Could ‘intermittent fasting’ be the ultimate anti-ageing diet?

updated the 3 October 2017 à 15:33

As it turns out, Naomi Campbell and Jessica Alba swear by it too.

“Intermittent fasting”: celebrities such as the likes of Jessica Alba and Naomi Campbell swear by it.

Of course, supermodels aren’t necessarily the people we go to for sound health advice, but when fasting started getting solid expert-backed claims (which include the potential to extend our lifespan and even prevent cancer), we couldn’t help but be intrigued.

But first, what exactly is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating where you strategically schedule your meals. Not to be confused with a diet, it doesn’t change what you eat – rather when you eat.

Here are a few different ways you can work it into your lifestyle:

  • Daily (a 16-hour fast followed by an 8-hour eating period everyday)
  • Weekly (a 24-hour fast once a week)
  • Alternate day (a 24-hour fast on alternating days throughout the week).

To understand how it works, it’s important to distinguish between your body’s ‘fed state’ and ‘fasted state’:

  • “Fed State” (No fat burning) – Starting from when you begin eating and lasting three to five hours after, your body is in the ‘fed state’ when it is digesting and absorbing food. It is hard for your body to burn fat here as your insulin levels are high.
  • “Fasted State” (Fat burning) – Starting between 8 to 12 hours since your last meal, it is much easier for your body to burn fat here because your insulin levels are low. Due to the societal habit of frequent meals, our bodies are hardly in the fat burning ‘fasted state’.

… HELLO FASTING, FAREWELL AGEING?

Fasting, according holistic nutritionist and raw food instructor Rachel Hynd, is a great way to reset your body system: “Fasting is a message to your body that you’re embarking on a new beginning, flushing out the old and bringing in the new.”

Studies in rats have demonstrated that intermittent fasting extends lifespan – the same way continuous calorie restriction does. In some of these studies, the effects were quite significant; in one study, the rats that fasted every other day lived 83% longer than rats who weren’t fasted.

Although this has yet to be proven in humans, given its scientifically-backed benefits for boosting metabolism and more, it does make sense that intermittent fasting could help you live a longer and healthier life.


Putting your body through weekly or monthly fasts puts pressure on it to go into cellular protection mode, which is a good thing for your body in the long term and also helps you consumer fewer calories on days when you are eating.

Now, if you’re thinking: “hold on, aren’t we supposed to eat every 3 to 4 hours?” Not true. The latest endocrine science tells us that eating every three or four hours sets us up for not only exhaustion and premature aging, but also less fat burning.

Perhaps the edge that fasting has over dieting is the fact that you don’t have to adjust or tweak what you eat, which may make it more sustainable (once you get over the mental barrier of not being able to eat for periods of time).


P.S.  If you’re keen to give this a go, do consult your doctor or nutritionist first to determine if fasting works out for you and your lifestyle!

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Marie France Asia, women's magazine