Posted on 02/06/2024 9:14:15 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Scientists have identified a less stringent and more manageable alternative to traditional intermittent fasting, offering new possibilities for extending lifespan and promoting healthy aging.
This novel method, involving short-term isoleucine deprivation, has shown remarkable results in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).
The research found that intermittent, short-term omission of only the essential amino acid isoleucine from the diet significantly increases stress resistance and extends lifespan in fruit flies.
"Unlike conventional intermittent fasting, this approach does not require drastic reductions in overall food intake, making it a more practical and feasible strategy," said Tahila Fulton.
Previous research has shown that moderate restriction of all dietary amino acids can confer stress resistance.
The research team recently found that short-term deprivation of a single essential amino acid can enhance toxin resistance of young adult flies, but nothing was known about its efficacy in older flies, or how this diet might affect longer-term health.
To investigate this, the research team first assessed if flies could acquire nicotine tolerance from short bouts of isoleucine deprivation as they aged.
They maintained flies for one, two, three or five weeks (of their approximately nine-week mean lifespan) on a nutritionally complete synthetic diet, at which point they transferred them to a diet lacking isoleucine for one, three, five or seven days, and then measured their survival when exposed to a lethal toxin.
Using these data to select treatment regimes that offered optimal toxin protection, the authors found that subjecting flies to one week of isoleucine deprivation at mid (three weeks) and later (at five weeks) led to a remarkable increase in lifespan, irrespective of their diet in earlier and later stages of life.
The less severe approach of isoleucine deprivation mimics the benefits of broader dietary restrictions seen in conventional fasting methods.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
“They maintained flies for one, two, three or five weeks (of their approximately nine-week mean lifespan) on a nutritionally complete synthetic diet, at which point they transferred them to a diet lacking isoleucine for one, three, five or seven days, and then measured their survival when exposed to a lethal toxin.”
I don’t think I want to do this, LOL! At least they’re not experimenting on puppies for this study!
Beau and I only eat 2 meals a day, so we’re ‘fasting’ for 18 hours most days and it’s also less money spent on groceries. If we’re just ‘starving’ at mid-day we’ll have cheese and sausage, or something else low-carb. We don’t eat any fruit other than berries on cottage cheese at times. I don’t even remember what a banana looks like! ;)
We’re not LOSING any more weight, but we’re not GAINING any weight, so there’s that. Both of us are 63, with no medical issues. We eat at a restaurant once in a Blue Moon and have ‘fast food’ even less than that.
And even though we only eat TWO meals a day, WHY are there ALWAYS dishes in the sink to wash? Solve THAT ONE, Scientists! ;)
The whole point of intermittent fasting is to give your digestive system a break, and lower Insulin Resistance.
Every time you eat something, you produce Insulin.
“Foods high in isoleucine include beef, chicken, pork, fish, tofu, dairy, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables like peas...”
That’s basically the Asian way of eating, and that group is usually skinny!
They must’ve gotten a bad batch of Fruit Flies for this study. The only solution is More Government (Taxpayer) Dollars - STAT! ;)
These days getting to 2200 calories is a chore, when you cut out all processed foods, it’s actually fairly hard to eat that much.
Squash, kiwis, and blueberries would be on the higher caloric side of our standard pattern.
We do splurge with apples, watermelon, and such. But these are low Glycemic Load items, too.
Sounds great if you identify as a fruit fly.
“So what are the high isoleucine foods that you should avoid for this diet to work? “
High Isoleucine Foods List:
1. Beef (Skirt Steak)
2. Lean Chicken Breast
3. Lean Pork Chops
4. Tuna
5. Firm Tofu
6. Milk
7. Lentils
8. Kamut (Khorasan - Wheat)
9. Squash and Pumpkin Seeds
10. Podded Peas
“Top 10 Foods Highest in Isoleucine”
https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-isoleucine-foods.php
Foods high in isoleucine include beef, chicken, pork, fish, tofu, dairy, beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and vegetables like peas
Useful info...for dieting fruit flies.
Meh, just another battle in the “War On Meat”.
Isoleucine or no isoleucine, I’m not giving up my steaks and pork chops. I’m negotiable on squash and pumpkin seeds.
I am not a scientist, but I think this means my fruit flies can eat like pigs as long as they also smoke lots of nicotine.
Making inferences from mouse studies to humans is bad enough but Drosophilidae to people?
And eat prunes.
I’m not a fruit fly...
Nutrition studies are filled with utterly bogus papers that should never have seen the light of day.
Prunes, tea, pickles and hot sauce.
I’ve lost 16 pounds in 12 weeks on the 5:2 fasting regimen.
This works for me.
Tofu, great source of protein and calcium, (extra firm” so it isn’t mushy) requires slicing and gentle browning in EVOO , then Asian Sweet and Sour Sauce from Safeway. Yum enough. Any sauce you like would work. Trader Joe has a Sweet Chili sauce that I love and my niece does too. Plus “Soyaki”.that is yum in a different way. As the song says, “You gotta shop around”.
Non-fat vanilla yogurt is tasty, even better because I put frozen blueberries or mango chunks in it, both from Trader Joe. Any fruit would do. Or even a dab of yum jam or jelly. Trader has reduced sugar organic strawberry preserves that is great. Lucky me to have a Trader Joe within walking distance.
I can’t do dairy, but otherwise, I am weightwise the same as you, and that is also the same as I weighed in high school. I like salmon, asparagus, eat very little carbs, almost no wheat. Lots of well water. Best water in the world. Lucky me, we have well water.
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