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Why does intermittent fasting last 16 hours? You'll never guess why!

Interval fasting, also known as the interval diet, has a number of positive properties. According to the researchers, this not only helps to lose weight, but also promotes good health. Expert Dr. Satchin explained how the 16:8 fasting rhythm appeared.

In recent years, fasting has established itself as a popular method of getting rid of annoying body fat. However, not classical therapeutic fasting, in which you fast for several days in a row, but interval fasting. This means that periods of eating and periods of fasting alternate during the week or during the same day. The 16:8 fast is especially popular. You can eat within a time window of only eight hours. Then fast for 16 hours. But why should it be exactly 16 o'clock? Why not 15 or 14? There is a surprisingly simple and funny explanation for this, which, according to the famous researcher D. A. Satchin.

It all started with a study on mice.
In 2012, there was a remarkable study that reported the health benefits of time-limited feeding of mice. The mice were fed for only eight hours, and then they had to fast for 16 hours. The amazing thing about the study is that although the mice consumed the same amount of calories for eight hours as the comparison group for 24 hours, the fasting mice consistently had better health outcomes. Fasting 16:8 not only improved nutrient absorption and energy intake, but even protected against obesity, fatty liver, and inflammation.

How researchers came up with the 16-hour fast
One of the scientists involved in the study of fasting in mice is chronobiologist Dr. S. Atlas Panda, who researches circadian rhythms at the Salk Institute for Biological Research in California. This internal clock determines, for example, when we eat or sleep. In an interview, the researcher said: "The one with the 16-hour fasting window was originally taken from our lab." As Satchin Panda says, the reason for the eight-hour meal window was "funny." "It had no empirical basis." The reason was German doctoral student Christopher Follmers, who also participated in the study. "Christopher has a new girlfriend. And this friend stipulated that he was not allowed to spend more than nine hours in the laboratory."

So, the graduate student's girlfriend was the reason that the mice were not fed after "working hours.""? FITBOOK asked Christopher Vollmers, now an associate professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, if the image of Dr. J. Satchin Panda is right. "I can confirm that Satchin thinks it's true!" admits Vollmers. "Satchin is a very demanding boss. It was much easier to tell him that my girlfriend at the time (and now Dr. Apple Cortez Vollmers) had set this condition than to tell him the truth: I would rather spend time with Apple than with laboratory mice."

Since the mice were examined after they were on an empty stomach or after eating, that is, during the researchers' working hours, the meal window was limited to eight hours. In addition, nutrition was regulated in such a way that mice were placed in cages with only water (during fasting) and with water and food.

12 hours without food is a good start
Thus, although the real reason for the 16-hour fast is not scientific, it has allowed researchers to demonstrate many beneficial aspects of intermittent fasting — at least in mice. By the way, the positive effects appear already with a twelve-hour fast, but they increase as the daily meal window decreases. For example, beginners can try to fast from 20:00 to 8:00. Once you get used to it, you can gradually increase the fasting window to 16 hours.

The positive aspects of fasting 16:8 (in mice)
reduces fat mass (while maintaining muscle mass)
prevents liver obesity
and reduces LDL bad cholesterol
lowers blood pressure
improves heart health, reduces cardiac arrhythmia
improves endurance
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