Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40154799

Points: 2

# Comments: 1

And why would your body go out of its way to preserve metabolically more expensive tissue during longer periods of deprivation?

Absolutely wrong: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38194372

Longer fasting periods, including 16/8 TRE and alternate-day fasting, have been shown to cause a disproportionate amount of lean body mass loss: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullar...

>In this RCT, a prescription of TRE did not result in weight loss when compared with a control prescription of 3 meals per day. Time-restricted eating did not change any relevant metabolic markers. Finally, there was a decrease in ALM in the TRE group compared with CMT. Together, the results of this study (1) do not support the efficacy of TRE for weight loss, (2) highlight the importance of control interventions, and (3) offer caution about the potential effects of TRE on ALM. Future studies should be aimed at understanding the effects of early vs late TRE and protein intake or timing as a means to offset the loss in ALM.

ALM = Appendicular (i.e., limb) Lean Mass.

One of the authors of this study, Ethan Weiss, is a cardiologist and was a big proponent of TRE, but after the results of his own study came in showing drastic loss of LBM in TRE group (to the point that most of the weight lost was LBM) and no added benefit, he completely stopped doing TRE, stopped recommending it, and went to Twitter and the news media to publicize the harm, eg: https://www.insider.com/new-research-finds-intermittent-fast...

X isn't showing his Twitter thread, but there's a copy of it here: https://old.reddit.com/r/ScientificNutrition/comments/j1fav8...

>In the in-person cohort, the average weight loss in the TRE group was 1.70 kg. Of this, 1.10 kg (~ 65% wt lost) was lean mass; only 0.51 kg of weight lost was fat mass. Loss of lean mass during weight loss is normal but typically accounts for 20% to 30% of total weight loss

>So in summary: 1) no matter how you slice it, prescription of TRE is not a very effective weight loss strategy; 2) There was no advantage to TRE when compared to a proper control group; 3) What weight was lost looked to come more from muscle mass than fat mass

> Both groups gained 1.6 kg in weight; however, the MRI assessment showed that the SFA group gained more liver fat, total fat, and visceral fat, but less lean tissue compared with subjects in the PUFA group (Table 2).

And even without weight gain, it seems to impair insulin sensitivity: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291812/

> A diet very high in fat and saturated fat adversely affects insulin sensitivity and thereby might contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes.

> Over 5,483,981 person-years of follow-up, we documented 22,761 T2D cases. Intakes of total, processed, and unprocessed red meat were positively and approximately linearly associated with higher risks of T2D. Comparing the highest to the lowest quintiles, hazard ratios (HR) were 1.62 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.53, 1.71) for total red meat, 1.51 (95% CI: 1.44, 1.58) for processed red meat, and 1.40 (95% CI: 1.33, 1.47) for unprocessed red meat.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37976771

Points: 2

# Comments: 5

> Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that whole, fresh fruit consumption is unlikely to contribute to excess energy intake and adiposity, but rather has little effect on these outcomes or constrains them modestly. Single-meal RCTs, RCTs lasting 3–24 weeks, and long-term observational studies are relatively consistent in supporting this conclusion. Whole, fresh fruit probably does not contribute to obesity and may have a place in the prevention and management of excess adiposity.

> Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that whole, fresh fruit consumption is unlikely to contribute to excess energy intake and adiposity, but rather has little effect on these outcomes or constrains them modestly. Single-meal RCTs, RCTs lasting 3–24 weeks, and long-term observational studies are relatively consistent in supporting this conclusion. Whole, fresh fruit probably does not contribute to obesity and may have a place in the prevention and management of excess adiposity.

Yet the obesity and Type 2 Diabetes epidemics have only gotten worse, with the diabetes epidemic reaching what appears (in this graph) to be an inflection point around the time sugar consumption started to decline (which makes sense when you realize it entails a shift to more fat consumption, including saturated fat): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK568004/figure/ch3.fig2...

I'm amazed that here we are, in the third decade of the low-carb era, with the obesity rate now hovering over 40% despite a decline in sugar consumption, and this nonsense is still being taken seriously, let alone by people (like HNers) who think they're well-informed.

BTW go look at photos of Johnson and Lustig: they're both fat, unlike Barnard, McDougall and other doctors who advocate ultra low-fat, whole food, plant-based diets.

She benefited from the January Effect: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/j/januaryeffect.asp

RT = resistance training, PI = protein intake. While total protein intake is most important, protein timing and distribution still matters for muscle (contrary to what's propounded in fasting and time-restricted feeding circles), and according to this study, even if the distribution is spaced out, if it's skewed toward dinner, that appears to be sub-optimal.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37741907

Points: 3

# Comments: 1