I came across this TEDx talk given my Mark Mattson, the current Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging. It presents some fascinating details about fasting and why it isn’t as popular as it should be.

Countless research studies are showing its benefits. These studies have suggested that intermittent fasting has numerous health benefits, including weight loss, lower blood pressure and reduced cholesterol.

But the real interesting question is why won’t the pharmaceutical industry study it?

Here is a transcript of a section of Mark Mattson’s talk which hints at these questions:

“Why is it that the normal diet is three meals a day plus snacks? It isn’t that it’s the healthiest eating pattern, now that’s my opinion but I think there is a lot of evidence to support that. There are a lot of pressures to have that eating pattern, there’s a lot of money involved. The food industry — are they going to make money from skipping breakfast like I did today? No, they’re going to lose money. If people fast, the food industry loses money. What about the pharmaceutical industries? What if people do some intermittent fasting, exercise periodically and are very healthy, is the pharmaceutical industry going to make any money on healthy people?”

Please watch and share so we can raise questions about our eating habits and how we can become more healthy.

According to Health Line, the benefits to intermittent fasting include: lower insulin levels, weight loss, lower risk of diabetes, lower oxidative stress and inflammation, improved heart health, increased growth of new neurons in brain, and it may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

I’m no scientist but those benefits sound almost too good to be true.

So, how do you practice intermittent fasting?

The most popular way is to not east for 12 to 18 hours a day each day. This means you could have your last meal at 7 pm and your first meal at 12 pm. From 12 pm to 7 pm, you’re allowed to eat as much as you like.

Other methods include going one or two days without eating for 2 times a week.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried intermittent fasting before, or if you’re going to give it  a try.

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