The Science of Fasting

I know we talk about Autophagy a lot, but here is a good article on it and gives tips on maximizing it for HGH. A little farther down from what I posted, it gives tips for using autophagy to increase HGH production by more than 500% in clinical studies

https://blog.nutri-tech.com.au/autophagy-the-most-powerful-longevity-tool/
In a well-fed state, your cells are in constant growth mode. This can actually have dire consequences, particularly relative to cancer. In the presence of abundant food, the insulin signalling and mTOR pathways that tell the cell to grow, divide and synthesise proteins, are constantly active. What is mTOR, I hear you thinking? It refers to “the mammalian target of rapamycin”, which sounds more like a rampaging flesh-eating reptile than an important bodily function. In fact, this cell-signalling system drives cell growth and protein formation. When it is constantly active in the presence of abundant carbohydrates and proteins, mTOR effectively shuts down an essential cell cleansing process, called autophagy.

There is a brake to the mTOR accelerator and it is called AMPK. When you fast or exercise, or both, you switch on the AMPK pathway, which puts the cell in protective mode and inhibits mTOR. AMPK also activates autophagy.

Understand that you are a community of ten trillion cells, and when autophagy activates, your body can identify, destroy and replace faulty mechanics within those cells. Without autophagy, you’re effectively running the amazing machine called the human body without any servicing. I’m sure you’re aware of what happens to farm machinery in that scenario. I wish I had thought a little more about that likely outcome before committing to $400,000 of neglected machinery that came with my latest farm purchase. I’m now constantly frowning at a flood of bills, but my mechanic is definitely smiling.

The decline linked to ageing can be strongly linked to the absence of autophagy, in an overfed world. We are talking about comprehensive research linking poor autophagy to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, fatty liver disease, stroke, CHD, cancer, obesity and polycystic kidney disease.

It is now understood that fasting can activate autophagy, while also increasing the release of Human Growth Hormone. This is the anti-aging hormone that impacts multiple bodily systems for the better. It is a wonderful win/win scenario. So, let’s look at the dynamics of fasting, relative to these two highly desirable, regenerative outcomes.


I'm 47 years old and was sedentary since 2015 due to spine and shoulder injuries. My doctor agreed that I could start exercising anything above my lower back provided I wore compression and a back brace (thinking about getting an EMS unit to start working the abs, legs, and lower back). I've been doing (moderately) healthy keto and intermittent fasting for quite awhile now....went from 300 pounds to 185. Been working out my upper back, arms, chest, and shoulders for about 6 weeks now after nothing for 8 years and I am already working out with 135 pounds on incline bench and can do about 20 dips (I can do a couple pullups now but my surgically repaired shoulder doesn't like it)

Just had my annual bloodwork done and everything is perfect. Even my cholesterol is good despite being told by doctors that keto would lead to elevated cholesterol (and it was high before I started all this). No more fatty liver, no more high blood pressure, no more high cholesterol, no more pre-diabetes.

I'm thinking about getting a DEXA scan now at Pennington. Currently I eat about 1100-1300 calories a day while getting about 120 grams of protein (relying on my remaining fat stores to give me the extra needed energy for muscle growth). Once I get my body fat under 20% I am going to have to increase my caloric intake and I have no idea how I am going to get that many (healthy) calories...I really don't feel like eating much anymore