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Comment by georgeburdell | Hacker News Reader

No offense but self-reported results aren't scientifically worth much. There are too many crackpots in health. Now, if you had some sort of external objective measure, like "I was able to stop taking X maintenance medicine after starting my fasting routine" that would be much more compelling.

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Yeah, I'm aware :) I think people that are healthy can try it for themselves in small steps (with supervision of a doctor, if possible), and see how it makes them feel. I have been objectively tracking my mood (Remente), sleep (Ouraring), strength (only body weight exercise, tracking reps, cadence and more). Overall it's been improving in all categories, from very good to even better. If it's a result of the fasting or something else I've changed is hard to tell, but I'm pretty sure fasting is not making it worse for me at least.

Yea, counter-point: IF makes me more anxious and irritable, and no way it makes me stronger as someone who lifts regularly (5x week)...

IIRC some studies I’ve read say that IF increases cortisol levels which would explain the anxiety and which I believe is bad for muscle-building.

I haven't replaced exercise with fasting, I think you still need both! Of course you wouldn't be as strong as someone who lifts 5 times/week if you didn't. I'm speaking of strength relative to body weight here... I see no benefit in being able to bench press 200kg, I rather do 15-30 chins with no effort. Sleep, exercise, a good diet and relationships are all required for good long-term benefits in any endevour.

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