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Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:05 pm  |
I am interested to know what your thoughts are on the theories behind intermittent fasting or calorie restriction. I am reading one to the 5:2 diet books and I have no doubt that a person following the plan would lose weight. It appears to me that most of the beneficial effects of the diet such as normalising blood sugar levels and reducing cholesterol would occur with just about any weight loss and exercise programme and in the book I am reading (The Fast Diet) one of the big benefits of intermittent fasting it touts is a decrease in IGF-1 which the book claims that higher levels of contribute to accelerated aging and aging related diseases such as certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. Lower levels of IGF-1 as far as I can make out induce a metabolic process called Autophagy which in the book is described as a repair process and this is one of the ways it claims to be anti-ageing.
It sounded good to me so I went online and started looking up IGF-1 and Autophagy and as a skin care nut I was especially interested to see how this impacted on how your skin ages, I was expecting to find that lower levels of IGF-1 preserved your skins youthful appearance but what I found was that higher levels of IGF-1 are associated with a more youthful appearance in this paper: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/780503
I have certainly noticed that practitioners of CRON such as Lisa Walford do have an aged facial appearance. I accept that they may prefer to concentrate of longevity and I love the idea of optimal nutrition but I personally do not want to look gaunt and prefer a bit of fat under my skin.
Further reading seems to suggest that researchers are fairly split on if lower levels of IGF-1 and autophagy are a good or bad thing and it seems like it is a bit of both. I also read that higher levels of IGF-1 activity were associated with greater longevity and was protective of heart health in the elderly: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080527084252.htm
There also seems to be a lot of research suggesting that if you interrupt and stop the process of autophagy especially in relation to heart health that it is actually better and that is part of the benefit of including things like turmeric, cocoa and green tea in your diet as they contain compounds that interrupt autophagy. It is all explained a bit better in this article: http://www.jackkruse.com/the-quilthow-to-beat-agin/
I am not saying that intermittent fasting is bad and it is widely accepted that higher levels of IGF-1 are linked to certain cancers (Prostate cancer and pre-menopausal breast cancer I think). I dont have any background in science so I am not 100% sure of my interpretation of papers I have read but it looks to me like the jury is still out on the pros and cons of IGF-1 .
Many especially in the body building community advocate increasing IGF-1 to delay aging and I am not sure about that either as it just seems that these metabolic processes are not yet fully understood but are currently just different parts of the jigsaw still waiting to be put together. I am interested in any other forums users thoughts of intermittent fasting and how you have interpreted the data regarding IGF-1 and its effect on aging?
Note:
There also seems to be some link between higher levels of IGF-1 and over production of sebum, acne and enlarged sebaceous glands but I cannot locate any reserch papers at the moment to link to. |
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Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:46 pm |
I think there needs to be more research done so we understand it's effect better. Too much of even a good thing can be bad.
I actually think fasting every once in a while can be a good thing (for people who don't have issues with maintaining their blood sugar, of course.)We didn't evolve having 3 square meals a day. There were times of famine. Maybe this is one of the processes put into place to make lemonade out of lemons. |
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Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:26 pm |
| Isn't IGF for men primarily |
_________________
Enjoying dermalogica with my ASG and Pico toner ** Disclosure: I was a participant without remuneration in promotional videos for Ageless Secret Gold and the Neurotris Pico Emmy event. |
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Sun Jul 07, 2013 1:37 pm |
| I think that IGF-1 is taken in supplement form by body builders, mostly men but it also occurs naturally in the body. Some people think that it is bad while others think it has beneficial properties. Having high levels seems to promote certain cancers but having high levels of IGF-1 is also associated with lower percived age (i.e. less skin wrinkling). Its protective or harmful effect on heart and cardiovascular health seem to be contested at present. |
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| Fri May 09, 2025 7:45 pm |
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