Mark Mattson Interview Notes
Neuroscientist, Professor, Author & Podcaster
Johns Hopkins University and National Institute of Aging
Book: “The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance”
Podcast: “Brain Ponderings”
YouTube: “Arash’s World Interview with Neuroscientist Mark Mattson on Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting”
Podcast: “The Science with Personal Experience on the Evidence-Based Intermittent Fasting Revolution with Neuroscientist Mark Mattson”
In this episode, I have the great pleasure and honor of speaking with the eminent neuroscientist and renowned expert on Intermittent Fasting: Dr. Mark Mattson. His book “The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance” covers his research and findings as well as the background and explanations of the processes in addition to the many health benefits of this practice.
In fact, Intermittent Fasting is not only beneficial for anyone suffering from various ailments and chronic illnesses (like I have), but also for anyone who would like to optimize their overall functioning, enhance performance, and live a longer and healthier life!
We talk about how to get started and what to watch out for, the metabolic switch with its different effects on the brain and the body, and how it can not only help alleviate or cure cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma, and sleep apnea but also reduce inflammation and anxiety and lead to weight loss as well. Moreover, engaging in intermittent fasting is a great way of preventing future health issues and complications and boosting one’s overall health.
Finally, Mark also explains how and why breakfast is not the most important meal and how pharmaceutical companies and the health care system tend to be geared toward profit-making and more interested in treating illnesses as opposed to preventing them in the first place. Finally, we discuss how mild stress or eustress can build resistance and make us more resistant as long as it is followed by enough rest and a recovery mode.
00:30: Personal Intro:
He grew up on a farm in Minnesota. Wanted to be a veterinarian but didn't get into vet medicine school. Instead, he decided to go to Graduate School. Became a neuroscientist eventually. Studied endocrinology and later neuro-endocrinology in crabs. Findings regarding glutamate neurotransmitter in the 1980s. Then got interested in cell death and age-related disorders.
03:15:
Process of excito-toxicity. Neurons could be excited to death. Can occur in severe epileptic seizures. Also death of neurons following a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Some of it can occur in Alzheimer's disease.
04:04:
Then got interested in intermittent fasting. Administering neurotoxins to animals to research Parkinson's. Main risk factor for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and stroke is age. Starting from 60s to 80s, some people tend to start develop symptoms of Alzheimer's. Caloric restrictions extend lifespans. Humans who overeat have a shortened lifespan, increases incidence of diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. Alternate food deprivation and fasting leads to longer lifespans in animals. Protecting neurons and improved functional outcomes. The neuroprotective effects of intermittent fasting.
07:02:
Talking about book on “intermittent fasting revolution”, how it is a game changer and a life changer for people suffering from ailments as well as beneficial for healthy individuals. Leading to improvements across the board.
08:12:
Evolutionary perspective on intermittent eating as opposed to breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus snacks every day. Fasting better for healthy functioning and performance. It's simple and has been used, particularly in environments where food is relatively scarce. Competing with others for limited food sources before the agricultural revolution. Brains functioning optimally in a food-deprived state had a survival advantage.
09:45:
Example of a wolf as a predator. Often go for a long time without killing a prey animal, especially during winter. Haven't eaten for a week and must track down, find prey animals. When they find their prey, they have to spend a lot of physical energy to catch and kill them. Food scarcity a major drive for evolution. Our genetic program response to this challenge of food deprivation to function better and to be more resilient.
10:53:
Starting off with intermittent fasting with its initial difficulties from personal experience. Practical advice on how to incorporate intermittent fasting into one’s lifestyle. He personally eats within a six-hour time window every day, does not have breakfast. It takes a few weeks to a month for the neural circuits and hormonal systems that regulate appetite and hunger to adapt to the new eating patterns. Analogy to exercise from being previously sedentary. Sticking with It. You start getting into shape.
13:50:
What's happening during this transition period? Being hungry, irritable, unable to concentrate in the morning. Once adopted, the brain function is better with more mental clarity. Also documented in religious long-term fasting. Animals adapted to food deprivation had less anxiety.
16:08:
His recent book on glutamate entitled “Sculptor and Destroyer - Tales of Glutamate, the Brain’s Most Important Neurotransmitter”, 90% of our brain uses this neurotransmitter. Dopamine and serotonin, much less in the brain, less than 1%. Initial drugs developed to treat anxiety disorders would activate GABA receptors as with valium, but a lot of drugs nowadays have to do with serotonin.
18:25:
Importance of anxiety. An addictive component with food and people with obesity having similar changes in the dopamine signaling pathways, similar to people addicted to drugs. Feeling in control of one's hunger and cravings as well as one's body and mind is empowering.
20:45:
Clinical trials and studies on humans now with intermittent fasting, including patients with type 2 diabetes, improving the A1C and fasting glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. Work at NIH and study with asthma patients overweight with moderate to severe asthma. After a month, significant improvement in the symptoms, including better airflow. Reduction in inflammation. Another study in the UK became viral on intermittent fasting. Michelle Harvey’s study of breast cancer. Intermittent fasting, greater insulin sensitivity than just daily calorie restrictions. The metabolic switch from using carbohydrates and glucose to using fat stores and ketones as energy source. People who eat three meals and don't do exercise, they gain weight because they don't tap into the fat stores. It takes 12 to 14 hours for the metabolic switch to occur.
26:50:
If you exercise during the fasting period, you get a bigger boost to the metabolic switch, higher levels of ketones. Animal studies of fasting and endurance with treadmill training.
29:15:
Hamsters being relatively healthy regarding endurance and exercise. Rats and mice do not live much longer after exercising, maybe 5% more, whereas intermittent fasting has 30 to 50% increase of lifespan. They don't die from cardiovascular diseases; they tend to die from cancer.
30:15:
BBC documentary of “Eat Fast, Live Longer” in 2013 on Michelle Harvey's study on breast cancer. 5-2 Intermittent fasting got popular in England, then US. Clinical trials dot Gov website. Over 150 clinical trials on intermittent fasting with obesity, diabetes, certain cancers, and inflammatory disorders. It is definitely not a fad. How to incorporate it in the medical practice and people’s lifestyles given the “dark forces”, the fast food and processed food industry but also the healthcare industry. In US being profit-driven with an inbuilt bias against disease prevention and risk reduction.
33:33:
Breakfast not being most important meal. This was driven by cereal companies. Initial studies with school-aged children. Half the kids didn't eat breakfast, the other half did, and they evaluated the kids’ ability to concentrate but they weren't adapted to it yet. Pediatricians using intermittent fasting for overweight kids nowadays.
36:21:
Healthcare insurance will often pay for drug rehabilitation. One-month program to help them change their lifestyle. They would be feeling good after month with anti-anxiety effects from intermittent fasting. It could also potentially help with ADHD.
40:01:
Pharmaceutical industry and even healthcare geared toward people getting sick and then treating their illness. Physicians may mention intermittent fasting, but there is no follow up until a year later for the next physical exam. Having a shorter term follow up appointment would help.
42:24:
The role of inflammation. Fasting does suppress inflammation. But health care system not interested enough in prevention. Transgenerational adoption or propagation of poor diet and lifestyle choices. The southern states tend to have more obesity and cardiovascular disease. Less exercise and more overeating. Kids are growing up in households where parents eat junk food and don't exercise. They adopt those habits of their parents. It could even be subconscious. Education could help with that.
45:21:
What about coffee and intermittent fasting? Caffeine boosting alertness a little bit. He drinks green tea. Working on a book on hormesis. Subjecting cells to mild stress makes them more resistant. Heat stress and fasting as a mild stress. Engaging more nerve cell circuits in intellectually challenging information like right now. The neurons working harder, like using your muscles. That mild stress is good as long as there is a recovery period. If you don't rest, eat, or sleep, then you don't get growth in plasticity of the system. Cycles of mild challenge and recovery can optimize health.
Neuroscientist, Professor, Author & Podcaster
Johns Hopkins University and National Institute of Aging
Book: “The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance”
Podcast: “Brain Ponderings”
YouTube: “Arash’s World Interview with Neuroscientist Mark Mattson on Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting”
Podcast: “The Science with Personal Experience on the Evidence-Based Intermittent Fasting Revolution with Neuroscientist Mark Mattson”
In this episode, I have the great pleasure and honor of speaking with the eminent neuroscientist and renowned expert on Intermittent Fasting: Dr. Mark Mattson. His book “The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance” covers his research and findings as well as the background and explanations of the processes in addition to the many health benefits of this practice.
In fact, Intermittent Fasting is not only beneficial for anyone suffering from various ailments and chronic illnesses (like I have), but also for anyone who would like to optimize their overall functioning, enhance performance, and live a longer and healthier life!
We talk about how to get started and what to watch out for, the metabolic switch with its different effects on the brain and the body, and how it can not only help alleviate or cure cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, asthma, and sleep apnea but also reduce inflammation and anxiety and lead to weight loss as well. Moreover, engaging in intermittent fasting is a great way of preventing future health issues and complications and boosting one’s overall health.
Finally, Mark also explains how and why breakfast is not the most important meal and how pharmaceutical companies and the health care system tend to be geared toward profit-making and more interested in treating illnesses as opposed to preventing them in the first place. Finally, we discuss how mild stress or eustress can build resistance and make us more resistant as long as it is followed by enough rest and a recovery mode.
00:30: Personal Intro:
He grew up on a farm in Minnesota. Wanted to be a veterinarian but didn't get into vet medicine school. Instead, he decided to go to Graduate School. Became a neuroscientist eventually. Studied endocrinology and later neuro-endocrinology in crabs. Findings regarding glutamate neurotransmitter in the 1980s. Then got interested in cell death and age-related disorders.
03:15:
Process of excito-toxicity. Neurons could be excited to death. Can occur in severe epileptic seizures. Also death of neurons following a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Some of it can occur in Alzheimer's disease.
04:04:
Then got interested in intermittent fasting. Administering neurotoxins to animals to research Parkinson's. Main risk factor for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and stroke is age. Starting from 60s to 80s, some people tend to start develop symptoms of Alzheimer's. Caloric restrictions extend lifespans. Humans who overeat have a shortened lifespan, increases incidence of diabetes, heart disease, and cancers. Alternate food deprivation and fasting leads to longer lifespans in animals. Protecting neurons and improved functional outcomes. The neuroprotective effects of intermittent fasting.
07:02:
Talking about book on “intermittent fasting revolution”, how it is a game changer and a life changer for people suffering from ailments as well as beneficial for healthy individuals. Leading to improvements across the board.
08:12:
Evolutionary perspective on intermittent eating as opposed to breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus snacks every day. Fasting better for healthy functioning and performance. It's simple and has been used, particularly in environments where food is relatively scarce. Competing with others for limited food sources before the agricultural revolution. Brains functioning optimally in a food-deprived state had a survival advantage.
09:45:
Example of a wolf as a predator. Often go for a long time without killing a prey animal, especially during winter. Haven't eaten for a week and must track down, find prey animals. When they find their prey, they have to spend a lot of physical energy to catch and kill them. Food scarcity a major drive for evolution. Our genetic program response to this challenge of food deprivation to function better and to be more resilient.
10:53:
Starting off with intermittent fasting with its initial difficulties from personal experience. Practical advice on how to incorporate intermittent fasting into one’s lifestyle. He personally eats within a six-hour time window every day, does not have breakfast. It takes a few weeks to a month for the neural circuits and hormonal systems that regulate appetite and hunger to adapt to the new eating patterns. Analogy to exercise from being previously sedentary. Sticking with It. You start getting into shape.
13:50:
What's happening during this transition period? Being hungry, irritable, unable to concentrate in the morning. Once adopted, the brain function is better with more mental clarity. Also documented in religious long-term fasting. Animals adapted to food deprivation had less anxiety.
16:08:
His recent book on glutamate entitled “Sculptor and Destroyer - Tales of Glutamate, the Brain’s Most Important Neurotransmitter”, 90% of our brain uses this neurotransmitter. Dopamine and serotonin, much less in the brain, less than 1%. Initial drugs developed to treat anxiety disorders would activate GABA receptors as with valium, but a lot of drugs nowadays have to do with serotonin.
18:25:
Importance of anxiety. An addictive component with food and people with obesity having similar changes in the dopamine signaling pathways, similar to people addicted to drugs. Feeling in control of one's hunger and cravings as well as one's body and mind is empowering.
20:45:
Clinical trials and studies on humans now with intermittent fasting, including patients with type 2 diabetes, improving the A1C and fasting glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. Work at NIH and study with asthma patients overweight with moderate to severe asthma. After a month, significant improvement in the symptoms, including better airflow. Reduction in inflammation. Another study in the UK became viral on intermittent fasting. Michelle Harvey’s study of breast cancer. Intermittent fasting, greater insulin sensitivity than just daily calorie restrictions. The metabolic switch from using carbohydrates and glucose to using fat stores and ketones as energy source. People who eat three meals and don't do exercise, they gain weight because they don't tap into the fat stores. It takes 12 to 14 hours for the metabolic switch to occur.
26:50:
If you exercise during the fasting period, you get a bigger boost to the metabolic switch, higher levels of ketones. Animal studies of fasting and endurance with treadmill training.
29:15:
Hamsters being relatively healthy regarding endurance and exercise. Rats and mice do not live much longer after exercising, maybe 5% more, whereas intermittent fasting has 30 to 50% increase of lifespan. They don't die from cardiovascular diseases; they tend to die from cancer.
30:15:
BBC documentary of “Eat Fast, Live Longer” in 2013 on Michelle Harvey's study on breast cancer. 5-2 Intermittent fasting got popular in England, then US. Clinical trials dot Gov website. Over 150 clinical trials on intermittent fasting with obesity, diabetes, certain cancers, and inflammatory disorders. It is definitely not a fad. How to incorporate it in the medical practice and people’s lifestyles given the “dark forces”, the fast food and processed food industry but also the healthcare industry. In US being profit-driven with an inbuilt bias against disease prevention and risk reduction.
33:33:
Breakfast not being most important meal. This was driven by cereal companies. Initial studies with school-aged children. Half the kids didn't eat breakfast, the other half did, and they evaluated the kids’ ability to concentrate but they weren't adapted to it yet. Pediatricians using intermittent fasting for overweight kids nowadays.
36:21:
Healthcare insurance will often pay for drug rehabilitation. One-month program to help them change their lifestyle. They would be feeling good after month with anti-anxiety effects from intermittent fasting. It could also potentially help with ADHD.
40:01:
Pharmaceutical industry and even healthcare geared toward people getting sick and then treating their illness. Physicians may mention intermittent fasting, but there is no follow up until a year later for the next physical exam. Having a shorter term follow up appointment would help.
42:24:
The role of inflammation. Fasting does suppress inflammation. But health care system not interested enough in prevention. Transgenerational adoption or propagation of poor diet and lifestyle choices. The southern states tend to have more obesity and cardiovascular disease. Less exercise and more overeating. Kids are growing up in households where parents eat junk food and don't exercise. They adopt those habits of their parents. It could even be subconscious. Education could help with that.
45:21:
What about coffee and intermittent fasting? Caffeine boosting alertness a little bit. He drinks green tea. Working on a book on hormesis. Subjecting cells to mild stress makes them more resistant. Heat stress and fasting as a mild stress. Engaging more nerve cell circuits in intellectually challenging information like right now. The neurons working harder, like using your muscles. That mild stress is good as long as there is a recovery period. If you don't rest, eat, or sleep, then you don't get growth in plasticity of the system. Cycles of mild challenge and recovery can optimize health.
