Mark Mattson, a leading neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins University and intermittent fasting expert, dives deep into the brain benefits of fasting. He discusses how fasting enhances cognitive function and metabolic health, revealing it can even reverse diabetes and obesity. Mark shares practical fasting tips, including optimal eating times and dietary strategies for maximum brain performance. The conversation also touches on the roles of key growth factors like NGF and BDNF in brain health, making for an enlightening and health-focused dialogue.
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Intermittent Fasting Methods
Try intermittent fasting by eating your daily calories within a smaller window.
Explore various fasting methods, like 12-hour, 16-hour, or alternate-day fasting.
insights INSIGHT
Calorie Restriction vs. Fasting
Calorie restriction alone doesn't ensure a fasted state, as frequent meals replenish liver glycogen.
What Leaders, Innovators, and Mavericks Do to Win at Life
Dave Asprey
Game Changers by Dave Asprey is a comprehensive guide that distills the wisdom from over 450 interviews with highly successful leaders, innovators, and mavericks. The book focuses on three main objectives: becoming smarter, faster, and happier. It offers 46 science-backed 'laws' that provide practical strategies for optimizing diet, exercise, sleep habits, and mental performance. Asprey combines insights from human biology and psychology with real-world examples to help readers upgrade their 'operating system' to better align with modern goals. The book covers a wide range of topics, including taming fear and anxiety, making better decisions, establishing high-performance habits, and practicing gratitude and mindfulness[1][4][5].
The Oxygen Advantage
Simple, Scientifically Proven Breathing Techniques to Help You Become Healthier, Slimmer, Faster, and Fitter
Patrick McKeown
In this book, Patrick McKeown introduces the Oxygen Advantage, a revolutionary approach to breathing that can significantly improve health and fitness. The book explains the fundamental relationship between oxygen and the body and provides techniques such as the Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) to determine and improve oxygen efficiency. McKeown's methods include light breathing exercises and simulating high-altitude training, techniques used by elite athletes and military personnel to enhance endurance, weight loss, and cardiovascular health. The book addresses chronic overbreathing, a common but often overlooked issue that contributes to various health disorders, including anxiety, asthma, insomnia, and heart problems. By following McKeown's program, readers can achieve better sleep, increased energy, improved concentration, reduced breathlessness during exercise, and enhanced overall well-being.
The bulletproof diet
Dave Asprey
The Bulletproof Diet is a comprehensive guide to achieving better mental clarity, sustained energy, and weight loss through a high-fat, moderate-protein, and low-carbohydrate approach. The diet emphasizes eating organic, grass-fed, and non-GMO foods to minimize toxins and maximize nutrient intake. It also incorporates intermittent fasting and the consumption of healthy fats like avocados, coconut oil, and grass-fed butter. The diet aims to stabilize blood sugar levels, promote weight loss, and support cognitive function. Key components include the use of Bulletproof Coffee, avoiding mold toxins, and a balanced approach to exercise and sleep[1][3][5].
In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, my guest is one of the world’s top experts on the health benefits of intermittent fasting on the brain and body.
Decades before intermittent fasting diets became popular, Mark began studying mouse models to understand how the brain adapts to challenges like fasting and exercise. He and his research teams have shown that fasting can improve cognitive function and metabolic health. Early studies in humans now are underway.
“Intermittent fasting and exercise can reverse diabetes, and obesity in humans if a person can switch their eating pattern, and get on an exercise program,” Mark says.
His work on intermittent fasting has been featured on national media and he has given a TED Talk, “Why Fasting Bolsters Brain Power”. Our conversation in this episode covers a lot of ground, such as:
What happens during a fasted ketogenic state;
How to choose an intermittent fasting time period;
What and when Mark eats to obtain maximum intermittent fasting brain and body benefits;
How the mTor pathway is inhibited;
How autophagy acts as both a garbage disposal and a recycling bin;
How the Nrf2-ARE antioxidant defense pathway is activated; and
How important nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are to brain health.
Mark currently is a professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. He’s one of the foremost researchers in the area of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Previously, he was chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program (IRP) at the National Institutes of Health since 2000.
The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey 
