How often should we eat and what is a good eating pattern?
Mark Watson who is a professor of Neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University gives a great Ted Talk on the benefits of fasting. You can check out the link below. Mark is also the Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging. He is also at the forefront of research into Parkinson’s and Alzheimers.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/12/11/neuroscientist-shows-what-fasting-does-to-your-brain-why-big-pharma-wont-study-it/
We have been programmed from birth to eat at least three meals per day. This suits the food industry, but does it suit our bodies?
The latest research shows fasting twice a week could significantly lower the risk of developing both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. This is because amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimers and which congest the brain, are lowered due to fasting. Many studies which have calorie restrictions show a prolonged lifespan as well as an increased ability to fight chronic disease.
Fasting causes beneficial neurochemical changes which help to improve cognitive function, increases neurotrophic factors, increases stress resistance, and reduce inflammation. During fasting, the brain mimics the changes that occur with regular exercise. They both increase the production of protein in the brain (neurotrophic factors), which in turn promotes the growth of neurons, the connection between neurons, and the strength of synapses.
“Challenges to your brain, whether it’s intermittent fasting [or] vigorous exercise . . . is cognitive challenges. When this happens neuro-circuits are activated, levels of neurotrophic factors increase, that promotes the growth of neurons [and] the formation and strengthening of synapses. . . .”
Fasting can also stimulate the production of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus. He also mentions ketones (an energy source for neurons), and how fasting stimulates the production of ketones and that it may also increase the number of mitochondria in neurons. Fasting also increases the number of mitochondria in nerve cells; this comes as a result of the neurons adapting to the stress of fasting (by producing more mitochondria).
By increasing the number of mitochondria in the neurons, the ability for nerons to form and maintain the connections between each other also increases, thereby improving learning and memory ability.
“Intermittent fasting enhances the ability of nerve cells to repair DNA.”
A study published in the June 5 issue of Cell Stem Cell by researchers from the University of Southern California showed that cycles of prolonged fasting protect against immune system damage and, moreover, induce immune system regeneration. They concluded that fasting shifts stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal. It triggers stem cell based regeneration of an organ or system.
Fasting can flip a regenerative switch, changing the signalling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems.
This means that fasting kills off old and damaged immune cells, and when the body rebounds it uses stem cells to create brand new, completely healthy cells.
So how do we fast?
The 5:2 plan, you cut your food down to one-fourth of your normal daily calories on fasting days (about 600 calories for men and about 500 for women), while consuming plenty of water and tea. On the other five days of the week, you can eat normally.

Another way to do it, as mentioned above, is to restrict your food intake between the hours of 11am and 7pm daily, while not eating during the hours outside of that time.
Bottom line, how you think about you’re diet is, in my opinion, one of the most, if not the most important part of staying healthy. How you think about what you are putting in your body is important, and I believe this will eventually be firmly established in the untainted, unbiased, uninfluenced medical literature of the future.