Dr. Stacy Sims

And then you want to have food within a half an hour of waking up to blunt that cortisol peak that's natural upon waking. For men, you can have variations of fasting. You can do intermittent fasting, you can do warrior fasting, and you can still have benefit. But for women, when we look at the data, and if we were to do a warrior fast, which is a 20-hour fast, four-hour eating window,

For men, we see more parasympathetic drive, so they get that more focus. They have better blood glucose control. They get an acceleration of body fat loss. They become more metabolically flexible, meaning their body is able to transfer between carbohydrate and fat utilization. For women, it doesn't happen that way. For women who do a warrior fast, so that's a 20-hour fast,

For men, we see more parasympathetic drive, so they get that more focus. They have better blood glucose control. They get an acceleration of body fat loss. They become more metabolically flexible, meaning their body is able to transfer between carbohydrate and fat utilization. For women, it doesn't happen that way. For women who do a warrior fast, so that's a 20-hour fast,

fasting and four hour eating window, they end up with less blood sugar control. We have higher resting blood glucose. We have more fat storage. We have more sympathetic drive. So that means the body's under stress and you're not going to be able to sleep or recover well. And we see a downturn of the thyroid within four days of doing this.

fasting and four hour eating window, they end up with less blood sugar control. We have higher resting blood glucose. We have more fat storage. We have more sympathetic drive. So that means the body's under stress and you're not going to be able to sleep or recover well. And we see a downturn of the thyroid within four days of doing this.

So when we're looking at the data of fasting, again, it's pulling from the men and generalizing to the women. But when we start really looking and narrowing it down and looking at female specific data, the type of fasting that's out there in the health and fitness world is not appropriate for women.

So when we're looking at the data of fasting, again, it's pulling from the men and generalizing to the women. But when we start really looking and narrowing it down and looking at female specific data, the type of fasting that's out there in the health and fitness world is not appropriate for women.

Six or seven.

Six or seven.

Exercise is a stronger stimulus for autophagy than fasting. So we look at exercise in itself as a fasting state. What happens during exercise? You start exercising, your body is trying to provide fuel. So it's breaking down fat, it's breaking down glucose, it's breaking down amino acids.

Exercise is a stronger stimulus for autophagy than fasting. So we look at exercise in itself as a fasting state. What happens during exercise? You start exercising, your body is trying to provide fuel. So it's breaking down fat, it's breaking down glucose, it's breaking down amino acids.

It's also creating in a recovery standpoint, a boost of growth hormone, a boost of testosterone in both men and women that creates the cell cleanup, which is autophagy. So if we're looking at the difference between fasting and exercise, exercise is a stronger stress. All the things that we hear about fasting and longevity, exercise does the same. It's a stronger stimulus for it.

It's also creating in a recovery standpoint, a boost of growth hormone, a boost of testosterone in both men and women that creates the cell cleanup, which is autophagy. So if we're looking at the difference between fasting and exercise, exercise is a stronger stress. All the things that we hear about fasting and longevity, exercise does the same. It's a stronger stimulus for it.

But the problem is we've become a lazy society and people think exercise is too hard. As an exercise physiologist, it breaks my heart to see people who are struggling to walk down the street because we are so used to being conditioned to a certain temperature in a room, to having a car automatic opener or Uber come so we don't have to walk down the road.

But the problem is we've become a lazy society and people think exercise is too hard. As an exercise physiologist, it breaks my heart to see people who are struggling to walk down the street because we are so used to being conditioned to a certain temperature in a room, to having a car automatic opener or Uber come so we don't have to walk down the road.

And I bring up that movie WALL-E from the early 2000s with the little robot who's like wandering around society. And you see all these people on these floating beds watching a screen. And one of the guys gets kicked off by WALL-E accidentally. Falls down, he can't get up. And he's looking around going, well, why can't I get up? What's going on?

And I bring up that movie WALL-E from the early 2000s with the little robot who's like wandering around society. And you see all these people on these floating beds watching a screen. And one of the guys gets kicked off by WALL-E accidentally. Falls down, he can't get up. And he's looking around going, well, why can't I get up? What's going on?

I'm like, that's today's society where people are not able to actually pull their own body weight around for a significant amount of time because it feels too difficult.

I'm like, that's today's society where people are not able to actually pull their own body weight around for a significant amount of time because it feels too difficult.

Whereas we look at all the stuff that comes out with nutrition and all the trends that come out with nutrition from fasting to carnivorous diet to the old-fashioned paleo, all of these things that people are trying to do, we turn to exercise and we change the modalities of exercise. Are we doing intense exercise? Are we doing low intensity? Are we doing resistance training? Are we doing cardio?