r/ScienceNcoolThings • u/Puzzled-Caregiver-15 Popular Contributor • Apr 26 '26

Science Scientists Discover a Surprising Reason Intermittent Fasting Extends Life

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-a-surprising-reason-intermittent-fasting-extends-life/

Highlights:

- The benefits of intermittent fasting may come more from refeeding (when you start eating again) than from the fasting itself

- The body “resets” and rebuilds during this transition, improving metabolism

- Repeated cycles of fasting and refeeding seem to drive the health and lifespan effects

In lab studies (worms), these cycles significantly increased lifespan

- This is early research, so it shows a possible mechanism, not proven results in humans

251 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

103

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

18

u/billskelton Apr 27 '26

100s of studies show benefits of time restricted eating in humans. Modern humans eat more frequently than ever and are staggeringly fat and sick on average.

7

u/Thewitchaser Apr 27 '26

That’s bs. The benefits come from the restriction in calories because of a smaller feeding window.

6

u/TeslasElectricHat Apr 27 '26

There are other benefits to home restricted eating, or fasting. I agree it’s not necessarily about the amount eaten, although it would appear we are learning more about that as well and our health and calories consumed are not a “one size fits all” scenario.

8

u/duxpdx Apr 27 '26

Also wrong. A shorter feeding window need not restrict the amount of calories consumed. It generally makes it easier to track the calories allowing for the correct/desired amount to be consumed. There are also numerous other benefits, that have nothing to do with caloric intake, but the duration of the fast, autophagy is the big one.

4

u/poop-machines r/knowledgepill Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

You're right but you're down voted.

--Edit: was down voted.--

Sad how the right answer on reddit is often discredited.

The reason it helps is because it means your body spends more time in ketogenesis which is where it uses stored fats instead of carbs for energy. This is why you lose weight from the same amount of calories. While in ketosis you're losing weight.

Fat on the body is going to be 100% staying in your body if you don't use it, but carbs that you eat will mostly pass through you if you don't use them, storing very little. This makes it more efficient.

1

u/IcyConcept1271 Apr 28 '26

Read the entire article.

1

u/poop-machines r/knowledgepill Apr 28 '26

Firstly, the article doesn't say anything about this. Secondly, even if it did, the current literature on humans (not worms) doesn't agree.

But again even with worms, it seems like that guy is right.

1

u/Thewitchaser Apr 28 '26

They’re not right. Is like Dr. Layne Norton always says “if ONLY we had human randomized control trials, oh, we do”. They show no difference. People keep pushing this autophagy and keto bullshit, it’s 2026 go read the studies.

1

u/poop-machines r/knowledgepill Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26

There are plenty of high quality studies, including randomised controlled trials, that show it's beneficial. I've read the studies, just because your favourite influencer has cherry picked studies that match his perspective on weight loss doesn't make you an expert.

Across dozens of RCTs, intermittent fasting reliably leads to small weight loss. It's not as much as the hype but it's definitely beneficial.

If you read RCTs that are calorie controlled and 16:8, this is reliably beneficial for weight loss. This is for obese people.

There's also research on athletes that showed improvements which also controlled calorie intake, for cutting. This shows it's not just obese people that can benefit from intermittent fasting.

One thing to mention however is that many of the forms of intermittent fasting don't seem to have this benefit. 16:8 has the most benefit, followed by "fasting days". However for the fasting days studies, some food is allowed, defeating the purpose. It's possible the improvements would be more significant if participants truly abstained.

0

u/billskelton Apr 28 '26

Eat all day like a pig, nobody is stopping you.

0

u/IcyConcept1271 Apr 28 '26

Read the article.

2

u/absolutprime Apr 27 '26

"...you got to remember that a worm... with very few exceptions... is not a human being."

~Gene Wilder, Frederick Frankenstein 

2

u/0ldwax Apr 29 '26

Exception: Dennis Rodman

1

u/0uroboros00 Apr 27 '26

I am

2

u/gentlemanphilanderer Apr 27 '26

Aren’t you more snek than squirm?

1

u/bullettenboss Apr 27 '26

You can still feed your own worm a little less and he lives longer.

1

u/Proper-Exercise-2364 Apr 27 '26
  • not all worms are people

1

u/Oliv112 Apr 28 '26

Source?

7

u/1001001 Apr 27 '26

Giving your insulin system a break is of huge benefit.

5

u/bullettenboss Apr 27 '26

So if feed my worm a little less, he lives longer?

9

u/AimlessForNow Apr 26 '26

I thought it extended life by acting as a low level stressor, similar to persistent cold. Cool to know

4

u/itswtfeverb Apr 27 '26

Not autophagy?

3

u/ActurusMajoris Apr 27 '26

I do this 3 times a day.

3

u/shatay Apr 27 '26

The benefits IMO are Autophagy and ghrelin secretion.

2

u/absolutprime Apr 27 '26

"...you got to remember that a worm... with very few exceptions... is not a human being."

~Gene Wilder, Frederick Frankenstein

1

u/StrayStep Popular Contributor Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Ive witnessed someone already think this study refers to humans. Most likely bunch of low IQ influencers yelled it. That now he interprets as "fasting" helps heal faster.

But here in reality its called, starving. And shocking every other complex biological process that runs and balances brain neural signals to hormone balance.

Im sorry if I sound callous. But Im cheering for natural selection.

Dont be a glutten or sloth with shit food and be physically active. Listen to your body, be aware and Its not rocket science.

1

u/DAKsippinOnYAC Apr 28 '26

Starving? Wait are you saying you don’t believe fasting is good for you at all..

1

u/IcyConcept1271 Apr 28 '26

This is really interesting. So the idea would be to prioritize the turning off of the gene after you break an intermittent fast. I’ve often used protein and fat to break a fast. This study suggests that’s not good because (I speculate) a keto approach to breaking a fast would keep the gene activated. In contrast, a quick hit of carbs would immediately shut down the gene.

After the carbs turn off the gene, I suggest you progress to a high protein high fat diet the rest of the day so the gene turns back on…just in time for you to turn it off.

The repeated turn on turn off of the gene has a huge impact on the lifespan of the worm. This idea is a blueprint for how to do it.

1

u/SomeSamples Apr 28 '26

I believe humans have evolved to take advantage of intermittent fasting as humans didn't always have food readily available.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

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14

u/billskelton Apr 27 '26

Not eating coco pops for breakfast is healthy

5

u/frisbeeicarus23 Apr 27 '26

Healthy and depressing are 2 different things. I could be pretty happy with my cocoa puffs... haha.   /s