Authors: David Zinczenko
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
may help you create more brain cells and link them together more closely.
You know how, when you’re scanning those clues in the crossword puzzle, and suddenly “Terrible, isn’t he?” leads you to the only possible answer: “Ivan”? That mental click is what happens when a neuron—a brain cell—sends a spark across a synapse—the connecting point—to another neuron and comes up with a Eureka! moment. The better your neurons and brain cells function, and the more of them there are, the smarter you’ll be. And the benefits can extend far beyond 34 Down. Here’s what happens, according to Dr. Mattson. When you cut back on food supply on a regular schedule, your brain starts producing more of a miracle protein called
brain-derived neurotrophic factor
—BNDF; having higher levels of this protein helps promote the growth and survival of brain cells. And recently it’s been discovered that BNDF can even spur stem cells in your brain tissue to sprout brand-spanking-new cells, which are in turn ready to lock in memories and learn new stuff. The reasoning behind it: A keen mind is more likely to find its way to the next meal. So the downside of not eating leads directly to the upside of clearer thinking. BNDF is also active in strengthening your synapses, so none of your bright ideas get lost in yawning gaps between brain cells (that’s the airhead problem, in a nutshell). And it also minimizes brain damage over time, because it produces its own form of antioxidants, which protect your gray matter from the destructive effects of burning energy.
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can protect you from the Big Three of Brain Destroyers.
In their understated way, the Johns Hopkins researchers write that, because of the protective processes kicked off by intermittent fasting, “these dietary regimes could have a significant benefit for debilitating and prevalent neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s diseases.” Limiting your time period for caloric intake just seems to make the mind stay sharper as it grows older. “The effect was first shown in rats 30 years ago,” says Dr. Mattson. “They looked at calorie-restricted animals’ cognitive function, in their ability to solve mazes. Particularly as they got older, the calorie-restricted animals did much better.” In fact, there are a number of ways this program protects the brain as it ages …
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can fight the inflammation at the heart of Alzheimer’s.
Over and above the brain-protective effects I mentioned above, intermittent fasting battles inflammation all over your body. And when it extends that benefit to your brain, it just might help you sidestep Alzheimer’s; inflammation is thought to be among the culprits behind it.
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can lessen the effects of stress
. Consider a study published in the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
in 2007 that noted that people who kept their food intake to an 8-hour period experienced a “significant decrease in concentrations of cortisol.” Cortisol is the hormone your body manufactures when it’s under stress, and it tells your body to store fat. Stop stress, and you put a damper on the body’s fat-storage mechanism—not to mention the mechanism that causes you to yell at the TV. Another reason to control stress: It’s been shown to damage, even destroy, brain cells. But the 8-Hour Diet gives your brain a protective advantage. In his own lab work, Dr. Mattson says, he found that among the benefits of this type of eating plan is
“increased production of nerve cell growth factors. It not only encouraged the growth of neurons but also reduced the reaction of neurons to stress.”
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can help you avoid having a stroke or recover faster if you do have one.
Losing my own father to stroke at a relatively young age has kept me ever vigilant for new research that can help prevent others from suffering the same fate. Fortunately, the same artery-clearing benefit from intermittent fasting that lowers risk of heart disease can also reduce your risk of stroke. Two albatrosses, one stone. And as anyone with a family history of stroke knows, what doesn’t kill us doesn’t necessarily make us stronger: A stroke can leave you both physically and mentally disabled. But when scientists intentionally injured the brains of laboratory mice, they found that those on intermittent fasts recovered faster.
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can help you understand the science behind the 8-Hour Diet.
I love the concept of “neuroplasticity,” which calls to mind a little kid snapping together plastic Lego blocks to build his dream castle. In fact, it’s not that far from the truth, because this concept refers to the brain’s miraculous ability to grow, develop, and change all through our lifetime. Neuroplasticity’s golden age is childhood, when little ones are using the adaptive and developmental powers of their brain cells to learn how to walk, speak, operate the iPad, and manipulate mom and dad into buying them a smartphone. But neuroplasticity is also a godsend for adults, playing a key role in late-life learning. Intermittent fasting is a great way to have more of it. Why? Because, for mammals like us, hunting for food was a problem that called for creative solutions. (“Hey, maybe there’s something gooey and delicious inside that shell. I think I’ll invent the oyster knife to pry it open and create cocktail sauce to make it taste better!”)
So when hunger strikes, your brain’s answer is to increase neuroplasticity, both to come up with new ideas for finding food (fried butter on a stick!) and to remember where you found it last year (the Minnesota State Fair!). You’ll be able to do more of both on this diet—two things no diet has ever offered before.
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THE 8-HOUR DIET
can help you remember all of the benefits of the 8-Hour Diet.
A couple of years ago, a reporter from the
Daily Mail
, in the UK, called up Dr. Mattson to ask him if intermittent fasting could help slow learners speed up. I’ll take his response as a resounding yes: “Part of this [learning] effect is due to what cutting calories does to appetite hormones such as ghrelin and leptin,” he told the reporter. “When you are not overweight, these hormones encourage growth of new brain cells, especially in the hippocampus. This is the area of the brain that is involved in laying down memories. If you start putting on weight, levels of ghrelin drop and brain cell replacement slows.” Then he dropped the hammer: “The effect is particularly damaging in your 40s and 50s, for reasons that aren’t clear yet,” he says. “Obesity at that age is a marker for cognitive problems later.”
You’re coming through loud and clear, Dr. Mattson. He’d never say it, but I can: It’s quite possible that, as your belly shrinks, your brain grows. And the 8-Hour Diet maximizes that effect.
A buff body and a buff brain? And you can have both while eating whatever you want, as much as you want? No wonder every scientist we spoke to who’s investigated this plan has started following it himself or herself. But while you could enjoy all the brain and body benefits of this eating plan even if you took up residence inside a Waffle House, there are ways to turbocharge the effects of the 8-Hour Diet—to add in a set of foods (we call them the 8-Hour Powerfoods) that are so perfectly packed with the right nutrients that they’ll help you burn fat even faster and bolster your brainpower even further. We’ll explore
them in depth in
Chapter 5
.
At the end of our visit, Dr. Mattson lets fly about a mission he has undertaken with his fast friend Satchidananda Panda, PhD, the Salk Institute scientist who presides over those lucky, skinny, healthy mice who were the first to benefit from an 8-hour diet. According to these bicoastal big brains, it’s not enough to write a book about the plan. Now it’s time to prescribe intermittent fasting.
“It’s getting to the point scientifically that we think it should be incorporated into the medical education curriculum, and that there should be prescriptions that should be given to patients that could be followed up on using social media.”
Twitter to make you fitter, in other words.
“One of the big problems with people not being able to stay on a diet is very simple,” Dr. Mattson concludes. “It’s a psychological thing. Maybe people aren’t getting enough encouragement, not getting enough support.”
Well, consider that problem over. You can sign up for our feed right now, at
Twitter.com/8HourDiet
. Why wait for the prescription when you can start tapping into your extended-release life plan and minimized waistline right now?
And by the way, the drive away from Dr. Mattson and the National Institute of Aging was much easier. It always is, when you know your way past the major obstacles and the best way to arrive safely at your destination.
Use your natural hormonal clock to maximize the 8-Hour Diet effect!
Would you rather be shaped like an alarm clock or an hourglass?
Up until the beginning of the 20th century, human life operated according to a natural system of biorhythms. We slept when it got dark, and we awoke when it got light. And as a result, our bodies worked within the parameters of our hormonal cycles. Everything proceeded along with our natural circadian rhythms.
And then some wiseguy named Edison came along and screwed it all up.
Nowadays, we can stay up as late as we want, hitting the bar scene, watching
Law & Order
marathons, stalking exes on Facebook, or bathing in the neon glow of our Kindle. Modern life has a lot of advantages. But it has its disadvantages, as well. And one of those disadvantages is that it’s screwing up our natural biorhythms, and as a result, it’s making us fat. Our reliable body clocks have been turned into time bombs.
According to scientists at the Salk Institute, your eating schedule controls your metabolism. Because we once lived in nighttime darkness, with no automatic refrigerator door light to illuminate our midnight snack, our bodies adapted to a very simple hormonal cycle of work-eat-play-sleep, and our metabolisms burned hot to fuel that schedule. But today, our cycle is more like eat-work-eat-play-eat-eat-sleep-wake up in the middle of the night and eat again.
Research shows that our bodies’ inner eat-and-sleep clocks have been thrown completely out of whack, thanks to all-day food cues and too much nighttime artificial light. The result: You’re caught in a “fat
cycle”: a constant flow of hunger hormones that makes you prone to cravings. But when you confine those eating cues to an 8-hour period, you can finally say good-bye to your belly—and stop feeling hungry all the time.
It’s all about managing your day to manipulate your hormonal levels. Intermittent fasting has a profound effect on the hunger (ghrelin) and satiety (leptin) hormones. According to the latest endocrine science, it can calm your food cravings and hunger pangs from within, and set you up for weight-loss success. But you’ve got to manage your meal plan to make that happen. Follow this hour-by-hour slim-down schedule to control hunger hormones, banish cravings, and get trim and toned—fast!
6 TO 8 AM
GET MOVING
Within a half hour of rising, work some movement into your day. (
Chapter 10
will give you plenty of options.) Research has found that early morning exercise may help you burn fat more efficiently, and as you know, that effect is compounded by the mechanisms that kick in with intermittent fasting. If you can get outside, even better. Early morning sunlight helps your body naturally reset itself to a healthier sleep/wake cycle (regular indoor lights don’t have the same effect). There’s no need to do rigorous exercise; a simple walk to the corner store and back will do. You’re only trying to elevate your metabolism and burn a few additional calories to work through your glycogen stores and start burning body fat.
6:55 TO 8:55 AM
DRINK UP
Drink at least two 8-ounce glasses of water after rising. Research shows that people who drank this amount lost 5 pounds more than nonguzzlers.
7 TO 9 AM
POWER THROUGH
A lot of 8-Hour Dieters will elect to make lunch their break-fast meal. But if you’re in the habit of eating first thing, that could be a challenge—at least initially. But habits—especially unhealthy ones—are meant to be broken. Experience with our test panel tells us that your first day skipping breakfast may be difficult; within 2 weeks, it becomes a lot easier. By the end of the first month, most testers said that skipping breakfast became a painless routine. You may even feel more energized than you did taking on a load of pancakes or soggy muffins and fueling the sugar high/crash cycle.
Chapter 9
has a hundred suggestions that will see you through to success in recalibrating your morning cycles.
10 TO 11 AM
HELP YOURSELF TO A HOT BEVERAGE
The hunger and thirst centers of the brain are both located in the hypothalamus, which causes more than a little confusion. If you mistake thirst for hunger, you might wander into the path of the nearest cheeseburger, and it won’t be pretty. So drink on a schedule. If you plan for a hot tea or coffee break midmorning, you’ll keep your mouth busy, plus warm liquids will make you feel full, longer.
12 TO 1 PM
HOORAY! HAVE YOUR MIDDAY MEAL!
But do it the smart way. Galanin, another hunger hormone that makes you crave fat, rises around lunchtime. However, there’s a bit of a vicious (and viscous) cycle here: Eating dietary fat causes you to produce more galanin, which then tells you to eat more fat. Instead, fill up with complex carbs and protein, such as chicken-vegetable soup or black bean chili. In
Chapter 5
, I’ll introduce you to the 8-Hour Powerfoods and show you how having just one serving of each of the 8 Powerfoods (and it’s easy—a turkey, tomato, and Swiss on whole
wheat gets you halfway there) will ensure a day of perfect nutrition. Make a smart choice at lunch and you’ll be on your way to the triumphant cry of “I ate my eight!” (Just close the door to your office before you shout that, OK?) And don’t forget: The break-fast meal is set up by the food-free period before it. You’ll savor what you eat, and your body will make the most of it as well.
2 TO 3 PM
TAKE A NAP
Instead of hitting the vending machines, find a quiet place to grab a few Zzzs. (Hint: Your parked car is the perfect impromptu sleep pod!) Just set an alarm—15 to 20 minutes will energize your body without affecting your ability to sleep at night. In fact, studies show that midafternoon nappers return to their tasks energized and alert and outperform their groggy peers. Sweet dreams, sweet accomplishments!
3:30 PM
GET BUZZED
Need a boost? This is your last chance to have a cup of joe. Drinking coffee after 4 PM disturbs circadian rhythms and can keep you from falling asleep at night.
4 TO 8 PM
TRIM AND TONE
Now’s the ideal time to do your strength training, plus any additional cardio. This is when your body temperature is highest, so you’re primed for peak performance. In one study, subjects who worked out in the late afternoon or early evening built 22 percent more muscle than morning exercisers.
5 TO 7 PM
TIME TO DINE
To ensure you don’t wake up hungry in the middle of the night, add a serving of healthy fats, such as flaxseed or fish oil, to your meal. If you’re a wine drinker, pour a glass now. Drinking later can delay dream (REM) sleep, waking you frequently during the night.
8 TO 9 PM
HAVE A PRESLEEP SNACK, BEFORE YOUR 16-HOUR FAST
Enjoy a carb-based bedtime snack, such as a serving of low-fat frozen yogurt. Nighttime carbs create tryptophan, which helps your brain produce serotonin. This feel-good chemical triggers your body to make melatonin, the sleep hormone.
9 TO 10:30 PM
POWER DOWN
Step away from digital devices, including the TV. They emit a blue spectrum of light that’s even more disruptive to sleep than regular bulbs. Do something calming—read, take a bath—in dim light so you’re ready to nod off when you hit the sheets.
9:30 TO 11 PM
GO TO SLEEP
Crawl under the covers at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning, even on weekends. Having a regular sleep-and-wake schedule helps you fall asleep faster over time, and it helps reset your metabolism to skinny, the 8-Hour Diet way.