Intermittent Fasting (IF) & Calorie Restriction (CR) – Healthy or Not?

by Brandon Alleman

Intermittent fasting (IF), or what is more akin to “time restricted feeding,” as well as caloric restriction (CR) seem to be all the rage these days in the world of nutrition and wellness.

Is this really the “be-all-end-all” to everyone’s health issues? Is this really the best way to shed those unwanted pounds – because, let’s be honest, that’s the main reason anyone makes any change in diet these days. Further, and likely infinitely more important, does this do anything for improving health and longevity? These are questions that require a little more than the “on the surface” claims to fame often spouted by so-called experts. So, let’s dive in!

The general theory of IF and CR is that you fast or eat less than some randomly assigned amount of calories and that has the capacity to slow down metabolism, ensuring that you produce less oxidative stress, autophagy ensues, and this allows the body to “cleanse” itself thereby normalizing weight and allowing you to drink from the fountain of youth.

All kidding aside, I will say that it is true that fasting and CR can probably enhance your health when you are prone to overeating, but not in any other case or for any other reason. Might you lose a few unwanted pounds…in most cases, probably so. The weight loss usually being the result of the fact that you are in a calorie deficit.

What I have always asked people is, “Unless you plan to do this until you process through a physical death, what are you going to do when you stop fasting or restricting calories? Further, will your physiology be able to effectively rebound from this calorie deficit/fasted state that you have created for yourself?

One of the ways that my wife and I discuss things in our household is that when we take a given stance on something, we try to present an argument in favor of that which we are against. This typically ensures that at least some level of open-mindedness is maintained and helps to bring a larger, more holistic approach to our discussions. In that spirit, I can see several potential mechanisms by which IF and/or CR can be beneficial for health and longevity.

Those benefits are as follows:

1. The restriction or decreased consumption of PUFA (poly-unsaturated fats)

2. The decreased consumption of potential problematic amino acids - tryptophan, cysteine, and methionine

3. The potential for less consumption of garbage food (synthetic sugar, additives, pesticides, metals, etc.)

Let’s unpack this shall we.

PUFA’S (POLY-UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS)

Let’s start with PUFA’s. The poly-unsaturated fats are those which are found to be liquid at room temperature commonly known as vegetable, seed, fish, nut, seed, soy and other oils, including olive oil (which is the better of the lot and when used in a first, cold-pressed form and used cold has some benefits).

PUFA’s are all unstable especially when heated. The most unstable oils in general use and over recommended are the omega 3’s - particularly DHA and EPA.

I’ve seen the nonsensical recommendation of omega 3’s, etc. for well over 15 years now. Some recommendations being as high as 3g per meal in an effort to supposedly decrease inflammatory potential and stabilize blood sugar via a decrease in the glycemic load of the meal.

One, among many, of the key problems with this approach is that increased DHA levels are known to occur in the obese and diabetics (Madison Sullivan et al., 2018) and this increase is associated with reduced mitochondrial enzymes (metabolic enhancers).

Although these fatty acids are marketed and promoted as being healthy and safe, legitimate research has documented that unsaturated fats (PUFAs) can create the following issues:

IMMUNOSUPPRESSION

BLOCKING GLUCOSE FROM ENTERING CELLS TO BE USED IN ENERGY PRODUCTION (RANDLE CYCLE)

CREATING HYPOGLYCEMIA THROUGH LOWERING BLOOD GLUCOSE VIA HYPER STIMULATING THE BETA CELLS OF THE PANCREAS / HYPERINSULINEMIA

INCREASES THE BIOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF ESTROGEN VIA BLOCKING ESTROGEN FROM SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOBULINS (SHBGS)

SUPPRESSES CELLULAR RESPIRATION (ENERGY PRODUCTION) AND INHIBITS OPTIMAL THYROID FUNCTION

INCREASES VASCULAR TENSION

CREATE DIGESTIVE STRESS

That is not even a comprehensive list. The detrimental effects of excess PUFAs reach far beyond this list, but hopefully this paints a clear picture. If you have followed my work/writing at all, you know that in my opinion, due to the direct and indirect effect of PUFA’s on thyroid function, consuming them is not in the best interest of someone who truly cares about his/her health and well-being.

A very well-respected researcher on the thyroid, A. J. Hulbert completed a large body of work on the role of thyroid hormones and fatty acids in ‘membrane fluidity’. Interestingly Hulbert proposes that mammals and birds with a high metabolic rate and greatest longevity often have this key feature in common. They generally have low saturation of PUFAs as determined by something called the peroxidation index (PI).

The opposite is true for animals with high PUFA saturation and PI – they exhibit decreased longevity.

“There’s an inverse relationship between the peroxidation index of skeletal muscle phospholipids and maximum lifespan of mammal and bird species of different sizes.” (A.J. Hulbert)

There is something that permeates the scientific community called the rate of living theory. Basically, this says that increased metabolism generates an increase in ROS (reactive oxygen species). As such, slowing metabolism down, produces less ROS and that is supposedly beneficial and productive.

This is in part another reason for the buzz around fasting, intermittent fasting, and/or time-restricted feeding – metabolic rate decreases. Of course, that suggestion is nonsense and this is where many people get confused about efficient thyroid function (utilization in particular), enhanced metabolism, and potential oxidative stress.

As an interesting side note, refeeding fasted subjects and those on a ketogenic diet are well known to depress thyroid hormone responsiveness, thyroid hormone receptors and glucose tolerance (Boelen, Wiersinga, & Fliers, 2008)(Garbow et al., 2011)(Kose, Guzel, Demir, & Arslan, 2017).

As the ratio of consumption of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids increases, SOD increases as does mitochondrial uncoupling. Remember, cell membranes are largely composed of the fatty acids that one has consumed up to a given point in lifespan. Lipid peroxidation and high levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) are observed with excess PUFA consumption (Chen & Li, 2016).

SOD can be counteracted by glutathione (SOD/G ratio) but the capacity is diminished over time. This enhances the reductive state and perpetuates the gain of electrons, which are a hallmark of damaged physiology. This also creates a shift in energy production away from the efficient oxidative metabolism of glucose and decrease metabolic pliability. Hulbert notes that a 24% decrease in PI, is associated with doubling of lifespan.

It is interesting to note that at birth an infant’s mitochondria contains a phospholipid called cardiolipin, which contains the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid. As the baby is fed foods that contain PUFA’s, the palmitic acid in cardiolipin is replaced with unsaturated fats.

This makes the mitochondria less stable with a decreased ability to support the action of cytochrome oxidase, a critical cellular respiratory enzyme. This leads to decreased mitochondrial respiration, decreased oxygen utilization, increased lipid peroxidation (PI) for energy production, and a life-long decrease in metabolic rate.

STRESS + STRESS = MORE STRESS

It makes less than no sense for someone with a stressed physiology to further magnify the stress response by fasting – and fasting in my world is anytime one is not meeting the calorie, nutrient, and metabolic needs of their body.

This includes skipping meals, restricting calories, going long periods of time without food, etc.

The exception of course is that time when we all fast, which is during sleep.

I’ve never had an issue with the narrative that it is a good idea to avoid eating for 1.5 to 2 hours prior to bed. realize for some this is not possible – full disclosure, I only make it about an hour. If you then combine this with 7-8 hours of sleep that should take place each night, you have an “intermittent fast” of 8.5 to 10 hours every single night – which is what we are designed for.

OVERARCHING CONSIDERATIONS

The stress response activates COX (cyclooxygenase) enzymes (which make inflammatory prostaglandins), aromatase (makes estrogen), enzymes that promote a histamine response, serotonin, nitric oxide, the cytokines, and stress hormones of the adrenals and pituitary.

The more stressed your physiology is the more prone your physiology becomes at activating stress hormone pathways, decreasing thyroid utilization and function, decreased insulin response, and perpetuating an inflammatory state.

For the vast majority of people, fasting, calorie restriction, etc. will simply magnify the stress response.

A BETTER WAY FORWARD

Restriction of PUFA, methionine and other agents which reduce Metabolic Pliability need to be compared with so called decreased rate of living theories to ascertain what really increases longevity.

It is beyond nonsensical to continue to perpetuate and promote rates of living theories that create more disorder and chaos than order and pliability. Doing so simply leads to a slow death of cellular function and ultimately, decreased longevity.

Energy production and conservation is the basis of thriving in this Life and for overcoming ALL threats, and it must be conserved in readiness for future needs.

Fasting (outside of that which occurs during sleep) in any capacity is not the answer for health or longevity in my opinion.

Brandon J. Alleman is a skilled Osteopathic Manual Practitioner, Holistic Health Practitioner, and Level 3 CHEK Practitioner with extensive concentration in human biomechanics and physiology. He owns Innate Movement and Wellness in Lafayette's Oil Center