Effects of Fasting & Time Restricted Eating on Fat Loss & Health

This episode I discuss the science and practice of fasting also called time-restricted feeding. I review the data on how limiting food intake to specific portions of every 24-hour cycle (or fasting longer) impacts weight loss, fat loss specifically, liver health, mental focus, muscle, longevity and more. I explain how "fasted" is contextual, and relates to blood glucose levels and their downstream effects, and how the depth of fasting can be adjusted with behaviors such as different types of exercise, or with glucose disposal agents. I also discuss the optimal fasting protocol: and both the absolute (non-negotiable) and variable (contextual) features of a fasting/time-restricted-feeding protocol that will allow you to get the most benefits. I also discuss what does and does not break a fast, the effects of fasting on hormones like testosterone and cortisol and on fertility. I also review how different feeding windows of 8 or 10 or 4 hours differentially impact the effects of fasting, and why the classic 8 hour feeding window came to be but also might be ideal. I discuss mechanisms and offer tools to discern the optimal fasting duration and timing for you.

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction, Blood Glucose & Mortality, Mice Vs. Humans

00:06:18 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:09:42 Neuroplasticity Protocols & Online Lecture

00:11:20 Feeding, Fasting, Performance

00:13:50 Calories-In, Calories-Out (CICO); Perfect Diets

00:19:48 Feeding-Induced Health Conditions

00:25:33 Time Restricted Eating: When We Eat Is Vital

00:29:45 The Eight Hour Feeding Window

00:31:26 Feeding Deep Into the Night Is Bad (In Humans)

00:36:33 Liver Health

00:39:45 Time Restricted Feeding Protocol: Rules

00:41:35 When to Start & Stop Eating

00:45:38 Gastric Clearance, Linking Fasting to Sleep

00:52:35 Effects of Specific Categories of Food

00:55:40 Precision In Fasting: Protocol Build

00:59:30 4-6 Hour Feeding Windows

01:03:08 Protein Consumption & Timing for Muscle

01:08:13 How to Shift Your Eating Window

01:13:20 Glucose Clearing, Exercise & Compounds

01:22:37 Blood Glucose: Monitoring, mTOR & Related Pathways

01:27:40 Gut Health: Fasting, Clock Genes and Microbiota