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PERIODIC
FASTING AND CALORIC RESTRICTION FOR LIFE EXTENSION,
TREATMENT OF DISEASE,
AND ENHANCED CREATIVITY.
(clinical and experimental data)
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You can achieve
a low-calorie lifestyle in two alternative ways:
(a) Regular (continuous)
caloric restriction, the same calorie-level every
day; or
(b) Periodic total-fasting days, with normal calorie-level on
other days.
Which of these two approaches is
better?
Although regular caloric restriction
has been proved to be an effective life-extending
technique, we in fact strongly recommend you to choose
the alternative approach (periodic fasting). Below
we set out some reasons for this.
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If you are serious about achieving
optimum results by means of caloric restriction,
there are several important reasons to choose the
PERIODIC FASTING method, rather than simply a constant
calorie-level each day.
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Fasting
can not only extend the lifespan and have beneficial
preventive action, it can also be an effective curative
and treatment method. While fasting, the whole organism
has an opportunity to cure itself, due to an intensification
of natural repair processes. Caloric restriction has
not been proven to have such powerful curative benefits.
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Pleasure of eating.
To take an example, if you are aiming for an 1800 kcal
daily average and fasting 100 days per year, then on
the other days you do not need to restrict yourself to
1800 kcal a day; you can eat a "normal" 2500
kcal ration of daily meals. (You should of course in
any case take care to eat healthy, high-quality food).
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Psychological benefits.
After the second day of fasting you normally do not feel
hunger; whereas, while on a calorie-restricted diet,
it is not uncommon to feel hunger every day. With experience,
it is much easier to get used to fasting.
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Religious aspects.
In almost every religion there are prescribed fasting-days.
If you are a believer you can fast in accordance with
the religious calendar, and experience the spiritual
benefits as well as the physical ones.
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Time saving. While
on an ordinary caloric-restriction regime you have to
spend time eating meals 365 days per year. But with the
alternative method you save that time on fast-days. If
fasting 100 days per year, you only spend time eating
on the remaining 265 days.
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To help
in implementing your new caloric-restriction lifestyle,
below we present some simple practical calculations which
we hope will make these ideas more specific. You can
use one of these ready-made plans, or develop your own.
We just want to help you to get started! We outline 5
basic plans, with variants, for several calorie-intakes
(1000 - 1500 kcal/day, average) and with different amounts
and durations of fasting (nearly all the plans include
fasting days). We recommend plan III as a good starting-point;
but you can choose the one which appears most suitable,
and then perhaps modify it in the light of experience.
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I. WITHOUT
LONG FASTING PERIODS
This plan is more suitable for women as the caloric
intake is generally too low for males. The program
is recommended for disease prevention.
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a) . On each of the 365 days
of the year your intake is 1000 kcal. Total calories
per week: (7
x 1000 kcal).
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b) . On each "full
feeding day" (6 per week) one should take [7000 / 6].
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c) . On each "full
feeding day" (5 per week) one should take [7000 / 5].
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II. WITHOUT
LONG FASTING PERIODS
This program is recommended for disease prevention.
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a) . Each day (365 days per
year) your intake is 1500 kcal. Total calories per
week: [7 x
1500 kcal].
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b) . On each "full
feeding day" (6 per week) one should take [10500 / 6].
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c) . On each "full
feeding day" (5 per week) one should take [10500 / 5].
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III. WITH
MODERATE FASTING (program for one year)
This program is recommended both for disease prevention
and disease treatment.
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The
program comprises 4 cycles per year (Fig. 1).
The length of one cycle is 13 weeks, comprising: 1 "", 1 "" and
11 "").
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Arithmetic:
"" comprises
7 days of 0 kcal; total 0 kcal
"" comprises
7 days of gradually-increasing caloric intake (see below); total 5200 kcal
)
plus 1 fasting day (0 kcal). (We suggest Tuesday or Friday for
the fasting day.) Total 12000 kcal per week in these weeks.
So total caloric consumption in one 13-week cycle is 137,200
kcal [= 0 + 5200 + (12000 x 11)], and total intake in 1 year
is 548,800 kcal [137,200 x 4 cycles]. The average caloric intake
over the year is [548,800 / 365] = 1504 kcal/day (approximately
1500 kcal).
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We suggest choosing
this program as a good starting-point. It comprises (7 + 7 + 7 + 7 days) and this
is probably easiest to follow as these form a regular
pattern. The fasting periods are evenly distributed within
the year (Fig. 1).
As alternative variants, you could choose a program with (7 + 7 + 14 fasting days); or (either 14 + 14 fasting days, or 7 + 21
days).
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(for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day
total fast the recovery period ("recovery week")
will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end
of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast)
you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal;
on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900;
on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So
during these 7 "recovery days" your total
intake will be 5200 kcal.
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Fig.1 Time
pattern of caloric intake for Plan III
(average 1500 kcal/day, moderate fasting program with 4 total-fast weeks
per year).
Intake is shown for each day for the whole year.
Total no. of fasting days: 72 per year.
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IV. WITH
MODERATE FASTING (program for one year)
This program is highly recommended both for disease
prevention and for disease treatment. In most cases
it is equally suitable for people with low body-weight.
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The
program comprises 4 cycles per year. The length of
one cycle is 13 weeks (1 "fasting week",
1 "recovery week" and 11 "ordinary weeks".
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Arithmetic:
" comprises
7 days of 0 kcal; total 0 kcal.
"" comprises
7 days of gradually increasing caloric intake; total 4500 kcal (see below).
"" comprises
6 full-feeding days (1450 kcal/day) plus 1 extra fasting day (0 kcal). (We suggest
Tuesday or Friday for the fasting day.) Total intake: 8700 kcal per week in these
weeks.
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Total caloric
intake in 1 cycle (13 weeks) is 100,200 kcal [0 +
4500 + (8700 x 11)]. Total intake in 1 year is 400,800
kcal [100,200 x 4 cycles]. Average caloric intake
is [400,800 / 365] = 1098 kcal/day (approximately
1100 kcal).
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(for 1100 kcal/day plan). After the 7
day total fasting period (0 kcal/daily) the recovery
period is also 7 days. On the first day after the
end of a 7 day fast (the 8th day after starting the
fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300
kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the
5th, 800; on the 6th, 1000; and on the 7th day 1200
kcal. So for the 7 days of the "recovery week" your
total intake will be 4500 kcal.
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V. WITH
CURATIVE FASTING (program for one year)
This program (suitable for both men and women) is
highly recommended for treatment of many chronic
diseases.
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The
program comprises 2 cycles per year. The length of
one cycle is 26 weeks, containing a total of 3 fasting
weeks and 20 "ordinary weeks", as follows:
1 "fasting week" plus 1 "recovery week", then 8 "ordinary
weeks"; then 1 "fasting fortnight" plus 1 "recovery
fortnight", and finally 12 "ordinary weeks". See Fig.
2.
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Arithmetic:
"" and "" comprise
7 days and 14 days of 0 kcal/day; total 0 kcal.
"" comprises
7 days of gradually increasing caloric intake (see below); total 5100 kcal.
"" comprises
14 days of gradually increasing caloric intake (see below); total 10200 kcal.
"" comprises
5 full-feeding days (1700 kcal/day) plus 2 extra fasting days (0 kcal). (We suggest
Wednesday and Friday for the fasting days.) Total intake 8500 kcal/week in these
weeks.
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Total caloric
consumption in 1 cycle (26 weeks) is 185,300 kcal
[0 + 5100 + 0 + 10200 + (8500x20)]. Total intake
in 1 year is 370,600 kcal [185,300 x 2 cycles]. Average
caloric intake over the year is [370,600 / 365] =
1015 kcal/day (approximately 1000 kcal).
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. After the 7 day fast the recovery
period is also 7 days. On the first day after the
end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the
fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300
kcal; on the 3rd day, 400; on the 4th, 600; on the
5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1500
kcal. So during the 7 days of this "recovery
week" your total intake will be 5100 kcal.
After the 14 day fast the recovery period is correspondingly longer,
and consists of 14 days with daily intakes of 200 + 200 + 300 + 300 +
400 + 400 + 600 + 600 + 900 + 900 + 1200 + 1200 + 1500 + 1500 kcal. So
during this 14 day recovery period your total intake will be 10200 kcal.
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Fig.2 Time pattern of caloric intake for Plan
V
(average 1000 kcal/day; curative fasting program with 6 total-fast weeks per
year).
Intake is shown for each day for the whole year.
Total no. of fasting days: 122 per year |
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