间歇性禁食：健脑抗衰老

文/拉格达·扎伊通 玛拉·乌达 译/刘伟

The food we eat acts as the primary source of energy that enables our body to perform its daily functions.Our eating habits and the type of nutrition we consume have a long-term effect on the health of our brain and internal systems.Recently, the concept of intermittent fasting has been trending as a “diet”to lose weight.But the truth is it is not a diet at all.In fact, it is an eating pattern and a lifestyle that is as old as humanity itself, by which our bodies are designed to fast, and you already do it every day.

2From the time you eat your last meal at night, to the time you eat breakfast in the morning, you’re fasting.Intermittent fasting is about gradually pushing out this window until your brain and body start reaping the benefits.So, as long as you meet all your nutritional requirements within your eating window and avoid artificial ingredients or overly processed foods, any meal plan would feasibly work.

我们所吃的食物是确保我们身体能执行日常功能的主要能量来源。我们的饮食习惯以及摄入的营养类型会给我们的大脑和体内各系统的健康带来长期影响。最近，间歇性禁食的理念已成风尚，人们将其视作一种“节食”减肥法。事实上，间歇性禁食根本不是节食，而是一种和人类本身一样历史悠久的饮食模式和生活方式，我们的身体就是为适应禁食而生的，而且你已经每天都在这样做了。

2从晚上吃完最后一顿饭到早上吃早餐，这中间你都在禁食。间歇性禁食就是逐渐推开这扇窗，直到你的大脑和身体开始受益。因此，只要你在饮食窗口期内满足自身所有营养需求，避免摄入人工配料或过度加工的食物，任何膳食计划都是可行的。

3Intermittent fasting has many benefits to the human body which include reducing insulin resistance while sustaining brain health, promoting neuroplasticity, and minimizing diseases caused by inflammation.

4Although conventional advice would have us believe that we need to eat every 2—3 hours to sustain ourselves, our evolutionary history paints a different picture.Our hunting and gathering ancestors didn’t have regular access to food like we do, so their bodies had to develop a way to operate without a consistent source of glucose.That’s where fasting comes in as a survival mechanism.

5In the same way that you might clean your home and throw out the things you don’t need, fasting is our body’s way of detoxing itself, a process called autophagy.Fasting for extended periods allows your body to cleanse itself and use up leftover nutrients from the previous day’s meals, which triggers a process called “metabolic switching”.This is when the body switches its energy source from glucose to stored fat.

6Metabolic switching slows the aging and disease processes and promotes weight loss in obese individuals.Fasting could potentially prevent breast cancer in both women and men, and studies suggest that it may improve longevity.Intermittent fasting also prevents inflammaging, a process where aging is accelerated in the presence of elevated levels of inflammatory markers in the blood.

3间歇性禁食对人体好处多多，其中包括降低胰岛素耐受性、维持大脑健康、提高神经可塑性，以及最大限度地减少炎症诱发的疾病。

4一直以来我们听从建议，认为自己需要每隔2—3 小时就餐一次以维持生命，但我们的进化史却描绘了另一番景象。我们以狩猎和采集为生的祖先不像我们现在这样拥有稳定的食物来源，因此他们的身体只得进化出一种机制，确保在没有葡萄糖持续供给的情况下依旧能运作，这时禁食作为一种生存机制发挥作用。

5就像你在家大扫除，扔掉不需要的东西，禁食是我们身体排毒的方式，这个过程叫作“自噬”。长时间禁食可以让身体自我净化，耗尽前一天饮食中的剩余营养，这个过程会触发“代谢转换”。此时，身体将其能量来源从葡萄糖切换为储存的脂肪。

6代谢转换能延缓衰老和疾病进展，还能促进肥胖人士减重。禁食可能有助于预防女性和男性乳腺癌，还有研究表明禁食可以延年益寿。此外，间歇性禁食可以预防炎性衰老，也就是血液中炎症标志物水平升高从而加速衰老的过程。

7Intermittent fasting can be used to help maintain brain health.In addition to slowing the aging process,it increases neuroplasticity in the brain.This helps optimize brain function and increase the brain’s resistance to injury and disease.Intermittent fasting also triggers autophagy, which prevents the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s.

7间歇性禁食有助于维持大脑健康。除了延缓衰老外，它还能增强大脑的神经可塑性。这有助于优化大脑功能，增强大脑对损伤和疾病的抵抗力。间歇性禁食还会触发自噬，这个过程可以防止神经退行性疾病发作，比如阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病。

8禁食还可以驱散脑雾，让思维更敏锐。许多禁食人士反映自己的思维更清晰了，情绪也得到了改善，这有利于脑—肠连接，增强整体幸福感。

8Fasting can also clear brain fog1脑雾是大脑难以形成清晰思维和记忆的现象，可表现为思维和反应迟缓、模糊、混乱，健忘，注意力难以集中，情绪低落等。除疾病外，诱发脑雾的因素还有睡眠不足、酒精或药物成瘾、焦虑情绪、饥饿、缺水等。and sharpen the mind.Many people who fast report clearer thinking and improved moods, which can benefit your brain-gut connection2肠神经系统有“第二大脑”之称，它与真正的大脑之间存在一个强大的双向交流系统。迷走神经是连接肠道和大脑的重要纽带，它通过传入纤维将有关内脏器官状态的信息传送给大脑。and increase your overall happiness.

9To summarize, the benefits of fasting are numerous and clear.It can promote longevity, healthy aging3世界卫生组织于1990 年提出了“健康老龄化”的概念。这个概念指的是老年人个体的身心健康及良好的社会适应、老年人群体的健康、健康预期寿命的延长以及与社会整体的协调等的总和。, lower your risks for diseases and improve your brain’s overall health.Intermittent fasting provides you with the perfect framework that allow your body to heal itself and enables you to plan your meals ahead of time.■

9总而言之，禁食有很多显而易见的好处：可以延年益寿、促进健康老龄化、降低患病风险、改善大脑的整体健康。间歇性禁食为你提供了一个完美的准则，能让你的身体自我疗愈，也使你能够提前规划饮食。 □