known but until now unaccountable phenomenon: the lack of movement in obese people and animals.

To prove this, the researchers used a genetic trick to breed mice, in the brains of which Foxa2 is always active, regardless of whether they have just eaten or are fasting. These mice produce more MCH and orexin and move five times more than normal animals, in which insulin deactivates Foxa2 after eating or which are obese. The genetically modified mice lose fatty tissue and form larger muscles. Their sugar and fat metabolism works flat out and their blood values are considerably improved.

Three meals a day suffice

For Stoffel, the study clearly shows that, "The body needs fasting periods to stay healthy." Moreover, you should make sure you have a good body weight. He therefore doesn't think much of eating many little meals spread out over the day; it is better to eat less frequently but well, and leave room in between to get hungry. After all, because insulin is released during every meal, thus suppressing Foxa2, the motivation to do physical exercise and burn sugar and fat visibly decreases.

great article! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing!

It seems as if the scientific evidence for Reinhard's intuitive system keeps mounting!

Thanks, Mrs. Partridge. I enjoyed reading the article.

Very interesting! It's amazing just how powerful insulin is in our bodies! Yet another reason to stick with No S.

I enjoyed this, but I'm wondering how long the periods of fasting should be. I know there are people who routinely eat only 2 meals daily and have no problems. I also know that there are people who eat more than 3 meals daily and have no problems. I think frequency and exactly what and how much is eaten is important, too.

This is definitely making it to the homepage (and the second edition of the book, if there ever is one).

Thank you, MrsPartridge!

Reinhard

My husband usually eats two meals a day. He seldom eats breakfast and often doesn't eat lunch until there is a convenient break in his schedule - which sometimes isn't until 3 pm. He eats a reasonably large lunch when he does get 'round to it and a large dinner. A single, large, well-filled plate.

According to all 'conventional wisdom' he should have a sluggish metabolism, low energy levels, fuzzy thinking and be gaining weight with all that meal skipping, eating late at night, all those calories and fat since we eat a high fat diet, not to mention that he sits at a computer for most of his day. Instead he is thin, energetic and healthy.

I know a lot of people who cannot let go of the myth that weight gain/loss is simply a matter of calories no matter how often and conclusively it's disproven, would argue that he simply eats fewer calories this way. Not even close .

Luckily, he was raised this way and never read all that fitness and health advice telling him he was on the road to certain doom. I read it all and never could figure out why I was doing what I was 'supposed to', and although I didn't gain weight, there's a lot more to health than weight. With studies like this coming out, at least I'm beginning to learn why. Someday soon I hope this will again be 'conventional wisdom'.

agreed Dandelion. Have you read Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon. He's got an excellent blog and his plan easily fits in with No S Diet. It all breaks down to calories in/calories out. If there's a deficit, there'll be weight loss.

I haven't read that, but I have read some IF blogs which outline a lot of the benefits. Not just weight loss. It's amazing how much benefit there is simply from allowing the body a few hours break from eating and digesting.

Thanks!!! I think this article deserves a sticky on the No-S bulletin board. I am going to forward the link to a friend, who's trying No-S.

I certainly believe the part about feeling more like being active. Yesterday, I had finally broken the streak of daily overeating for the past--oh, quite a while. When I went about four hours without eating, I actually had a spring in my step. I've never understood diets that promise that you won't be hungry. Then why would you eat? It just feels better to get hungry. Dealing with real hunger is rarely the real problem, unless people are following a diet that leaves them empty after a couple of hours. Waiting to get legitimately hungry and then eating without overeating is the real problem.

Fasting between meals seems to be a Free Energy Boost. Most people buy those energy bars or drinks or have another coffee in hopes of getting some energy while our bodies will give us this for free.

I'm now getting a spring in my step about 1 hour before lunch and I take advantage of it to clean up or do some chores that I've been procrastinating.

It's really like taking some type of diet drug. In the past there were diet pills (dexatrim etc.) which were essentially like a speed pill. The dieter would lose their appetite and have lots of crazy energy. It was not healthy though and now they're not on the market anymore. However by fasting we get that built-in hormone that will give us energy.

I use Brad Pilon's Eat Stop Eat with No S. It works really well for me.