Fasting is good in many ways, but it won't fix deficiency diseases.

However, keep two things in mind. First, the Adventist church recommends vegetarianism, not veganism -- a very important difference! It's possible to eat a nutritionally complete vegetarian diet: it's not possible to eat a nutritionally complete vegan diet. Second, only about 1/3 of them claim to be vegetarian (and nearly 2/3 of Americans who claim to be vegetarian admit to eating meat in the last two days). Third, there are many, many lifestyle differences between an Adventist, especially those living in Loma Linda (next to one of the premier medical facilities in the country), and the average American.

However, it's plausible that fasting improves an otherwise sub-optimal diet!

JS

Here it is again without the link:

Hi J.

A new study about fasting has shown a reduction in IGF-1

"Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression
"
You can google it from "cell stem cell" at "cell dot com"

Two questions, first: I'd like to get your take on it, and second: do you think this might be a confounding variable for the 7th day Adventists veg*ns who seem to buck the general veg*n trends? After all they would fast twice a year, advent and lent.

A new study about fasting has shown a reduction in IGF-1

http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abstract/S1934-5909(14)00151-9

Two questions, first: I'd like to get your take on it, and second: do you think this might be a confounding variable for the 7th day Adventists (sp?) veg*ns who seem to buck the general veg*n trends? After all they would fast twice a year, advent and lent.

Like your grandfather, I've also found that, for the most part, eating breakfast makes me hungrier than not eating breakfast.  I usually skip it unless I've worked out recently and am trying to gain muscle mass.

It's also quite true that snacking used to be heavily discouraged.  "Don't eat now or you'll lose your appetite for dinner."  Now it's considered child abuse to not provide your child a muffin or some sugary "fruit juice" every two hours.

Thanks for sharing!

JS

Regarding Ana's comment just above, I have found that now that I only eat twice a day - a late lunch and a late dinner - I actually look forward to food the way I did when I was a kid. I wasn't allowed to snack between meals. And I remember being REALLY hungry for dinner and the food always tasting so good after a day playing outside, regardless of what we were eating. It's sort of fun to eat like a kid again and look forward to meals like that.

As far as women of reproductive age, I'll say my own experience is that 16/8 works great for me but days of total fasting do not work well for me and sometimes cause night sweats. Hormones. What can you do?

I substantially agree with you!  On that subject, you might also find my earlier articles on The Breakfast Myth (Part I, Part II) of interest. 

JS

However, thank you very much for your answer, I will read it now 🙂

There is solid literature on fasting improving cancer outcomes.  (Important note: adequate protein intake is generally protective against getting cancer: it's only if you already have it that protein restriction and fasting are helpful.)  Fasting can also improve a host of infectious conditions, which is likely why our appetite usually decreases when we're sick.

I see no evidence for there being any process of "detoxification" beyond the benefits of fasting.  The benefits of "cleanses" and other restrictive diets generally come from the degree to which they approximate fasting -- and you'll receive more benefit from simply not eating than you will from any protocol involving juices, maple syrup, lemons, or any other magic plant extract.

(Note that I don't oppose juicing, if that's how you like to consume vegetables...but there's no need to consume pathological amounts, and they're not a substitute for food.)

Autointoxication, as far as I can determine, is complete quackery.  You can search for pictures of these hypothetical "diseased colons" full of "mucoid plaque" and however many pounds of old poop are supposed to be stuck in there, because colonoscopy is very common now and they ought to be easy to find.  

You won't find them, because they do not exist.  

Frankly, people worry too much about their poop.  If it's brownish, doesn't hurt as it comes out, and is mostly solid, you're probably fine.  The obsession with regular bowel movements has no scientific basis that I can find, and generally traces back to 19th century religious fundamentalism (more).

Caveat: you can't out-cleanse or out-fast a bad diet.  It's much easier to not accumulate fat  and medical issues than it is to get rid of them!  That's why my approach to food is simple: when I'm eating, I eat like a predator.  Otherwise, I don't eat.  

That being said, there are exceptions like candidiasis (for which carb restriction can be helpful), kidney stones (drink more water), gout (avoid fructose and alcohol), and GERD (stop eating grains and fermentable carbs, start drinking a bit of vinegar).  But those are each entire articles in themselves!

JS

can you please share some thoughts on healing various health problems through raw food diet, detoxification and the consequent melting/reabsorbing of tumors and cancers? I'm not talking about a lifelong diet, but as a healing or preventive, periodic diet. Is it supported by science?

Also, what about the process of autointoxication that may take place, if one doesn't do the enemas everyone's talking about?

I know that this is a different field, but I believe many would really appreciate some thoughts, experiences or any info on this matter, since various diseases are an everyday topic nowadays.

Thank you very much in advance

I'm not sure they're alternative theories: I suspect they all contribute. 

The advantage of even a few ounces less weight on the feet is well-known: thus, racing flats.  So a genetic variation that results in a lighter foot and lower leg would be quite an advantage, especially as distances increase.  Such a build would not generate the most power over short distances, though, which is why we don't see any Kalenjin sprinters.

The article is also correct that mental and physical toughness can create a margin of victory: at the highest levels of any sport, the margin between winning and losing is tiny differences.  Cue the great American distance runner Steve Prefontaine:

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more."

"Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

There's a lot of interesting discussion to be had about the survival value of initiation ceremonies, but it's well beyond the scope of a single comment!

JS

An alternative theory is the ability to beat pain:- an initiation ceremony, a rite of passage that is all about enduring pain.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/11/01/241895965/how-one-kenyan-tribe-produces-the-worlds-best-runners

Yep.

sylvie:

Note that I didn't say IF isn't a good idea for reproductive-aged women!  I said that I've observed that a substantial number of them don't seem to do well on the classic 16/8 regimen.  I don't know enough endocrinology to speculate as to why, but I offer the following observations:

1. A good metric for whether IF is a good idea for you is whether you can do it without feeling like you're starving.

2. You don't have to IF every day.

3. Therefore, if you're really hungry for breakfast one day, eat it!

4. Skipping breakfast isn't the only possible plan.  If scheduling permits, I know people who have success with a big, hearty late breakfast once they finally get hungry in the morning (~10 AM), skipping lunch, and then eating dinner normally.

5. A spoonful of coconut oil can sometimes help get you through a rough spot (i.e. you fasted and maybe shouldn't have, but can't get to real food for another few hours).

I think part of the problem might be that women are so used to restrictive diets that always feeling hungry is shrugged off as the price of not being fat.  It's easy to starve yourself into a low thyroid state with that mindset.

JS