Dr. Satchin Panda

Sponsors: HVMN, Eight Sleep, Thesis, Momentous

Time-Restricted Eating (TRE), Calorie Restriction (CR) & Health

Mealtimes & Circadian Clock

Circadian Rhythm, Meal Anticipation, Digestion

Breaking a Fast, Burning Fat

Sponsor: AG1 (Athletic Greens)

CR, Time Restricted Eating, Circadian Rhythm & Longevity

Gender, Hormones & CR; Relative Energy Deficient in Sports (REDS)

Physical Activity, Nutrition & Feeding Window

Nutrition Timing, Quality & Quantity; Low- Carbohydrate Diet

Caffeine, Nighttime Socialization, Fire, Breakfast

Sponsor: InsideTracker

Circadian Rhythm, “Night Owls” & Genetics

Morning vs. Nighttime Discussions, “Me Time”

Light Sensitivity & “Night Owls”; Puberty, Melatonin

Shift Workers, Health & Disease

Artificial Lights, Young Adults & Sleep, Metabolic Dysfunction

Firefighters, Sleep & TRE; Cardiovascular Health, Blood Glucose

Shift Workers & Sleep; Alcohol & Caffeine

12- Hour Feeding Window for Adults & Children, Sleep

Meal Timing

“Complete Fast”, Longer Fasts, Physical Health & Mental Health

“Fat Fasting”, Blood Glucose & Insulin

Fasting, Metformin, Rapamycin & Longevity; Human Applicability?

Circadian Rhythm & Metabolism

Ontime Health App, Circadian Clock App

Zero-Cost Support, Spotify & Apple Reviews, YouTube Feedback, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

In this podcast episode, Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Sachin Panda, professor and director of the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies. They discuss the science and clinical trials of intermittent fasting/time-restricted feeding, the benefits of eating at the same time each day, the effects of Relative Energy Deficit in Sports (RED-S), the importance of quality, quantity, and timing of food, the impact of artificial lighting on sleep, the lifestyle of shift workers, the effects of caffeine and alcohol consumption, the benefits of time-restricted feeding, and the use of drug-like molecules to mimic the fasting state. They also discuss the importance of circadian rhythms and the need for more research into the effects of fasting on brain health.

- Andrew Huberman interviews Dr. Sachin Panda, professor and director of the Regulatory Biology Laboratory at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies
- Dr. Panda's laboratory has made numerous important contributions to mental health, physical health, and human performance
- Discussed how circadian behaviors, such as when we wake up, view light, eat, and socialize, impact our biology and psychology
- Discussed the science and clinical trials of intermittent fasting/time-restricted feeding
- Dr. Panda has authored several books on the topic of intermittent fasting and how it can benefit various aspects of health

- This podcast is part of an effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public.
- Sponsors of today's podcast include HVMN Ketone IQ, Eight Sleep, and Thesis.
- HVMN Ketone IQ is a supplement that increases blood ketones and can be used to achieve better focus and energy levels.
- Eight Sleep makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating, and sleep tracking capacity.
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- Momentus Supplements is now partnered with the Huberman Lab Podcast.

- A recent study explored the effects of time-restricted feeding in the context of low-carbohydrate and non-low-carbohydrate diets.
- Results showed that the greatest weight loss was achieved with low-carbohydrate plus caloric restriction.
- Quality, quantity, and timing of food all matter when it comes to nutrition.
- Nearly 40% of people maintain healthy body weight by being aware of what and how much they eat.
- The pandemic has caused people to take a look at their health and lifestyle.
- Starting and stopping eating at the same times each day can have additional benefits, such as better sleep and more predictable shifts in alertness and sleepiness.

- Fire allowed humans to extend their day and socialize in the evening
- Coffee was introduced as an evening activity in Istanbul in the mid 16th century
- Muslims used coffee to stay awake for the first prayer of the day
- Eating something with coffee became a way to prevent gastric distress caused by caffeine intake
- Caffeine should be delayed a few hours after waking to allow natural waking up signals to occur

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- Research has found that people in cultures without electricity go to bed within 15-30 minutes of one another, suggesting that there is no such thing as a night owl or a morning person.
- A study found that after a weekend of consistent rising and going to bed with the sunrise and sunset, people's melatonin rhythms, cortisol rhythms, and sleep-wake rhythms persisted on that schedule for several weeks.
- Some people are genetically reprogrammed to go to bed early, which is known as familial advanced sleep phase syndrome.
- A mutation in the period two clock gene has been linked to this syndrome, allowing the clock to run in a way that people go to bed very early.

- Morning discussions are mostly about work-related activities.
- Evening activities are when people express themselves and feel free.
- People often cannot talk about their work due to confidentiality.
- Me time is when people entertain themselves or have constructive discussions.
- Social media time should be restricted to a small portion of the evening.
- Conversation about time-restricted feeding is related to circadian rhythms and sleep-wake activity.

- There is evidence that people's light sensitivity, particularly the IPRGC, can cause them to stay awake late into the night
- Teenagers tend to stay awake late into the night, but their bodies still need the same amount of sleep as other teenagers
- Avoiding bright light in the evening can help prepare the body for sleep
- Going to sleep within three hours of sunset is better for our circadian timing mechanisms
- People may not realize the benefits of restorative sleep until they have an extended period of rest, such as a camping trip

- One in five working adults are considered "card-carrying shift workers" (nurses, doctors, firefighters, bakers, truck drivers, service industry)
- College students, new moms, food delivery/Uber/Lyft drivers also experience the lifestyle of a shift worker
- Shift workers carry a disproportionately heavier burden of disease
- Clinical trials often exclude shift workers
- Half of Americans are shift workers in some capacity

- Horacio Iglesias conducted a study that found high school and college students in Seattle and San Diego typically go to bed around midnight
- Young adults in their 20s stay up later in the winter months due to artificial lighting
- Consumption of coffee and hot chocolate in the evening may delay sleep onset
- The obesity crisis is linked to metabolic dysfunction, late shifted eating, and lack of activity
- Professors should consider the timing of lectures and assignments to ensure students have time to eat, socialize, and express themselves

- Firefighters have a high risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer due to their disrupted sleep schedule
- A study was conducted to see if time-restricted feeding could improve the health of firefighters
- 150 firefighters were recruited and half were assigned to a Mediterranean diet and the other half to a 10-hour time-restricted eating window
- Results showed that the time-restricted eating group had improved VLDL particle size and particle number, as well as reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure in those with high blood pressure
- Those with high blood sugar were also able to better manage their blood glucose
- Keeping a regular meal schedule every day (5 out of 7) is a great anchor point when one can't reliably control their sleep/wake cycle

- Firefighters are 24-hour shift workers and have the opportunity to sleep during their shifts
- When they have the opportunity to sleep, they take it
- Eating a Mediterranean diet and reducing alcohol intake can improve nutrition quality
- Caffeine and alcohol consumption can disrupt health, even at three drinks per week
- Alcohol consumption is often seen as harmless, despite evidence to the contrary

- Intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding are umbrella terms for reducing calorie intake for one or more days in a week or a month
- Initial experiments involved 8 hours of feeding and 16 hours of fasting
- Popular literature and media often refer to time-restricted eating
- Time-restricted feeding involves confining all energy intake from solid and liquid food within a consistent window of 8-12 hours

- Nearly 90% of adults eat for more than 12 hours a day, with the median number of times people eat within a day being seven
- 10% of adults eat within the conventional three meals a day window
- People who prepare their own dinner are more likely to eat later at night
- Children and teenagers should sleep between 9-11 hours a day
- Last meal should be one to two hours before bedtime
- Eating within an 8-12 hour window is recommended for health benefits

- Skipping one meal per day within a feeding window is a habit of a neurosurgeon at Neuralink
- Meal times may vary, but the end time is never later
- Eating habits may cause metabolic jet lag in the long-term
- Body weight and composition are not always markers of health
- Meal timing and structure is a new field of study
- Studies are being done to determine the benefits of front-loading carbohydrates, fats, and proteins

- Complete fasting is practiced in many religions as a way to cleanse the body and has been found to have health benefits.
- Fasting clinics in Germany provide strict supervision and small amounts of food or soup to participants.
- Fasting has been linked to weight loss, but there is also evidence that it can have a positive impact on mental health.
- Future studies will explore the effects of periodic fasting on brain health.

- Fat fasting is a low-carbohydrate diet that limits blood glucose and restricts feeding times.
- Long-term effects of this diet on the pancreas islet cells are unknown.
- Liver is a plastic tissue that reacts to lifestyle changes.
- Spikes in blood glucose are not necessarily bad, as insulin is needed to buffer the spike.
- mTOR activation is involved in muscle protein synthesis, tissue repair, and cognition.

- Metformin and berberine are two popular drug-like molecules that people think will increase longevity.
- Metformin activates AMP kinase, which mimics fasting, and berberine is a tree bark extract that lowers blood glucose.
- Rapamycin reduces mTOR activation and has been shown to extend mouse lifespan and improve health.
- Calorie restriction studies suggest that mice naturally have high levels of AMP kinase when fasting and low levels of mTOR activity at night.
- Metformin and rapamycin mimic the fasting state, which may explain the benefits seen in studies.
- Berberine should be taken with carbohydrates to avoid hypoglycemia.

- Ron Evans studied nuclear hormone receptors, which are master regulators of metabolism in normal and cancer cells
- He found that most of them have a circadian pattern in some tissues
- Circadian rhythms are important for food-seeking behavior and fasting
- Metabolic regulators also have to follow a circadian rhythm or diurnal cycle
- Salk Institute is an amazing place for groundbreaking work

- Andy was thanked for taking the time to discuss interesting ideas in detail
- Many of the ideas discussed are actionable and relevant to the general population
- Andy is one of a few scientists who have managed to do both animal and human studies
- Andy has provided dozens of tools and considerations for shift workers
- Andy has written several books related to health and metabolic regulation
- Andy is commended for taking a leadership role to communicate science to the public

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- Eating at the same time each day can help the body anticipate when food is coming and optimize digestion.
- When daylight savings time changes or when travelling through time zones, it can take up to three days for the body to adjust.
- Eating at the same time each day can help the body adjust to changes in the external environment.
- Consistency in the start and end of the feeding window is important for taking advantage of the body's anticipatory activity.

- Anticipatory systems in digestion help us better assimilate our food
- Anticipatory signals are important for waking up and can have health benefits
- Intestine peristaltic function slows down at night, leading to food hangover
- Eating late at night can lead to food not being digested properly
- Eating a light, easily digestible meal late at night is better than eating a large meal
- Eating the first and last bite of food at the same time each day has benefits

- The concept of "fed" versus "fasted" state is not just a grammatical or semantic issue, as digestion rates of different foods vary. 
- The "fasted" state is not just a rise in blood glucose, but also molecular signals downstream of a rise in blood glucose that cannot be reversed. 
- In mice, the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) goes from 1 to 0.7 when they are mostly running on fat, and immediately rises when they consume food. 
- The RER is an indicator of whether the body is consuming glucose or fat as an energy source. 
- Eating dietary fat does not necessarily mean burning body fat.

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- Joe Takahashi's lab published an experiment in Science last year related to caloric restriction
- Rats and mice given reduced calorie consumption by 20-30% lived longer than those with ad libitum access to food
- Mice given the same caloric-restricted diet but fed during the daytime lived 20% longer than the control
- Mice given the same caloric-restricted diet but fed during the nighttime lived 35% longer than the control
- Biomarkers could not predict the benefit of caloric restriction
- Body weight and body composition were the same across all groups with sub-maintenance calorie intake
- In a human study, participants either did caloric restriction with a 10 hour feeding window or with an 8 hour feeding window, with no difference in weight loss

- NIH now requires grants to include sex as a biological variable
- Time-restricted feeding can lead to inadvertent reduction in caloric intake
- RED-S (Relative Energy Deficit in Sports) is a scientific term for energy deficit
- RED-S can lead to amenorrhea, bone loss, and disruption of HPG and HPA axes
- Symptoms of RED-S include depression, anxiety, and bipolar-like symptoms
- Future research is needed to understand the effects of RED-S

- Studies have shown that time-restricted eating (4-6 hours) has benefits on weight loss, but only in healthy individuals who were monitored.
- 8-10 hours of time-restricted eating may be the ideal spot to begin with, and 12 hours may be beneficial for those who are physically active.
- A study in Europe found that both groups (usual feeding and 12-hour time-restricted eating) lost the same amount of body weight and improved their health.
- Eating within 12 hours does not change nutrition quality, but combining it with physical exercise and better nutrition quality may be beneficial.
- Mice that eat healthy food within 10-12 hours live longer than those that eat randomly.

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