4 New Rules of Eating for Aging Well

Intermittent Fasting

Although I typically eat rather healthily, I know there is always room for improvement. Throughout the years, I’ve come across numerous people singing the praises of intermittent fasting (IF). It wasn’t until the pandemic that I thought I could actually pull it off. With no events, dinners, or any enticing plans at all involving food, I finally thought the time had come to see if it lived up to the hype. I’ve never been a fan of juice cleanses or fasting, in general. However, the science/idea behind intermittent fasting made sense to me, and I couldn’t help but think how I had practiced a variation of it years ago not knowing it had an actual name.

In my 30s, I had the opportunity to visit Chiva-Som Health Resort in Hua Hin, Thailand. While there, I decided to use my visit as an opportunity to revamp my eating habits. When I returned home, I was determined not to fall back into bad habits. Instead, I came up with new rules I resolved to follow. First, no bingeing. Second, once I had eaten dinner, that was it for the day. And this last one, I’d weigh myself every morning to ensure I was staying on track.

Before long, the pounds were melting off. I also found myself eating earlier in the evening and then going for 12 or more hours without eating. It wasn’t all that challenging considering I was asleep for at least eight of those hours. While I hadn’t set out to practice intermittent fasting, I had stumbled onto it.

Si Si Penaloza, a spa and wellness writer and director JETSET magazine, discovered intermittent fasting after being invited to attend a themed press trip at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara. She didn’t immediately rush to jump in. “I had also been encouraged by my partner Doug Olear, an actor who shed 22 pounds of weight on a 10-day lemon and cayenne juice fast, before shooting a season of HBO’s The Wire, I could therefore give10 days to reinvent myself and my fitness narrative. Health Benefits

Beyond the self-love that Penaloza experienced, there are also a host of health benefits.“Studies demonstrate that IF may be beneficial to prevent obesity, lower cardiovascular risk factors, improve insulin resistance, decrease inflammatory markers in the bloodstream, and preserves memory,” says Dal Farra. “Studies also show increased levels of the protective hormone adiponectin. Adiponectin plays a crucial role in protecting against insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease.”

Decreased inflammation may be the most exciting longterm benefit. “An excellent study demonstrated improved biomarkers for cardiovascular and inflammatory disease in women,” says Dal Farra. “It was also equally effective as continuous caloric restriction. More studies are being done to investigate the benefits and safety of intermittent fasting as an effective diet for people with various inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, such as arthritis and lupus.

One benefit that was new to me was the increase in human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is a key hormone that helps regulate metabolism, cell repair, and other important functions. It helps improve healing after an injury, build muscle, and burn fat, all of which sounded good to me. According to numerous studies, HGH levels can double or triple in just two to three days of fasting. Ariane Resnick, a special diet chef and certified nutritionist, began intermittent fasting to increase her HGH levels. “After a half decade of chronic illness, my human growth hormone level was very low for my age, at less than 100,” says Resnick. “I’d heard IF could increase it along with other benefits.” And it did just that, Resnick’s HGH level nearly tripled, landing her on the high-end average for her age group. Farra. “When we fast for more than 12 hours, our bodies burn through all available sugars for energy. The we start to burn fat for fuel. The ketone bodies produced in this process help us think more clearly, solve problems, and have more energy.”

One thing that is not a given, however, is weight loss. According to Dal Farra, the quality and quantity of food consumed during the eating window matters. “Consequently, I recommend people eat plenty of whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins”

Fasting Methods

When most people think of fasting, they think of deprivation. While there is some truth to that sentiment, there is also so much more. Fasting is defined as when you willfully refrain from eating and drinking, limiting calories completely. Hydrating with water is usually allowed. According to Lauren Munsch Dal Farra, M.D., CEO of Palm Health, there are a variety of fasting methods, typically ranging between 12 and 24 hours of not eating. She notes the 16/8 method, which involves you fasting for 16 consecutive hours in a 24hour period, as being one of the most popular. The idea is to choose the eight hours to eat that makes the most sense for your lifestyle.

“For example, if you start eating at 11am, you will stop eating by 7 pm,” says Dal Farra. “Fasting for more than 13 to 14 hours can increase cortisol, so it is not advised for those with adrenal dysfunction If individuals do not tolerate 16 hours, even fasting for12 hours between can be beneficial.”

As the world grinded to a halt, Penaloza was finally able to put her self-care needs first. “Intermittent fasting gave pandemic days the critical infrastructure I so desperately needed,” she says. “The practice of fasting and yoga continues to give even my most stressful days a kind of elevated meaning.”

For Penaloza, the 16/8 method proved to be life changing. “I feel reborn, finally in control after a lifetime of crippling issues associated with food and body image,” she says. “It’s become a life management tool of the highest order. More meaningful, it has evolved into a profound form of self-love that I am only beginning to comprehend.”

By Heather Mikesell - Well Defined Media

A Word of Caution

Despite all the benefits, It isn’t for everyone. Resnick, who spent several years practicing IF, found it worked for her until it didn’t. Eventually, she moved into intuitive eating. “The idea that you can’t when your body is legitimately telling you its hungry, so I stopped,” she says. “It’s been a couple of years since then. Eating what I want, when I want, based on what my body tells me, serves me better than any restricted eating plan ever did.“

Mindfulness in Action

Mindfulness may be one of the best takeaways. “I realized that 25 percent of what I ate on most days was out of sheer ritual” says Penaloza. “I clearly didn’t need the sustenance, eating late into the night or first thing in the morning was purely driven by emotional comfort. Intermittent fasting inherently cuts out midnight snacking, so nocturnal eaters are bound to see and feel benefits and big changes.”

While the 16/8 method wasn’t right for me, I did eventually adopt the 12/12 method. For me, I found it helpful not to stress eat. It also made me much more mindful of what I was eating throughout the day, which probably proved to be the most beneficial to eating more healthily.

“Fasting can lead to increased resistance against disease and support the central nervous, digestive, and cardiovascular systems,” says Dal Farra. “However, it needs to be done smartly by following a diet incorporating lots of healthy foods.

About The Author: Heather Mikesell, co-founder of Well Defined and the former editor-in-chief of American Spa, is an award-winning journalist and content strategist, skilled in writing, and media relations. She is also a freelance writer and has contributed toElite Traveler, Organic Spa, abcnews.com, jetsetter.com,andwellandgood.com, in addition to various custom publications. She is frequently called upon to comment on various spa and wellness trends for various media outlets.

4 New Rules of Eating for Aging Well

By Dr. Frank Lipman

Do you want to know how to defy your years with the help of my best anti-aging, pro-health and wellness techniques? Check out my book, The New Rules of Aging Well: A Simple Program for Immune Resilience, Strength, and Vitality!

Aging – if you’re alive, you’re doing it. Considering the alternative, aging is a gift to be grateful for –and it’s up to you to age as well as you possibly can, even if you haven’t always treated your body like a temple. The good news is that many studies show that it’s never too late to launch new habits and start enjoying the health benefits.So, paying close attention to basic-but-essentials likehow much you move, relax, sleep, and what you eat, it all can have a profound impact on your lifespan and healthspan (aka, how much healthy life you pack into your years).

Though there’s no shortage of hacks you can use to age in a healthier way, if I had to call out justone anti-aging secret, I’d have to start with your diet–not onlywhat you eat, but how and when. The way you nurture your body and mind with food has an enormous impact on how long you live and how vibrantly you live out those years. But pushing beyond the all-purpose “eat-your-greens” whole foods approach, there are specific dietary adjustments you can make that will begin to return visible and “feel-able” positive effects virtually overnight.

To get started on tweaking your natural anti-aging processes, consider any one of these four dietary approaches – and tap into the fountain of youth. 1. Eat Less, Live Longer

One of the simplest techniques to helpslow the hands of time: moderate your total daily food intake. Also known as caloric restriction, this approach is great for those type A folks who like to keep a close watch on the numbers, and for anyone who’s struggled with weight issues and needs to exercise more control over what goes down the hatch. It’s also worth noting that studies in rats show that a 30% reduction in daily calories translates to a longer life. OK, we’re talking rats here, but another study on rhesus monkeys demonstrated the same principle – less food, more years.

Although ‘restriction’ may sound unpleasant (and really, just about any conventional diet is a form of caloric restriction), it doesn’t have to be. When done intelligently and with appropriate amounts of protein, fiber and good fats on the menu, caloric restriction is an excellent way to improve mitochondrial function (which decreases with age) and increase longevity. We’re talking nutrient-dense; organic or local produce, nuts, seeds, legumes and limited amounts of wild fish, organic poultry and pasture-raised meats. You can try to game the system with a couple of Lean Cuisines and fistfuls of popcorn every day to keep the numbers low but the health and longevity benefits will go up in smoke. If closely monitoring your food intake is not totally your thing, you can get roughly the same benefits by following the Japanese precept of hara hachi bunme, the practice of eating only until you’re 80% full. That habit, along with a fish and veggie-rich diet, is thought to play a significant role in Japanese longevity. 2. Curb Carbs, and Don’t Fear Healthy Fat

Doubtless, you’re familiar with idea of a ketogenic diet which, in simplest terms, is a fat-friendly, moderate protein, extremely low-carb plan – as in, virtually no sugar or refined carbs – which, over time, shifts your metabolism from a carbohydrate or glucose-burning machine to a fat-burning one.

While most people who gravitate to this style of eating love the rapid weight loss and high satiety benefits, very low-carb diets also have another less well-known upside, which is, that they also help slow the aging process by suppressing the mTOR (mechanistic Target of Rapamycin) gene. Activation of this mTOR gene can contribute to many of the diseases of aging and decrease longevity. Though low-carb and ketogenic diets aren’t immediately thought of as youth-boosters, when done right with extra leafy greens, non-starchy veggies and minimal ‘dirty keto’ shortcuts (whose recipes tend to involve a lot of processed, low-sugar, low-carb Frankenfoods), going low carb can help turn back the clock on any number of aging markers, without letting hunger pangs get the best of you. 3. Eat Late in the AM, Early in the PM

For thousands of years, fasting – the practice of abstaining from food and drink for a prescribed period – has been used for religious reasons, as a form of political protest or simply to minimize the effects of overdoing it at the buffet table. No matter the reason why, however, the physical upsides of fasting include eating less overall, balancing blood sugar, supporting weight loss, boosting cognitive performance, promoting mitochondrial function, stimulating autophagy (cellular repair) , protecting against most diseases of modern civilization and probably the best anti-aging hack there is.

While the practice of fasting has remained mostly unchanged through the ages, fasting’s modern incarnation is the easier-to-manage protocol referred to as time restricted eating, the simplest form being intermittent fasting or ‘IF’ – and it’s more about meal timing, and less about skipping meals.

So, what is it? It’s about doing breakfast late and dinner early. Why do it? Because the fasting period between your last meal of one day and the first day of the next lightly stresses your metabolism, in a good way, allowing you to metabolize food more efficiently and yes, turn down the mTOR, which is what you want to do as you get older.! And, it is a hassle-free way to improve basic health measures like blood sugar, blood pressure, weight and cut disease risk. For some people, it’s positive effects can be enough to even eliminate the need for pharma drugs – and that’s a big plus in my book.

4. Decrease Animal Proteins

And finally, if you want to age well, then I highly recommend, you step back a little from the meat counter, and cut back somewhat on animal protein, especially red meat. It contains high amounts of branched chain amino acids like leucine, which stimulate mTOR. Plant protein doesn’t have nearly as much, keeping your mTOR in check and keeping autophagy – the ingenious cellular renewal process which salvages worn-out cells and recycles them for energy and new cells –in fighting trim. All good reasons to dialup the plant protein and turn down the meat and dairy. Trade them in for excellent sources of plant protein, like lentils; chickpeas; almonds; walnuts; sunflower seeds; organic tempeh; nut butter; pea protein powder; hemp powder, etc.

I am not suggesting you ditch animal protein altogether, but rather, consider reframing your approach to animal protein. Enjoy it occasionally or 2 -3 times a week instead of daily, and when you do tuck in, make your animal protein serving more of an accompaniment, as in a side-dish-sized accent rather than the main event on your plate.

Also don’t worry that by cutting back you won’t be getting enough protein; be it plant or animal style. Most folks until age 65, get enough without having to try that hard, so for a middle-aged, 150pound person, roughly 55 grams a day should be fine. However by about the age of 65, protein needs shift and getting enough becomes extremely important to help slow sarcopenia— loss of muscle mass—a natural (but frustrating) part of the aging process. At this point, I recommend upping protein intake by about 25 percent, plus exercise and strength training to help preserve muscle.