Starving, starving, living 20 more years?Nature studies that at night, cells secretly eat themselve

Mondo Health Updated on 2024-01-28

Recently, a message has sparked heated discussions on the Internet. Some popular science authors say that if people do not eat for 16 hours a day, they will activate a function - autophagy, that is, cells "eat" their excess waste, which can not only lose weight and reduce lipids, but also activate the body's code of "returning to youth".

In this regard, some people are skeptical, saying that it is impossible to return to youth by starvingThere are also some supporters who say that they have insisted on not eating at noon for many years, and their physical indicators are indeed getting healthier and healthier.

While both sides disagree, a study from the journal Nature appears to have voted for the benefits of fasting, showing that regular intermittent fasting can increase healthy survival by up to 18%.

What the hell is going on?

01 Starvation for 18 hours prolongs survival by 18%?

In this experiment, a large research team from Columbia University divided the experimental subjects into three groups, distinguished the time of their food intake, and used different intermittent fasting regimens to have a significant effect on the extension of their life length.

Specifically, the researchers used a two-day experimental cycle, with group A as the unrestricted control group and group B as the 24-hour unrestricted food intake on the first day and fasting on the second dayGroup C had ad libitum food intake within 6 hours of light exposure on the first day, fasting for the remaining 18 hours, and eating normally the next day.

After observing the subjects for 30 days in the three groups, the research team found that the lifespan of the flies restricted on alternate days was even shorter in group B compared to the control group A, while the average lifespan of the flies in group C who fasted for 18 hours was 18% longer in females and 13% in males.

Not only that, the flies that ingested food only in the "6 hours of the morning" also showed stronger physical fitness, and their climbing ability, intestinal barrier integrity and other indicators were stronger than those of the control group, all kinds of phenomena showed that intermittent fasting not only made them live longer, but also made them live healthier.

The results of the above experiments are somewhat subversive, and three meals a day have been used since ancient times, but now it is suddenly said that we can live 10-20 years longer and have better health by simply going 16-18 hours a day without eating.

Is there any scientific mechanism behind this?What kind of diet should we have?

02 The mechanism behind it is revealed: the circadian rhythm allows cells to "eat themselves".

In fact, the science behind fasting has long been proven by numerous scientists. As early as the 80s of the last century, the later Japanese Nobel laureate Yoshinori Osumi found that the cells are in a state of "starvation", which can degrade and improve their own components to fight against the aging of the body, and this process is "autophagy".

The above research, by controlling the specific fasting time, confirmed that the fasting time in line with the "circadian rhythm" is more conducive to the extension of the body's healthy lifespan. Previously, Silicon Valley tycoon Bryan Johnson, who became popular because of the "three generations of grandparents and grandchildren", was a supporter of intermittent fasting.

It is reported that in order to achieve "absolute youth in physiological sense", with the help of a team of 30 health experts, Bryan implemented the "blueprint plan", which included precise "rejuvenation" suggestions such as "no more eating after 11 a.m.", "accurately control the daily intake of food calories at 1977 kcal", and spent $2 million a year to regularly monitor 78 organs in the body, he spent 7 months to trace his biological age back to 51 year old.

Coincidentally, after accumulating more than 320 words of original popular science articles and investing more than 40 million yuan in scientific research funds in the past four years, the above-mentioned platform "Timepai" has launched the Tinecure comprehensive aging management service, gradually transforming the "private health housekeeper" that originally belonged to the top wealthy into a life technology accessible to ordinary people.

Our integrated TimeCure approach enables members to achieve a molecular-level understanding of their own aging. Click on the official website of Timepai to make an appointment, and the molecular-level cognition it refers to is to realize the visual analysis of the number of aging cells and the degree of damage to telomeres (known as the life clock) through the patented method "Time Ruler", and finally use the physiological age value as the output result.

After fully grasping the "aging dashboard" of members, private exclusive plans such as "customized nutrition line of more than 400 kinds of GMV high-purity raw materials", "diet week plan", "black technology equipment such as hyperbaric oxygen chamber and refrigeration chamber" will be formulated by a professional team of 5-7 people for members.

It's too unrealistic to endure 16-18 hours without eating, but you should listen to the advice of your professional team. Mr. Zeng, who has been paying attention to the time for 3 years, said that in the past 4 years, the company has established a set of aging biomarkers and health intervention systems for Chinese people, "Life technology has been changing with each passing day, and there is such a platform to help me screen out the most suitable ones, and finally I don't have to rush to the doctor." ”

03 Can I only rely on hunger to activate "autophagy"?

From the above experimental and scientific research mechanisms, "16-18 hours of continuous food without eating, can activate the human autophagy mechanism, promote the body's rejuvenation reversal" this point of view, does have a certain truth, but in order to adhere to this life Xi for a long time, so that the body is in a state of hunger for a long time, it is inevitably a little strong.

Fortunately, with the deepening of scientists' research, many alternative solutions to activate autophagy have also been released, such as high-intensity exercise, ketogenic diet, polyphenols and curcumin supplementation, etc., which can also effectively activate the function of cells to "eat themselves".

Not only that, the extension of life length is also a complex and comprehensive process, and we cannot conclude that with one or several technologies or solutions, we can lead to "old age without decay", and maintaining rationality and rationally using scientific means is the greatest responsibility for health.

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