12 November 2026 · 21:41
E01 - What is fasting actually doing?
What changes when we stop eating: the amount, the timing, or the cellular response? Dr. med. univ. Julian Douwes follows fasting biology, human feeding experiments and a surprising mouse lifespan study to help you decide what an eating window is meant to achieve.
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Inside this episode
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Show notes & original studies
E01 - What is fasting actually doing?
What changes when we stop eating: the amount, the timing, or the cellular response? Dr. med. univ. Julian Douwes follows fasting biology, human feeding experiments and a surprising mouse lifespan study to help you decide what an eating window is meant to achieve.
Download the FAST checklist (PDF)
Chapters
00:00 The Evidence Brief - introduction
00:14 The three fasting questions
01:09 Fuel and cellular signals
03:38 Measuring autophagy
05:28 Changing dinner
06:21 Weight-stable experiment
09:11 The daily clock
10:28 A year of weight loss
13:28 Actual animal lifespan
15:12 Human aging measures
16:09 Choose a question
19:44 Answers and FAST resource
21:31 Closing note
Studies and further reading
Sutton2018: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5990470/
Liu2022: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35443107/
DiFrancesco2024: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11485257/
Bensalem2025: https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/JP287938
Vujovic2022: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36198293/
CALERIE: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10148951/
Insulin physiology: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/prediabetes-insulin-resistance
Fasting safety: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6521152/
The Evidence Brief is an educational program. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment and does not create a physician-patient relationship. Some therapies discussed are investigational or used off-label. Discuss any change to your care with your own physician.
The Evidence Brief is for education. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Discuss changes to your care with your own physician.