Fasting away Covid?

Activating autophagy by practicing intermittent fasting sends your cells into survival mode. [Click here](1770d7/ct0_0/1/ms?sid=TV2%3A8VP5ipBya) to view this message in your browser | [Click here](1770d7/l-002e/zout?sid=TV2%3A8VP5ipBya) to stop receiving our messages [] [] Al Sears, MD 11905 Southern Blvd. Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 [] November 5, 2022 [] Reader, Activating autophagy by practicing intermittent fasting sends your cells into survival mode. As we age, our bodies accumulate the “dead weight” of damaged and dysfunctional cells. If you don’t do something about it, this “cellular junk” just piles up inside you, like trash bags on garbage day. But when you fast, your body ends up tossing out this cellular trash. This is how your body cleanses itself of the dangerous cellular debris that causes illness and disease. Studies show activating autophagy:1,2,3,4,5 - Slashes heart disease risk by 77% - Lowers high blood pressure by 90% - Reveres diabetes - Fights cancer by suppressing tumor formation and replenishing immune cells - Improves brain function in those with mild cognitive impairment And now we can add beating Covid to the list... You see, intermittent fasting increases immunity and fights inflammation. When your body is inflamed, you become more susceptible to many chronic diseases and infections – including the coronavirus. New research shows that those who regularly practice intermittent fasting tend to be less severely affected by Covid. They also have a lower rate of hospitalization and death.6 The researchers found that after 12 to 14 hours of fasting, the body switches from using glucose in the blood to ketones, including linoleic acid. This stops the virus from latching on to cells and spreading. In the study, researchers identified 205 patients who tested positive for Covid. Of those, 73 reported fasting regularly. Those who fasted had a lower rate of hospitalization or death due to coronavirus than those who didn’t. It’s important to note that fasting isn’t associated with whether you get Covid or not. But your chance of getting a severe case is much lower. If you’re ready to try intermittent fasting, here’s what I suggest: Start with a simple 16:8 fast. This plan involves fasting for 16 hours. In other words, you have an 8-hour time period in which you can eat. Then you fast for the remaining 16 hours. Here’s an example. You eat breakfast at 10 a.m. and lunch around 1 p.m. Dinner is over by 6 p.m. with no other food until the next day. Then move to the 20:4 fast. You can do the 16:8 fast every day. But once a week or so, I recommend doing a longer 20:4 fast. It has a four-hour eating widow followed by 20 hours of not eating. I suggest eating between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Aim for one or two small meals during this time. Once you’ve tackled intermittent fasting, try to fast for 24 hours at least a couple of times a month. This is the same kind of fasting the Covid participants practiced in the study I mentioned earlier. 3 More Ways To Activate Autophagy Fasting is one of the most effective methods to activate autophagy. But it’s not the only way. Here are three more ways to “take out your cellular trash” and improve your health today... - Work out with intensity. Exercise puts your body’s cells under stress. When you work out, your cells become damaged and inflamed. Autophagy reverses this. But the kind of exercise you do is important. Research shows that a single bout of high-intensity exercise, like my PACE principle, is more effective in inducing autophagy than prolonged exercise with moderate intensity.7 - Drink coffee. At least in mice, both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can induce autophagy in the liver, muscle tissue, and heart. The effects persist even when coffee is given along with food. The mice didn’t have to fast for the coffee to induce autophagy. - Take curcumin. This Indian spice has been shown to encourage both apoptosis (programmed cell death) and autophagy in leukemia and other cancer cells.8 Curcumin was also found to promote autophagy in diabetic patients with cardiomyopathy or diseased heart muscle. I suggest supplementing with 500 to 1,000 mg of curcumin daily. Look for a supplement with piperine (an extract from black pepper). Adding 20 mg of piperine can increase the bioavailability of curcumin dramatically. To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD, CNS --------------------------------------------------------------- References: 1. Horne B., et al. “Usefulness of Routine periodic fasting to lower risk of coronary artery disease among patients undergoing coronary angiography.” Am J Cardiol. 2008 October 1. 2. Goldhamer A, et al. “Medically supervised water-only fasting in the treatment of hypertension.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2001 Jun. 3. Lesica N. “Intermittent fasting could help tackle diabetes — here’s the science.” The Conversation. August 21, 2017. 4. Brandhorst S, et al.“A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes multi-system regeneration, enhanced cognitive performance, and healthspan.” Cell Metab. 2015 Jul 7;22(1):86-99. 5. Ooi T, et al. “Intermittent fasting enhanced the cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment by inducing biochemical and metabolic changes: a 3-year progressive study.” Nutrients. 2020 Aug 30;12(9):2644. 6. Horne B, et al. “Association of periodic fasting with lower severity of COVID-19 outcomes in the SARS-CoV-2 prevaccine era: an observational cohort from the INSPIRE registry.” BMJ. 2022; e000462 DOI: 10.1136/bmjnph-2022-000462 7. Pagano A, et al. “Autophagy and protein turnover signaling in slow-twitch muscle during exercise. Med Sci Sport Exercise. 2014;46(7):1314–25. 8. Shakeri A, et al. “Curcumin: A naturally occurring autophagy modulator.” J Cell Physiol. 2019 May;234(5):5643-5654. --------------------------------------------------------------- alsearsmd@send.alsearsmd.com [Preferences | Unsubscribe](1770d7/l-002e/zout?sid=TV2%3A8VP5ipBya) 11905 Southern Blvd., Royal Palm Beach, Florida 33411, United States