Huberman Lab

Dr. Satchin Panda: Intermittent Fasting to Improve Health, Cognition & Longevity

Mar 13, 2023

In a captivating discussion, Dr. Satchin Panda, a professor and circadian rhythms expert at the Salk Institute, reveals the transformative benefits of time-restricted eating (TRE). He explains how TRE can combat obesity, diabetes, and boost cognitive performance by aligning eating patterns with our biological clock. Panda emphasizes the power of meal timing and light exposure, sharing fascinating insights on how simple changes can enhance health and longevity. From intermittent fasting's historical context to its modern applications, this talk is a treasure trove of nutritional wisdom.

02:44:04

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Episode guests

Satchin Panda

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Highlights

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Time-restricted eating (TRE) or intermittent fasting can positively impact metabolic health, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular health, age-related chronic diseases, and mood and cognitive performance.

The optimal length of the feeding window for time-restricted feeding is still debated, but a practical and feasible approach for many individuals is limiting eating to an 8 to 12 hour window.

Feeding within a specific time window, even with controlled caloric intake, can improve lifespan and impact longevity.

Cautions for time-restricted feeding include avoiding extremely short eating windows (4 to 6 hours) or one meal a day, and ensuring adequate calorie intake for physically active individuals, nutritional quality, and calorie sufficiency for women to avoid negative impacts on menstrual health, bone health, and mental well-being.

Implementing time-restricted feeding (TRF) among shift workers, such as firefighters, is feasible and can lead to improvements in blood pressure, blood glucose management, blood lipids, and cardiovascular health.

Aligning meal patterns with our circadian rhythm can have profound effects on health, metabolism, blood sugar control, fat oxidation, and overall well-being.

Deep dives

Time-restricted feeding and its impact on circadian rhythms

Dr. Sachin Panda's laboratory has made important contributions to understanding circadian rhythms and their impact on mental and physical health. These rhythms regulate various aspects of the body, such as gene expression, mood, sleep, and metabolism. One key finding is that restricting feeding to specific periods within a 24-hour cycle can have significant effects on liver, gut, and brain health, as well as on mood and cognitive performance. This discussion explores the impact of circadian behaviors - including sleep, light exposure, eating patterns, and socializing - on overall health and how time-restricted feeding can positively influence these rhythms and their associated health outcomes.

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03:41

Time Restricted Feeding and Longevity

02:06

The History of Coffee and How It Has Influenced Our Culture

01:29

Effect of Nutrition Advice on Weight Loss

01:20

Intro

4min

Harnessing Ketones and Enhancing Performance with Innovative Products

3min

Unlocking Intermittent Fasting

25min

The Impact of Nutrition on Gut Health and Longevity

2min

The OMAD Diet and Its Impact on Longevity

13min

The Risks of One Meal a Day Diets

9min

The Importance of Timing in Nutrition and Exercise for Women's Health

2min

Dietary Strategies and Historical Brews

14min

The Connection Between Caffeine and Breakfast Timing

3min

10.

The Dynamics of Sleep and Behavior

13min

11.

Circadian Chaos: The Impact of Modern Lifestyles on Sleep and Health

21min

12.

Aligning Health with Circadian Rhythms

21min

13.

The Role of Philanthropy in Pioneering Scientific Research

1min

14.

Redefining Eating Patterns

19min

15.

Timing and Metabolism: Insights on Berberine and Rapamycin

9min

16.

Harnessing Science and Health

8min

In this episode, my guest is Satchin Panda, PhD, professor and the director of the Regulatory Biology Laboratories at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. We discuss his lab’s discovery that “time-restricted eating” (TRE) aka intermittent fasting, is beneficial effects for metabolic health and longevity. Dr. Panda explains how TRE, and also longer fasts, can positively impact obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular health, age-related chronic diseases, and improve mood and cognitive performance. He also describes how the timing of eating, light exposure and exercise that ~50% of all people engage in, negatively impacts their health and explains how specific simple adjustments to these can positively shift their subjective feelings of health and biomarkers of cardiovascular function, glucose regulation and metabolism. We discuss how our circadian behaviors, which include our patterns of eating, sleeping and socializing, have an enormous impact on our biology, mood and health and how by simply confining our calorie consumption to a semi-regular daily window, can positively impact our physical health, mental health and longevity.

For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) Dr. Satchin Panda

(00:03:18) Sponsor: LMNT

(00:07:24) Time-Restricted Eating (TRE), Calorie Restriction (CR) & Health

(00:14:38) Mealtimes & Circadian Clock

(00:21:34) Circadian Rhythm, Meal Anticipation, Digestion

(00:25:28) Breaking a Fast, Burning Fat

(00:28:45) Sponsor: AG1

(00:34:04) CR, Time Restricted Eating, Circadian Rhythm & Longevity

(00:47:20) Gender, Hormones & CR; Relative Energy Deficient in Sports (REDS)

(00:52:40) Physical Activity, Nutrition & Feeding Window

(00:59:04) Nutrition Timing, Quality & Quantity; Low- Carbohydrate Diet

(01:03:00) Caffeine, Nighttime Socialization, Fire, Breakfast

(01:16:20) Circadian Rhythm, “Night Owls” & Genetics

(01:26:37) Morning vs. Nighttime Discussions, “Me Time”

(01:30:08) Light Sensitivity & “Night Owls”; Puberty, Melatonin

(01:36:05) Shift Workers, Health & Disease

(01:45:43) Artificial Lights, Young Adults & Sleep, Metabolic Dysfunction

(01:50:59) Firefighters, Sleep & TRE; Cardiovascular Health, Blood Glucose

(02:05:18) Shift Workers & Sleep; Alcohol & Caffeine

(02:09:15) 12- Hour Feeding Window for Adults & Children, Sleep

(02:22:10) Meal Timing

(02:25:20) “Complete Fast”, Longer Fasts, Physical Health & Mental Health

(02:28:12) “Fat Fasting”, Blood Glucose & Insulin

(02:31:57) Fasting, Metformin, Rapamycin & Longevity; Human Applicability?

(02:39:14) Circadian Rhythm & Metabolism

(02:41:36) Ontime Health App, Circadian Clock App

(02:46:17) Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, YouTube Feedback, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

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Huberman Lab

Dr. Satchin Panda: Intermittent Fasting to Improve Health, Cognition & Longevity

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Time-restricted feeding and its impact on circadian rhythms

Intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding

The role of calorie restriction and timing in longevity

Considerations and cautions for time-restricted feeding

Feasibility of Time-Restricted Feeding for Shift Workers

Impact of TRF on Blood Lipids and Particle Size

Benefits of TRF for Blood Pressure Management

Improved Blood Sugar Regulation with TRF

Importance of Sleep and Meal Schedule for Shift Workers

Impact of Circadian Rhythm on Meal Timing and Nutrition

Exploring the Benefits of Fasting and Time-Restricted Feeding

Is There Evidence That Anticipation Helps Digestive Functions?

Time Restricted Feeding and Longevity

The History of Coffee and How It Has Influenced Our Culture

Effect of Nutrition Advice on Weight Loss

Thank you to our sponsors

Timestamps

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts