Several major factors that affect health (2)

Recently, a prominent programmer on Chinese Twitter suddenly passed away, causing people to feel sorrowful. Many people have started paying attention to health issues. In light of this, I am prepared to share some articles in the hope that they will be helpful to everyone.

Dietary Section

Diet affects the body in two states:

The state of being full, which means having a high blood sugar level. During this time, our body will actively replicate and grow cells.
The state of fasting, which means having a low blood sugar level. During this time, our body will actively repair and cleanse cells.

Since we naturally do not eat anything while sleeping, a portion of our sleep time is generally spent in a fasting state. The choice of eating time is actually about controlling the duration and balance of these two states. Interestingly, many ethnic cultures and religions around the world have customs related to fasting, some of which can last for many days.

In 2012, scientists began experimenting on mice, dividing them into two groups. One group could eat at any time of the day, while the other group could only eat during a fixed 8-hour period. Within the larger group, the mice were further divided into subgroups and given both healthy and unhealthy food. The results showed that the mice who could only eat during the 8-hour period maintained or even improved their health levels, even when consuming unhealthy high-fat foods, compared to the groups with no restrictions. This study shocked the academic community, and subsequent experiments and papers were published on humans of different genders, ages, and professions (including athletes). Scientists found that intermittent fasting has many benefits for the body, including promoting liver health, bile acid metabolism, self-healing inflammation, weight maintenance, increasing brown fat reserves (beneficial for health), preventing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, blood sugar control, and gut health, among others. If the habit of intermittent fasting is maintained for more than 60 days, our bodies will tend to metabolize fat for energy and control weight.

Therefore, Professor Huberman pointed out that when we eat and what we eat are equally important. This research has also led many researchers in the academic community to adopt the habit of fasting, including Professor Huberman himself.

How to Control Diet

Due to the difficulty of prolonged fasting, the majority of research focuses on intermittent fasting. Simply put, this means eating during a fixed time period of the day (aligned with the sleep cycle) and not consuming any food during other time periods. Here, we can simplify it into two versions: basic and advanced.

Basic: If you want to enjoy the basic benefits of fasting, the simplest principle to follow is to not eat anything within at least 1 hour after waking up and to not eat anything within the last 2-3 hours before going to bed.
Advanced: Currently, the most ideal eating window according to research results is 8 hours. Taking into account social customs, a generally reasonable time range is between 10-18 or 12-20. It seems that skipping breakfast is not a bad thing :)
If you want to build muscle through exercise, it is recommended to shift this eating window earlier, as consuming protein in the morning is beneficial for muscle growth. The timing of exercise can be freely chosen.
It is important to maintain the stability of this eating window time. Otherwise, it will have similar effects to frequent jet lag and reduce the benefits.
If you want to try advanced fasting, it is recommended to gradually change your eating habits, such as shortening the eating window by 1 hour every two days, gradually reaching the ideal 8-hour window.

It is worth noting that when we say not to eat anything, it does not mean we cannot drink water. As mentioned earlier, whether we are in a fasting state mainly depends on blood sugar levels. Therefore:

Drinking water, tea, coffee (without milk), etc., does not interrupt fasting. However, consuming a spoonful of sugar will break the fast.
If you want to enter the fasting state as soon as possible after dinner, you can do some light exercise, such as taking a walk, to speed up blood sugar clearance.
Metformin, berberine, etc., can directly promote blood sugar clearance. Cinnamon, lemon juice, can also slightly lower blood sugar.

Finally, if you feel dizzy or shaky during the fasting period, there is no need to immediately eat or consume sugar. Drinking a little saltwater (with lemon juice) can generally alleviate the symptoms. This reminds me of Lex mentioning taking medication to supplement various electrolyte elements, such as sodium, magnesium, potassium, etc.

Diet and Digestive Health

The microbial community in the intestines not only affects the healthy functioning of the digestive system but also plays a crucial role in the human immune system.
The way babies are born and grow forms very different intestinal microbial ecosystems. Exposure to a microbial environment (while being cautious about situations that can cause diseases) is beneficial for maintaining the microbial environment, such as having pets at home and allowing children to play freely, without excessive cleaning and disinfection.
There is currently no standard conclusion on what constitutes a healthy intestinal microbial ecosystem. However, overall, a high level of diversity in the microbial community generally indicates better health.
Antibiotics can severely disrupt the intestinal microbial ecosystem and should be used with caution.

What kind of dietary habits will help us maintain the diversity and health of the intestinal microbial community?

High-fiber foods: whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts. These are traditionally considered very healthy foods, and many fiber breakdowns require the assistance of the intestinal microbial community. In other words, fiber is their "food."
Fermented foods: yogurt, milk wine (kefir), kombucha, sauerkraut, pickles, natto, etc. Note that they should be naturally fermented, generally refrigerated and not canned. Also, be careful not to add sugar or other additives to foods like yogurt.
The intake of fermented foods significantly increases the diversity of the intestinal microbial community. The subjects showed significant reductions in dozens of immune markers and better suppression of various inflammations. Unexpectedly, the intestinal microbial community can also regulate inflammation.
For people who already have a high level of natural diversity in their intestinal microbial community, consuming high-fiber foods is helpful. However, if not, the benefits of consuming high-fiber foods are not significant. In the process of industrialization, human eating habits have changed over many generations to include large amounts of meat and processed foods. The ecological structure of the intestinal microbial community cannot be changed solely by increasing the amount of fiber-rich foods.