This review article on intermittent fasting was published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. It may be of interest to many here. I don't know how long this link will stay active.
"According to Weindruch and Sohal in a 1997 article in the Journal, reducing food availability over a lifetime (caloric restriction) has remarkable effects on aging and the life span in animals.1 The authors proposed that the health benefits of caloric restriction result from a passive reduction in the production of damaging oxygen free radicals. At the time, it was not generally recognized that because rodents on caloric restriction typically consume their entire daily food allotment within a few hours after its provision, they have a daily fasting period of up to 20 hours, during which ketogenesis occurs. Since then, hundreds of studies in animals and scores of clinical studies of controlled intermittent fasting regimens have been conducted in which metabolic switching from liver-derived glucose to adipose cell–derived ketones occurs daily or several days each week. Although the magnitude of the effect of intermittent fasting on life-span extension is variable (influenced by sex, diet, and genetic factors), studies in mice and nonhuman primates show consistent effects of caloric restriction on the health span (see the studies listed in Section S3 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org).
Studies in animals and humans have shown that many of the health benefits of intermittent fasting are not simply the result of reduced free-radical production or weight loss.2-5 Instead, intermittent fasting elicits evolutionarily conserved, adaptive cellular responses that are integrated between and within organs in a manner that improves glucose regulation, increases stress resistance, and suppresses inflammation. During fasting, cells activate pathways that enhance intrinsic defenses against oxidative and metabolic stress and those that remove or repair damaged molecules (Figure 1).5 During the feeding period, cells engage in tissue-specific processes of growth and plasticity. However, most people consume three meals a day plus snacks, so intermittent fasting does not occur.2,6
Preclinical studies consistently show the robust disease-modifying efficacy of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurodegenerative brain diseases.3,7-10 Periodic flipping of the metabolic switch not only provides the ketones that are necessary to fuel cells during the fasting period but also elicits highly orchestrated systemic and cellular responses that carry over into the fed state to bolster mental and physical performance, as well as disease resistance.11,12
Here, we review studies in animals and humans that have shown how intermittent fasting affects general health indicators and slows or reverses aging and disease processes. First, we describe the most commonly studied intermittent-fasting regimens and the metabolic and cellular responses to intermittent fasting. We then present and discuss findings from preclinical studies and more recent clinical studies that tested intermittent-fasting regimens in healthy persons and in patients with metabolic disorders (obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension, or a combination of these disorders). Finally, we provide practical information on how intermittent-fasting regimens can be prescribed and implemented. The practice of long-term fasting (from many days to weeks) is not discussed here, and we refer interested readers to the European clinical experience with such fasting protocols.13
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MateoBeach
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Thank you for this article. I just printed it from NEJM website. I am so happy to know that mainstream medicine is finally recognising the eastern practice of fasting and its beneficial effects. As a child growing up in India, my parents used to make me fast every tuesday for 24 hours in honor of God. This articl verifies that people suffering from prostate cancer have many other helpful things such a plant based foods, herbs ,spices, excercise and intermittent fasting to get maximum benefit from all treatments.
Fasting once a week is my new year's resolution....
I have been practicing eating very little for breakfasts and lunches for a few months. It will be easy for me to switch to a 18:6 intermittent fast pattern. Nothing but water until 5 PM.
It allowed me 3 free article downloads. But I also tried writing the whole article title into a searchbox and it took me to another posting of the article for free.
cannot thank you enough for posting. i was getting into ketogenic fasting and diet, then lost faith that it was doing anything for me. your post reminded me. thanks again!
I fast every day/night from 11pm to 7am... then I break-fast around 7:30 am..... Been doing that my whole life except when I was a baby and when I was in military service....
I'm still doing IF from 9pm to 1pm the next day. Did a 2 day fast prior to the chemo sessions in 2015. In my case that spared me a bulk of the side effects
Thanks for posting that other link to the article. The NEJM one has restrictions.
I'm doing the 18:6 program for 3 days. Just skipping breakfast and lunches and saving up my savoring for a nice robust dinner! It amounts to the same as a 24 hour fast in the 4:3 or 5:2 approaches since those go from dinner to dinner. No days without food required.
My oncologist at Levine Cancer Institute recommended "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. Fung discusses some of the science and logic behind IF. My onc said that it may be more "when you eat" than "what you eat" that may help with PCa outcomes - because of the insulin component.
Thank you Hal I'll check it out. I've been IMF 18:6 with keto diet for my one meal. I have really good energy, no hunger or cravings at all, and dropped over 20 pounds in 2 months.
Another interesting read from a different perspective is "Why We Age and Why We Don't Have To" by David Sinclaire. Covers Metformin as well as IMF. Extensive explanation of physiologic pathways involved (Sirtuins, mTOR, and AMPK) that are also hot topics in PCa research and mechanisms currently.
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Intermittent HT, does it prolong HTs effectiveness
Effects of having cancer
Prostate cancer gleason 9; 88 years of age
treatment side effects vs cancer side effects 
