;Resize=(1200,627)&impolicy=perceptual&quality=mediumHigh&hash=3c7a361a029e7f18c3a8eaa4f98a6e99708625e01dcc59dfaf9789922da5bc69 "Experts talk about the health effects of fasting")
In their new podcast “Zwäghochzwei – The short podcast for a long life”, Nina Ruge and Kurt Aeschbacher tackle a much-discussed topic: What influence does fasting have on health and longevity?
Episode 2 of the brand new podcast “Zwäghochzwei” is about the positive effects of different forms of fasting on a long, healthy life. Bestselling author and biologist Nina Ruge speaks from experience, because she has long since found the right form of fasting for her constitution and lifestyle. TV talk show host Kurt Aeschbacher was initially critical of the subject of fasting.
In the course of the conversation, however, Nina Ruge manages to explain various fasting practices and their effects on healthy longevity in a way that dispels concerns and encourages the audience with well-founded scientific evidence to discover and practice the right approach for them.
Healthy aging is possible: these fasting methods exist
From the age of 30, it can make sense to start regular periods of fasting in order to slow down the aging process and prevent age-related diseases.
The choice of fasting method is as individual as the person themselves. Nina Ruge, for example, reports that she made a conscious decision against therapeutic fasting. Although the effects are greatest with this fasting variant, it was difficult to integrate into her everyday life and was therefore not beneficial to her well-being. The TV presenter relies on intermittent fasting – on the 16:8 variant.
The current state of research says that it would be even cheaper to skip dinner, but this method is rarely suitable for everyday use because the quality of life suffers as a result.
Fasting expert Andreas Michalsen, Professor of Clinical Naturopathy and Chief Physician at the Berlin Charité, has decided to do interval fasting at a rhythm of 14:10.
Ruge explains that interval fasting can also be practiced on a weekly basis. 5:2 means eating very little two days a week and eating a normal, but balanced diet the rest of the day. Therapeutic fasting should only be started under professional guidance and, if possible, on vacation, she thinks. The so-called sham fasting and the Calory Restriction (CR) are also discussed.
Autophagy: This is what happens in the cells during fasting
What Prof. Dr. Michalsen referred to as a “reserve program”, Nina Ruge calls it a “reverse thrust in metabolism” and at the same time provides the translation of the term “autophagy”. It means something like “self-eating”. If you give the body cells a break of at least 12 hours, during which they receive no nutrients, i.e. energy, the big cleanup begins.
If the cells are not constantly bathed in nutrients, according to Ruge, they begin to dispose of old cell components and broken proteins, and cell division takes place more slowly. This means that damage to the genetic material occurs in small numbers or is repaired. Furthermore, the insulin sensitivity improves due to the long break.
The self-cleaning program is most important for the cells that divide the slowest. These are heart muscle, brain, sensory and memory cells. If the autophagy runs on the back burner, they threaten to become littered.
Aids can improve the cell cleansing program
Dietary supplements can also boost autophagy, such as spermidine. It was first discovered in sperm, but it occurs in all living things and plants. Spermidine for dietary supplements is mainly obtained from wheat germ.
The influence of drugs on autophagy is currently being researched in large-scale studies. The scientists are focusing on metformin and rapamycin. Metformin is a traditional diabetes drug and rapamycin, a very powerful immunosuppressant, is taken by patients who have had an organ transplant.
There are still no reliable study results on effectiveness and dosage, but even if they do exist one day, self-medication is always discouraged. Ultimately, it will be necessary to go to the doctor you trust.
Nina Ruge and Kurt Aeschbacher talk about current research, what happened to mice that were fasted and what we can learn from the people in the Blue Zones.