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The Fasting Fix: Eat Smarter, Fast Better, Live Longer
We've all heard of it. Countless celebrities and best-selling books have touted the benefits of fasting for weight loss, but what most of us don't know is that the benefits of fasting extend far beyond that - the latest scientific findings show that fasting is the best and easiest way for us to fight disease and slow aging.
In The Fasting Fix, Dr. Andreas Michalsen - one of the world's leading experts on fasting - lays out the clear, indisputable science that fasting, when combined with a healthy diet, is the key to healing chronic illnesses and living longer.
Dr. Michalsen draws from his decades of medical practice and original, cutting-edge scientific research, along with his deep knowledge about the human body and evolutionary history to distill the simple truth about what we should eat and how we should eat in order to live healthier, longer lives. Dr. Michalsen explains exactly which foods we should eat and which we should avoid. And he introduces several different, simple methods of fasting for you to choose from and easily incorporate into your everyday life.
With stories from patients he has successfully treated and detailed treatment programs for the most common chronic diseases - obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, arthrosis, rheumatism, irritable bowel syndrome, skin diseases, allergies and asthma, migraines, depression, neurological diseases, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and cancer - Dr. Michalsen shows us why other diets have failed and how we can finally be healthy.
This audiobook includes a PDF of meal plans and recipes from the book.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
In The Fasting Fix, Dr. Andreas Michalsen - one of the world's leading experts on fasting - lays out the clear, indisputable science that fasting, when combined with a healthy diet, is the key to healing chronic illnesses and living longer.
Dr. Michalsen draws from his decades of medical practice and original, cutting-edge scientific research, along with his deep knowledge about the human body and evolutionary history to distill the simple truth about what we should eat and how we should eat in order to live healthier, longer lives. Dr. Michalsen explains exactly which foods we should eat and which we should avoid. And he introduces several different, simple methods of fasting for you to choose from and easily incorporate into your everyday life.
With stories from patients he has successfully treated and detailed treatment programs for the most common chronic diseases - obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, arthrosis, rheumatism, irritable bowel syndrome, skin diseases, allergies and asthma, migraines, depression, neurological diseases, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and cancer - Dr. Michalsen shows us why other diets have failed and how we can finally be healthy.
This audiobook includes a PDF of meal plans and recipes from the book.
PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Audible Audio
Published December 29, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 2, 2025
I enjoyed reading the ‘Fasting Fix’. A lot of the content was not new to me as I’ve read a lot on the topic already and have been intermittent fasting since 2017 as well as eating a whole food/plant-based diet since 2018 (after experimenting with a ketogenic diet for awhile). I appreciated reading it from a European perspective (the author is a German MD). Reading books like this one reaffirms my health and nutrition decisions and can encourage me to firm up areas where I may still be lacking. But for the most part I’ve been doing anywhere from a 16/8 to an 18/6 IF plan (eating lunch and dinner only and fasting from 6pm to 12 noon the following day, every day). I cook most of my meals from scratch, cast an evil eye toward anything above 3-4g of sugar per serving, rarely eat meat and fish, occasionally eat eggs, enjoy goat dairy products, and eat copious amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. When people ask, I tell them I follow a high fiber diet just to keep things simple.
What the author describes in this book is not necessarily a diet plan more so than way of life, because that’s what it takes in order to be successful with both a near ascetic eating plan and significant daily spans of food depravation. It’s taken me several years of incremental healthy changes to achieve my current success. But there is a silver lining to it all, namely, I look and feel the best that I ever have in my life. And I think that’s something to be proud of as I approach over-the-hill status, fighting against the middle-aged dad-bod.
Noteworthy likes and dislikes of the book are as follows.
Likes:
* Has refined his nutrition recommendations by studying the world’s Blue Zones, or societies that have a large % of centenarians (or older).
* Also acknowledges current microbiome research which I think is really important when talking about disease prevention and nutrition.
* Pulls data in from a variety of sources and cultures, such as the Japanese’ expression to eat until 80% full.
* Explains certain key points that sometimes aren’t stressed enough with non-meat diets, such as: 1) too much protein can be bad in the body (accelerates aging, causes inflammation, etc.); 2) all fruits and vegetables contain protein (i.e. meat isn’t the only source); 3) grains are not only healthy but should be eaten more of, not less; 4) sugar should be used more of a spice than a main cooking ingredient; 5) alcohol has no beneficial health effect whatsoever; 6) too much water in the body is bad (over-taxes the kidneys for one) and to really only drink when you’re thirsty; 7) juices and smoothies are not the same as their fruit and vegetable counterparts.
* One of the first doctor authors I’ve come across who does not recommend taking dietary supplements unless they fill a key health objective (such as vegans taking B12). (I personally think that the only thing the supplement industry can guarantee is to take your money.)
* I liked his explanation of glycemic load vs. glycemic index and how it’s a better determinant of whether a food is healthy or not.
* I always enjoy learning about the numerous health-promotion effects of fasting, including insulin regulation, emotional regulation, cell autophagy, toxins cleansing, muscular enhancement (not hindrance), increased energy and alertness, enhanced decision-making, and the like.
Dislikes:
* The author exhaustively recommends olive oil as if its a cure-all food. Cooking oil and a “whole foods” approach are opposites. Any type of oil is highly processed. Also, gram for gram, cooking oils and fats like butter and lard are the most calorically dense “food” on earth. Third, despite what people might say, it’s really not that healthy (I for one have acne breakouts whenever I consume too much of it). Lastly, it’s so easy to over-use. You can easily replace good ole water with oil in most cooking endeavors.
* Also opposite to a “whole foods” approach, the author talks up lab grown, artificially synthesized meat as an alternative to animal meat, because it “intrigues him” - huh???
* The author rightfully bemoans cow’s milk's destructive effects in humans such as premature aging and cancer growth but recommends it as part of a healthy eating approach later in the book.
* If learning how “this food is high in this vitamin which helps prevent this disease” excites you, you will love certain sections of this book. From a whole-food, plant-based perspective, it’s not any one good food that gets you healthy, it’s all of them combined eaten regularly while cutting out the bad stuff. When in doubt, opt for more of any kind of fruit or vegetable in your diet and just skip sections like these.
The author writes the Fasting Fix like a "diet book", including things such as 'eat this not that' and 'do/don't eat this because', but it also contains a lot of useful information and, like I said, fasting and eating right are more of a way of life than a fad diet, and living a longer, healthier life is what it's all about in my book (and this one).
What the author describes in this book is not necessarily a diet plan more so than way of life, because that’s what it takes in order to be successful with both a near ascetic eating plan and significant daily spans of food depravation. It’s taken me several years of incremental healthy changes to achieve my current success. But there is a silver lining to it all, namely, I look and feel the best that I ever have in my life. And I think that’s something to be proud of as I approach over-the-hill status, fighting against the middle-aged dad-bod.
Noteworthy likes and dislikes of the book are as follows.
Likes:
* Has refined his nutrition recommendations by studying the world’s Blue Zones, or societies that have a large % of centenarians (or older).
* Also acknowledges current microbiome research which I think is really important when talking about disease prevention and nutrition.
* Pulls data in from a variety of sources and cultures, such as the Japanese’ expression to eat until 80% full.
* Explains certain key points that sometimes aren’t stressed enough with non-meat diets, such as: 1) too much protein can be bad in the body (accelerates aging, causes inflammation, etc.); 2) all fruits and vegetables contain protein (i.e. meat isn’t the only source); 3) grains are not only healthy but should be eaten more of, not less; 4) sugar should be used more of a spice than a main cooking ingredient; 5) alcohol has no beneficial health effect whatsoever; 6) too much water in the body is bad (over-taxes the kidneys for one) and to really only drink when you’re thirsty; 7) juices and smoothies are not the same as their fruit and vegetable counterparts.
* One of the first doctor authors I’ve come across who does not recommend taking dietary supplements unless they fill a key health objective (such as vegans taking B12). (I personally think that the only thing the supplement industry can guarantee is to take your money.)
* I liked his explanation of glycemic load vs. glycemic index and how it’s a better determinant of whether a food is healthy or not.
* I always enjoy learning about the numerous health-promotion effects of fasting, including insulin regulation, emotional regulation, cell autophagy, toxins cleansing, muscular enhancement (not hindrance), increased energy and alertness, enhanced decision-making, and the like.
Dislikes:
* The author exhaustively recommends olive oil as if its a cure-all food. Cooking oil and a “whole foods” approach are opposites. Any type of oil is highly processed. Also, gram for gram, cooking oils and fats like butter and lard are the most calorically dense “food” on earth. Third, despite what people might say, it’s really not that healthy (I for one have acne breakouts whenever I consume too much of it). Lastly, it’s so easy to over-use. You can easily replace good ole water with oil in most cooking endeavors.
* Also opposite to a “whole foods” approach, the author talks up lab grown, artificially synthesized meat as an alternative to animal meat, because it “intrigues him” - huh???
* The author rightfully bemoans cow’s milk's destructive effects in humans such as premature aging and cancer growth but recommends it as part of a healthy eating approach later in the book.
* If learning how “this food is high in this vitamin which helps prevent this disease” excites you, you will love certain sections of this book. From a whole-food, plant-based perspective, it’s not any one good food that gets you healthy, it’s all of them combined eaten regularly while cutting out the bad stuff. When in doubt, opt for more of any kind of fruit or vegetable in your diet and just skip sections like these.
The author writes the Fasting Fix like a "diet book", including things such as 'eat this not that' and 'do/don't eat this because', but it also contains a lot of useful information and, like I said, fasting and eating right are more of a way of life than a fad diet, and living a longer, healthier life is what it's all about in my book (and this one).
April 20, 2021
I didn't find a book summary and chose this based on the cover info. I don't think the title is accurate. Turns out, this book is about much more than fasting and not as much as I expected on intermittent fasting, which isn't addressed until chapter 5 of this 9 chapter book. The author promotes fasting over several days or weeks and fasting with vegetable juice, which I'm not interested in.
August 6, 2022
هذا الكتاب سيصدمك ويجعلك تغير فلسفة التغذية عندك... قد يدفعك لمعاداة السمك وترك الحليب والمواظبة على الصيام واللجوء إلى الطبيعة التي صبت في صالحها في الأبحاث العلمية... يستحق القراءة والتسلل إلى مطبخك بالتدريج.
March 24, 2021
Not much new here but the combining of a Mediterranean/Vegetarian/Vegan diet with IF is very interesting. Once again, as with so many IF advocates, the author seems afraid to come right out and say "Don't eat for 24 hours once or twice a week. That will put you in ketosis and you will get all the benefits of autophagy, etc. Tiptoeing around with 16-8, even 20-4 or 5 and 2 (but you can eat a bit on the 2) is not fasting, it's skipping the odd meal."
April 13, 2021
This has been the most informative book that I've read on fasting. I am interested in intermittent fasting and not therapeutic fasting. It is very thorough, as can be expected from a German physician, but it is also a bit draconian. Michalsen is ultimately promoting a vegan diet, which is not for me. However, ignore that if it isn't your bag either and focus on the information and sample plans (like what I find to be the most sustainable and easy to accomplish: the 16/8) presented.
Other fasting books read/started:
1. Life in the Fasting Lane by Fung, et. al. (quite good, but a little disjointed)
2. Fast This Way by Dave Asprey (I have enjoyed his podcast, but didn't finish this book as soon as it got a bit Informercially by promoting his bullet coffee silliness. Skip this.)
3. The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD (just started, but excellent so far)
Other fasting books read/started:
1. Life in the Fasting Lane by Fung, et. al. (quite good, but a little disjointed)
2. Fast This Way by Dave Asprey (I have enjoyed his podcast, but didn't finish this book as soon as it got a bit Informercially by promoting his bullet coffee silliness. Skip this.)
3. The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD (just started, but excellent so far)
January 16, 2023
This is a well written book on the benefits of therapeutic fasting. I enjoyed the book and food it educational.
January 25, 2021
This book is more than just a book on fasting. It really is a case for eating vegan, by eliminating animal proteins and dairy from your diet. It gives a lot of research to reasons why.
It's a book that makes a ton of sense and upon reading it you realize all the ways you are eating the wrong way.
I have some great take aways from this book and am looking to incorporate many of his suggestions into my eating. It was great to have him share his agreement that complex carbs are our friends and should be part of our diet. I have been so good at eliminating them it was wonderful to read a book that is a bit counter cultural but also makes sense.
If you see me in 6 months looking svelte you'll know I 1. incorporated what was suggested here into my diet and 2. it actually works. I am a bit tired of conflicting ideas around what to eat and what is good for us.
Andreas is from Germany and I appreciated his European approach to eating and health.
It's a book that makes a ton of sense and upon reading it you realize all the ways you are eating the wrong way.
I have some great take aways from this book and am looking to incorporate many of his suggestions into my eating. It was great to have him share his agreement that complex carbs are our friends and should be part of our diet. I have been so good at eliminating them it was wonderful to read a book that is a bit counter cultural but also makes sense.
If you see me in 6 months looking svelte you'll know I 1. incorporated what was suggested here into my diet and 2. it actually works. I am a bit tired of conflicting ideas around what to eat and what is good for us.
Andreas is from Germany and I appreciated his European approach to eating and health.
January 17, 2021
Fasting is known to be beneficial for many reasons and it’s mandatory on Muslims during Ramadan. So I wanted to know the health benefits of fasting and learned more than I expected.
🥘 First of all - I eat too much 😂 Our bodies need time to metabolize food, so fasting gaps between meals without snacking are important. While recommendations vary for different people, it’s generally best to eat just 2 meals a day and the timing on the meals depends on if you’re a morning or night person.
🩺 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
1. Mindfulness and enjoyment when eating
2. Cell cleaning, cell recycling and making new proteins, essential for fighting infections
3. Fasting strengthens immune system
4. Healing effect on the micro biome, allows intestines to cure
5. Strong effect on the psychology - improves mood & trust, promotes self efficacy
I’ve been enjoying the Monday & Thursday sunnah days to fast. It’s nice to learn how it benefits us in preventing and curing so many diseases.
The book also talks about foods to avoid and those to incorporate to maintain a healthy diet. One big one for me was milk bc I didn’t know it causes acne 🤦🏽♀️. So I’m switching to plant-based milk 🥛.
🥘 First of all - I eat too much 😂 Our bodies need time to metabolize food, so fasting gaps between meals without snacking are important. While recommendations vary for different people, it’s generally best to eat just 2 meals a day and the timing on the meals depends on if you’re a morning or night person.
🩺 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
1. Mindfulness and enjoyment when eating
2. Cell cleaning, cell recycling and making new proteins, essential for fighting infections
3. Fasting strengthens immune system
4. Healing effect on the micro biome, allows intestines to cure
5. Strong effect on the psychology - improves mood & trust, promotes self efficacy
I’ve been enjoying the Monday & Thursday sunnah days to fast. It’s nice to learn how it benefits us in preventing and curing so many diseases.
The book also talks about foods to avoid and those to incorporate to maintain a healthy diet. One big one for me was milk bc I didn’t know it causes acne 🤦🏽♀️. So I’m switching to plant-based milk 🥛.
September 2, 2020
Fasting is quickly becoming a popular approach to weight loss. Dr. Andreas Michalsen, professor of clinical complementary medicine at a medical center in Berlin reminds the reader that fasting is not a diet but rather a lifestyle. It is practiced in Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist communities. The author examines the diets of the healthiest places on earth, the Blue Zones, where a majority of centenarians live long lives. He details the healing effect of therapeutic fasting and intermittent fasting and provides a roadmap for how to start on such a program. Having read several books on intermittent fasting approaches including Dr. Vrady' s Alternate-Day Fasting (ADF) of ESE (up-day, down-day) or the F:2 Fast Diet and the Time-Restricted-Eating (TRE) it is useful to have an overview of each approach in one place. Finally this book makes a very solid case why there are real health-promoting effects that can take place through exploring a fasting regime for a specific number of hours per day or even a number of days. Following his guidelines for doing this safely makes this title a valuable addition to any collection.
May 17, 2023
Although I'm a big fan of fasting and truly believe in the potential life changing benefits, I would not recommend any friend curious about the topic to read this. Albeit some good information about fasting is contained, majority of the book feels like vegan propaganda. Every study that may show some benefit to any meat based product is slammed with caveats about why it is not to be believed, whereas every study in which this could well be the case for some plant based foods is taken as gospel with no theory given towards the possible lifestyle variables that could alter the results. As much as I may agree with the information being presented, I do not agree with giving every detail a nice double coat of bias.
April 5, 2022
Let me spoil this book for you:
Meat is poison
Animal products are poison
The Mediterranean diet is best, but skip the fish because fish is poison.
Alkaline diet is good too
When you fast, have juice and enemas
Use peppermint oil for headaches
Elderberries are good for flu
I don't rate books unless I finish them. I finished this so that I could make sure to review and warn others.
There are great books actually about fasting out there. This is basically not even a book about fasting.
Meat is poison
Animal products are poison
The Mediterranean diet is best, but skip the fish because fish is poison.
Alkaline diet is good too
When you fast, have juice and enemas
Use peppermint oil for headaches
Elderberries are good for flu
I don't rate books unless I finish them. I finished this so that I could make sure to review and warn others.
There are great books actually about fasting out there. This is basically not even a book about fasting.
March 7, 2023
Lots of info. Too much to for a complete summary. Some highlights are that even small amounts of alcohol are damaging to your brain and pretty much all animal products are to be avoided, especially meats. Olive oil, whole grain, nuts, and berries very good.
There are two methods advised: therapeutic and intermittent fasting. With intermittent fasting being really not hard to manage at all and with very positive health effects.
I am a bit skeptical as to how one-sided the book was. For example no argument was made to varying healthiness of meats according to farming practices (organic, grass fed, etc). However, the section on fish was surprisingly informative and worrying. Basically you should avoid anything from the sea...
There are two methods advised: therapeutic and intermittent fasting. With intermittent fasting being really not hard to manage at all and with very positive health effects.
I am a bit skeptical as to how one-sided the book was. For example no argument was made to varying healthiness of meats according to farming practices (organic, grass fed, etc). However, the section on fish was surprisingly informative and worrying. Basically you should avoid anything from the sea...
May 19, 2025
Very interesting - fasting is not a new idea to me, it has clearly increased in popularity, and curiosity (and tight clothes, low energy levels, poor cravings) got the best of me. I enjoyed how they broke down HOW fasting works for much more than weight loss and the different methods available. I really liked the breakdown of different superfoods and what to fuel your body with and what to avoid (regardless of fasting).
I took a lot of as a grain of salt as it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle or beliefs, but glad to have read about different options.
I took a lot of as a grain of salt as it just doesn’t fit my lifestyle or beliefs, but glad to have read about different options.
November 14, 2023
Good information on fasting. Lots of science and research. The author promotes a plant-based diet, which I agree with from other readings I've done. But he also pushes eating lots of olive oil which is highly processed and not recommended by other doctors and scientists.
March 18, 2024
I gave this book 4 stars on the fasting chapters (starts around ch 4/5) the rest of the book I would only give 2 stars.. I picked up the book to learn more about fasting (which the word envelopes the front cover) but over 1/2 the book seems to be promoting the vegan / veggie diet..
March 26, 2024
informative. however, some health claims are questionable and controversial. had to take a lot of advice with a grain of salt, as I've done thorough research about many covered topics and the provided information in this book was contradictory and incorrect.
June 3, 2021
Interesting read. Fast so that your body can shift gears and repair itself. Also, be a vegetarian. The book is a bit repetitive.
June 17, 2021
A lot of information I didn’t really want along with some I did- more like a textbook!
April 21, 2022
Some really interesting facts. But it all just felt a bit like a sales pitch towards the end.
April 24, 2022
A ton of information if you want the history of fasting. Interesting read, hope it works!
October 18, 2023
I didn’t expect to read a book that pushed being vegan so much. I skipped that and focused on the intermittent fasting part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2025
A must read for someone who is really interested in learning how to eat well and be healthy.
August 4, 2025
Check out better books by Dr Jason Fung.
July 4, 2025
Good information and advice, overall. Fair warning, this author leans heavily toward vegan diets and he has a high opinion of vaccines. I appreciated his detailed, practical recommendations however, and he seems to try to present most information in a balanced manner.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews