Huberman Lab: Effects Of Fasting & Time Restricted Eating On Fat Loss & Health
you should probably fast
TLDR
Fasting has numerous benefits across physical and mental health (see below)
16-8 is easiest for most people (eat during an 8-hour window each day, e.g. 12pm-8pm)
Ideally
(1) delay the first meal at least one hour after waking
(2) don’t eat within 2-3 hours of bedtime
(3) stick to a consistent schedule every day
Practical
The best target feeding window is 8 hours. 10am-6pm is ideal, though 12pm-8pm is great too
Water, black coffee & tea will not break your fast
Allow yourself a transition period of 7-10 days where you slowly shift your window until you get to the desired schedule
Inconsistency in your feeding window (e.g., weekends, special occasions) can cause disruptions in circadian clock rhythms that can take several days to recover from
Take advantage of a deep fast during sleep: if you eat late in the night, you will not enter fasting for several hours into sleep because your body is still digesting
Theory
When you eat is just as important as what you eat
Time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting means restricting one’s eating to a specific period during a 24-hours day – or going without food for a fixed number of days
Benefits of fasting
Regulation of liver health, inflammation, decreased blood pressure, reduced oxidative stress, enhance healthy microbiota, clarity of mind, fat loss
Sleep-related fasting is particularly important for repair functions in the gut, brain, and liver – and can be optimized by not eating 2-3 hours before bed
This is critical for longevity: during sleep we’re undergoing cellular processes related to reducing inflammation, clearing out debris from the brain that causes dementia
Shortening the feeding window to less than 8 hours can increase stress
and pro-inflammatory hormones and decrease some sex hormones