SIRT1 - The 'Skinny' Gene

What is the SIRT1 gene? 

It is the gene that has been give the non-clinical title of the ‘skinny’ gene and it may hold some hope for anyone looking to lose weight and keep the weight off, or so it is claimed.

For many dieters, counting calories and weighing foods can be a monotonous, tedious effort. This effort then seems wasted if the end result fails to materialize in any substantial weight loss.

Diet and live longer

The discovery of the ‘skinny’ gene has led to a new breed of diet and it claims to be an effective weight-loss regimen that is not only simple, it promises significant health benefits as well. These benefits are suggested to range from easing asthma symptoms and reducing blood sugar levels, to fending off heart disease and breast cancer and protecting brain cells.

New breed of diet

This diet appears under various guises – you may have heard of the more popular ones:

The Alternate-Day Diet, Intermittent Fasting or The Longevity Diet

In principle, they are all the same diet and compromise of eating very little one day (50 per cent of your normal intake) and as much as you like the following day.

The bold claim is that this style of diet triggers the so-called 'skinny' gene, this gene then encourages the body to burn fat.

Can the Alternate Day diet work?

Well the claim is that the Alternate-Day diet triggers a skinny gene, and as mentioned, this would then encourage the body to burn fat.

The actual research and theory behind the diet first appeared in the 1930’s when researchers first discovered the benefits of low-calorie eating. They found that putting just about any animal on a permanent, very low calorie diet, helped the animal live about 30 per cent longer than normal.

Not only that but the animal had clearer arteries, lower levels of inflammation, better blood sugar control and its brain cells were less likely to get damaged. The rates of diseases linked to ageing also decreased.

Though scientist have known for years that a low-calorie diet is healthier, getting a human subject to permanently adhere to a strict low-calorie diet would prove difficult.

Yes, that is all well and good but:

Does the Alternate Day diet work?!

In 2003, an American neuroscientist, Dr Mark Mattson, discovered that rats still enjoyed all those health benefits even when their calories were cut only on alternate days.

In other words, it was not necessary to starve yourself all the time to reap the benefits!

Suddenly, the diet became a realistic option. The eat-every-other-day-diet seems to offer an easier and more effective option than strict low-calorie diets, where you are constantly hungry for long periods. The diet creators claim that it can take roughly two weeks to adjust to the diet, but after that anyone using the diet shouldn’t feel hungry on the fasting days.

The author of the Alternate Day Diet, Dr James Johnson has being doing this diet himself for the past 5 years and claims, ‘the evidence says this is about the most healthy (sic) thing you can do for yourself.'

He also claims to have lost 35lb in 11 weeks, when he started the diet.

Read more about the SIRT1 gene and the Alternate Day diets:

Benefits of an Alternate Day Diet

Rules of the Alternate Day Diet

Or, why not try The Every Other Day Diet for yourself? Just click the link below:

Every Other Day Diet