How intermittent fasting enhances the parasympathetic nervous system | Dr. Mark Mattson
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Previous research in animals shows that caloric restriction reduces resting heart rate and blood pressure, improving cardiovascular health. Aerobic exercise training also reduces resting heart rate and blood pressure, while increasing heart rate variability, a measure of variation in time between heart beats. Higher heart rate variability indicates adaptation to stress (i.e, exercise training) by the parasympathetic nervous system. Over time, exercise enhances the parasympathetic nerves that innervate the heart, slowing heart rate, and improving health. In this clip, Dr. Mark Mattson explains the importance of stressing the cardiovascular system with behaviors such as exercise and fasting to maximize health.
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The physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats. It is measured by the variation in the beat-to-beat interval. Decreased parasympathetic nervous system activity or increased sympathetic activity will result in reduced HRV. Reduced HRV has been shown to be a predictor of mortality after myocardial infarction, and a range of other outcomes/conditions may also be associated.[1]
A broad term that describes periods of voluntary abstention from food and (non-water) drinks, lasting several hours to days. Depending on the length of the fasting period and a variety of other factors, intermittent fasting may promote certain beneficial metabolic processes, such as the increased production of ketones due to the use of stored fat as an energy source. The phrase “intermittent fasting” may refer to any of the following:
- Time-restricted eating
- Alternate-day fasting
- Periodic fasting (multi-day)
One of the two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system (the other being the sympathetic nervous system). The parasympathetic nervous system's primary function is to control homeostasis and the body at rest. It conserves energy as it slows the heart rate, increases gut motility and hormonal activity, and relaxes sphincter muscles in the gastrointestinal tract.
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