# Intermittent fasting

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Tags:** science-math\
**Created:** [January 14, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758 "2019-01-14T21:23:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 5

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758/81 "2024-03-19T21:53:22Z")

</div>

> [@puzzlegal](#):
>
> You know, there might _be_ something to the idea of “fat and happy”.

Perhaps. But I have to think of a friend of mine, who for most of the time I’ve known him has been the epitome of “fat and happy.” Among other things, one of his favorite activities is hiking, and goes on surprisingly long journeys.

Until recently. He fractured his ankle badly on a hike. It wasn’t a freak accident or anything; he just twisted it on a rock or root or something. I’ve always noticed that he hikes carefully, with poles and generally not taking risks, but things happen.

He fractured it badly due to his weight. I’m roughly his height but about half his weight. I would not have fractured my ankle under the same conditions, because there are far lower forces on my bones and I have more muscle mass relative to my weight.

And again because of his weight, it’s been a long healing process that’s not over, and may never be. He could not hike for months, and had to spend time with crutches and wheel things and boots and such. He spent a lot of time in physical therapy. It was painful and expensive, even for someone in a cushy tech job. He’ll probably never be able to go on hikes at the same level again.

So it’s significantly affected his happiness–possibly at a clinical level, though I can’t be sure. Due to something that would either not happen at a healthy weight, or be a relatively minor injury. Weight isn’t all about cardiovascular health.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758/82 "2024-03-19T21:59:22Z")

</div>

I wasn’t seriously advocating for carrying a lot of excess weight. I _was_ seriously advocating for including fatty acids in your diet, though. I think being deficient in fatty acids is probably unhealthy, and certainly makes for less delicious food. It’s just important not to eat so much of anything that

1. you crowd out other nutrients
2. you become seriously overweight

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758/83 "2024-03-19T22:08:58Z")

</div>

Understood. Just wanted to push back a bit on the statement as taken in isolation. I also think the push to reduce dietary fat was a total mistake, for satiety reasons if nothing else.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/intermittent-fasting/827758.md?page=4)