Last week on the Huberman Lab Podcast, Professor Huberman offered some great evidence based recommendations for implementing a intermittent fasting protocol to promote weight management, mental acuity, and longevity. Here are the key takeaways:
Research has shown that when you eat affects how your body processes food. You want to feed in accordance with your circadian rhythm (biological clock) and keep that consistent.
An 8 hour feeding window (time restricted feeding) with a 16 hour fast gives the greatest fasting benefits while still being manageable for the average person.
For maximum fasting benefits, don’t feed in the first 60 minutes after waking
To ensure you are fasting while you sleep, avoid eating 2-3 hours prior to bedtime
Water, Tea, Black Coffee will not break your fast
Utilize salt for blood volume. Adding a pinch of salt to water will help with food cravings along with some of the light headedness and fatigue of having lower blood volume.
If you are prone to hypoglycemia, intermittent fasting may not be best for you
Once you have started your fast, it takes very little to break the fast in the first 2-3 hours. However, once you have faster for 8+ hours, small amounts of food (especially fat are negligible for your fast).
If you are looking for muscle growth and performance, intermittent fasting may not be a great option for you as you don’t have as great of a window to recover and rebuild broken down muscle tissue from multiple training sessions.
I have tried intermittent fasting in the past. I burned out after two weeks as I wasn’t able to provide my body with enough fuel during the feeding window and my activity levels were too high. Now that I am not coaching 4-5 hours in a hot gym daily, whilst also trying to exercise, and coach a high school lacrosse team, I have started intermittent fasting again. My feeding window is 11-7pm, making my fasted window from 7pm-11am. I wake up, have a cup of black nitro cold brew coffee. After an hour or so, I have a handful of nuts (they don’t seem to take me out of my fast). I sip on 28oz of salted water (LMNT.com) which keeps me from feeling fatigued. If I train on that particular day, I will hit my workout at around 10am (still fasted). After the training session, I will break my fast with a larger meal consisting of protein ,fat, and carbs, making sure to have enough fructose to top off liver glycogen stores (these are depleted during the fast). I will eat again around 3pm with a meal similar but not as much volume. My final meal started around 6pm and is heavier in fat and carbs (avocado, rice, veggies etc.) and not as much protein. I up the carbs here so I can feel satiated during sleep and also take advantage of a drop in cortisol from the carbs.
It took me about a week to adapt to not eating in the morning, but my mental acuity and overall energy has increased noticeably. As long as I keep my salt intake up, I do not feel the fatigue and lightheadedness of fasting. The large meal at 11am does not bog me down very much, and I feel good afterward. For me, this fasting protocol fits nicely into my life. Keep in mind, I am not doing HARD training often, and I my overall stress throughout the day is low. My goal at this point in my life is longevity and sustainability and not performance improvements (at least not through harder training or more volume). I will keep an eye on overfatigue symptoms like not being able to get to sleep/staying asleep, feelings of coming down with a cold, and muscle wasting/drop in performance. This is key for me as I went too hard last time and ended up getting a cold, which caused me to stop the fasting protocol. I will keep you up to date with progress.
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