Fasting Regimen

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Anchor lead: If you choose to fast there are many ways to
do so, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Studies on fasting have utilized different patterns, such as
eating only 600 calories two days per week and consuming a normal diet on other
days, but Mark Mattson, a neurosciences researcher at Johns Hopkins and author
of a recent paper on the benefits of fasting, says in creating a schedule
simplicity is best.

Mattson: Fast for at least 16 hours a day or a couple days a
week eat only one meal. It takes two to four weeks to adapt, and it might be
good to do it with a spouse or a friend or a coworker.  :11

Fasting with a partner may help you persist, Mattson says,
and don’t be surprised by the social cost of doing so.

Mattson: One of the downsides from a social standpoint is
obvious: you have a breakfast meeting with someone and then you don’t eat
breakfast and they’re eating bacon and eggs and you’re drinking tea.   :10

Mattson notes that our societal conventions may be a
challenge at first but there’s no evidence that three meals a day and snacks
are anyone’s most healthful choice. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.