It was an interesting article: basically exercise and intermittent fasting are posited to reduce the possibility of getting degenerative diseases (usually those associated with aging). They surmise that both activities help to unfold or refold improperly folded proteins.
In the article, an intermittent fast is considered 12 hours without food, however, later on in the article there is a discussion of a ketogenic diet. I don't think those are equivalent. Usually intermittent fasting today is considered either a full 24 hours with <500 kcal eaten during that time twice a week or 16 hours without food (8 hour feeding window) daily.
Interestingly, a long time ago, people did have 12 hour fasts daily - if you ate at 1700 and then woke up at 0600 and ate at 0630-0700, you had a 12 hour fast. Perhaps getting into that habit daily helps to set up a better regulatory mechanism for insulin management in your body.
The article was a bit too 'cheerleader-ish' but still was interesting.
