Recapping The Goodness

First, I’d like to give a quick bullet-point run-down of some of the effects of fasting that I reported on in the last five posts.

Here we are nearing the end of our journey through the physiology of fasting. It’s been an interesting, enlightening ride and provides further justification for incorporating Intermittent Fasting of some sort into one’s dietary regimen. One final little post on exercising while fasting and then we’re off to a Q&A session. Then we’ll have to find something else to talk about. I will warn that this post is far more speculative than the previous ones, having reached the end of the scientific studies for the most part.

Here we are at the fourth installment of our look at the physiology of fasting. Thus far, we’ve looked at energy production, hormonal effects, the anti-inflammatory nature of fasting, and changes in blood markers. Today, let’s look at healing, disease, aging, and longevity.

In our previous two posts, we took a high-level look at the hormonal effects of fasting, along with some of the benefits of these hormonal changes. Today, we’ll take a quick look at the effects on inflammation and blood.

Last time, we started looking at the physiological effects of fasting. I first looked at it from the perspective of energy production. As we saw, fasting has several effects on hormones, such as glucagon, epinephrine, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).

Physiological processes during fasting

As you know, I’m a big fan of intermittent fasting, but this is an area of it that I’ve never really looked at. I’m going to break this into several posts because there’s a lot going on here and I don’t want to burden everyone with a novella. Today, we’ll look at how the body handles energy production during the fasting period, a good starting point given that, when you get down to it, an energy source and water are the only two requirements for the body to operate.

If your pants are feeling a bit tight around the waistline, take note: Belly bulge can be deadly for older adults, even those who aren't overweight or obese by other measures.

One of the largest studies to examine the dangers of abdominal fat suggests men and women with the biggest waistlines have twice the risk of dying over a decade compared to those with the smallest tummies.

If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including the brain, heart, muscles and immune system, has receptors for vitamin D, meaning that this nutrient is needed at proper levels for these tissues to function well.

Studies indicate that the effects of a vitamin D deficiency include an elevated risk of developing (and dying from) cancers of the colon, breast and prostate; high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease; osteoarthritis; and immune-system abnormalities that can result in infections and autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.