Intermittent fasting
as a weight-loss approach
BY BILL LEVESQUE
North American wolf packs can feast
on bison or elk and then go two weeks
before the next kill. But the wolves’
bodies and brains still perform at high
levels as they hunt for their next meal,
researchers say.
Humans, too, appear well-adapted to
periods of hunger. This is likely a trait
evolved from early human huntergatherers
who, like wolves, alternated
between periods of feast and famine.
The answer as to how the body manages
this, UF researchers said, provides insight into an increasingly popular
dieting strategy — intermittent fasting.
UF Health researchers said in a recent study published in the
journal Obesity that emerging findings in scientific literature show
intermittent fasting can be a reliable means of weight loss and may
optimize physiological functioning, enhance performance and slow
the aging and disease process.
To understand why, one must look to how the body essentially flips a
“metabolic switch” during fasting. This means the body moves from burning
glucose, or sugar, for energy to fatty acids and their byproduct, ketones.
College News
During fasting, the body converts fat into fatty acids, which can be
absorbed by the blood.
Stephen Anton, PhD, the division chief of clinical research for the UF
College of Medicine’s department of aging and geriatric research and
the paper’s lead author, said research indicates ketones are the
preferred fuel for the brain and body during periods of fasting and
extended exercise.
Ketones, he said, are a cleaner source of energy than glucose, protein
or carbohydrates, the body’s other sources of energy. That is because
ketones produce fewer “metabolic disrupters,” or molecules that can
harm cells.
“This switch can happen after a certain period of time fasting,” said
Anton, who also is affiliated with the UF Institute on Aging. “It’s a
gradation in which your metabolism over time shifts to use higher and
higher amounts of ketones for energy.”
Typically, he said, after eight to 12 hours of fasting, the levels of
ketones in the blood significantly increase.
PHOTO BY MARIA BELEN FARIAS
Tyndall named interim dean
Joseph A. Tyndall, MD, MPH, was appointed interim dean of the UF College of
Medicine in July. Tyndall, a 12-year veteran of the UF faculty, is a professor and
chair of emergency medicine and UF Health physician-in-chief of emergency
services. He was appointed by David R. Nelson, MD, interim senior vice
president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health, following Dr.
Michael L. Good’s departure to take on a new role at the University of Utah
(see page 26).
Tyndall joined the UF faculty in 2006 and became chair of the department of
emergency medicine in 2008. In his emergency medicine role, he oversees
53 faculty members and fellows, one of the largest destination emergency
medicine residency training programs in the state of Florida.
A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Tyndall
completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Maryland
Medical Center and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. He has a
master’s degree in health services management and health policy from
Columbia University in New York.
PHOTO BY MINDY C. MILLER
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