I've been long exposed to the standard tech-circles common knowledge about intermittent fasting (IF), the benefits of fasting, basic gym science about calorie restriction, and so on. I thought a lot of this stuff was pretty well confirmed by science as well as various fasting-oriented traditions around the world. Fast one day a week, live longer. Work IF into your eating schedule, increase your productivity and give your body time to 'clean up' your system.
But I was surprised to recently realize how novel a lot of fasting research is, and how unconfirmed a lot of the benefits are. Even the wikipedia page for fasting doesn't have as much as I'd really like to see. It's nice to see posts like this one, but even this doubles down on "there are studies in progress" without any convincing completed studies.
Review studies such as this[0] one basically confirm in so many words that "additional trials are needed" and while IF can help you lose weight "whether IF itself affects cancer-related metabolic and molecular pathways remains unanswered"
It's curiously similar to woo-woo or religious habits and self-help advice: similar in being fringe from the perspective of scientific medicine. But the same groups who I'd expect to be pro-science (for example more likely to get vaccinated) are often mixed up in fasting stuff which isn't (yet) confirmed.
I suppose it's not too unheard of to see tech circles overlap with fringe medicine. Check out r/nootropics for instance. Now, I've experimented with nootropics and various supplements. I don't use the term 'fringe' as a haughty outsider. I'm quite willing to consider that it's "not yet confirmed" protoscience, and that this is different from falsified or counter-indicated "remedies" and bits of fringe medicine, things like homeopathy. But it's curious nonetheless.
[0] https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac...
But I was surprised to recently realize how novel a lot of fasting research is, and how unconfirmed a lot of the benefits are. Even the wikipedia page for fasting doesn't have as much as I'd really like to see. It's nice to see posts like this one, but even this doubles down on "there are studies in progress" without any convincing completed studies.
Review studies such as this[0] one basically confirm in so many words that "additional trials are needed" and while IF can help you lose weight "whether IF itself affects cancer-related metabolic and molecular pathways remains unanswered"
It's curiously similar to woo-woo or religious habits and self-help advice: similar in being fringe from the perspective of scientific medicine. But the same groups who I'd expect to be pro-science (for example more likely to get vaccinated) are often mixed up in fasting stuff which isn't (yet) confirmed.
I suppose it's not too unheard of to see tech circles overlap with fringe medicine. Check out r/nootropics for instance. Now, I've experimented with nootropics and various supplements. I don't use the term 'fringe' as a haughty outsider. I'm quite willing to consider that it's "not yet confirmed" protoscience, and that this is different from falsified or counter-indicated "remedies" and bits of fringe medicine, things like homeopathy. But it's curious nonetheless.
[0] https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac...