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Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

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Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#21

Post by DanielBMarkham »

mnort wrote: post #12
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

I'd be curious to hear more about what you experienced during your keto flu

There was a bunch of little stuff. I don't think it was as bad as the flu, but it was somewhat uncomfortable.

The initial symptom was wanting to eat all of the time, even if I wasn't hungry. My brain was convinced that I had to spend huge chunks of my time chewing on something flavorful.

So I sliced off some very flavorful cheese and nibbled little tiny pieces during the morning. That seemed to work. Note that I avoided all artificial sweeteners. There's some danger there that I felt I should avoid.

Eating a bunch of cheese leads to constipation. Some fiber every morning fixed that.

There were a few other things. My energy level dropped right off, then came back. Now I have much more energy than when I started. I had a little bit of brain fog, but it was manageable.

The biggest thing I've found about keto is that my personality changes. I am much more relaxed and sedate than I used to be -- more on an even keel. That's not necessarily a benefit. It was just unexpected.

ADD: The crazy thing about keto, as opposed to just IF, is that you have to be really OCD about what you eat. Manufacturers sneak carbs into everything. A food journal was critical for me -- and it was something I felt I didn't have to do, since I already knew so much about nutrition! Good thing my SO talked me into doing one.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#22

Post by JSeymourATL »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

Trend: The Silicon Valley execs who don't eat for days: 'It's not dieting, it's biohacking > https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/04/silicon...

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#23

Post by haraldooo »

amelius wrote: post #13

Sounds great, but is this compatible with: - bodybuilding - 20 miles daily commute by bicycle - intellectually intense work, e.g. hackathons ?

It really isn't a problem once you're adapted which takes a few days normally (my experience). These guys seem to have no problems with their physical strength on a ketogenic diet: http://www.fatchancerow.org/ - so if this isn't fake (which I don't think) most daily energy demands should be satisfied.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#24

Post by mi100hael »

mnort wrote: post #12
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

I'd be curious to hear more about what you experienced during your keto flu

I've had it. A few days of very low carb intake leave me feeling very low-energy, foggy, and crabby. It's more of an issue if I'm also too calorie restricted, so if your goal is weight loss, I'd recommend starting Keto first with a similar number of calories to your existing diet, then restricting calories once you're past the adjustment phase.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#25

Post by tachion »

andreygrehov wrote: post #16

For anyone interested to read about fasting, there is an amazing book written by Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System [1], published in 1922. Interesting fact, the book is from Steve Jobs' reading list. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Mucusless-Diet-Healing-System-Scienti...

I would be cautious to make health related reading recommendations where the book comes from 1922 and was on a reading list of a man who was rejecting science based medication for his serious sickness until it was too late.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#26

Post by joshe »

It would be cool to see measurements of people on Survivor or all the alone in wild shows. Like blood glucose, ketones, movement tracking, and sleep. Maybe even a few IQ and strength tests. There's all this great documentary monitoring and doctors already on site. I assume that academic ethic review boards would never allow a researcher to participate, but it would be great if the shows shared it. Maybe the individual competitors could.

I wish there was some middle ground between self tracking and big expensive studies that don't really change anything.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#27

Post by sameAsYou »

mnort wrote: post #14
blunte wrote: post #11

One thing you have to pay attention to while aiming for a 12+ hour gap is that you don't accidentally consume calories in drinks, especially from sugar... so no milk, honey, or sugar in your tea or coffee. A little sugar calories will prevent the switch flip, leaving you in a starvation state where you feel awful and eat your own muscles.

Folks in the keto/fasting space seem to present salted water as a good option here

Also, bone broth, chicken broth and vegetable broth.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#28

Post by Afton »

mnort wrote: post #12
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

I'd be curious to hear more about what you experienced during your keto flu

I had it the first time I switched my diet. Headache, low energy, mild body-ache.

I'm currently a non-strict keto-er, which means I'm really just a high-fat, low carb eater. I think consensus on 'keto-flu' is really just that when you're flushing all the glycogen, it's taking with it a lot of water, and it's upsetting your sodium/potassium levels, I don't really know. I just know that I don't suffer from it when I transition from periods of moderate carbs back to low carbs.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#29

Post by DanielBMarkham »

JSeymourATL wrote: post #22
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #10

Like many programmers, especially us older folks, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. Three weeks ago I went on a ketogenic diet. This week I've added intermittent fasting, only eating between noon and six. After the "keto flu" period ended, it's been quite enjoyable. The IF comes quite naturally and is painless. I'm not one to spot diet trends, but my intuition says that keto/IF will be a big thing over th…

Trend: The Silicon Valley execs who don't eat for days: 'It's not dieting, it's biohacking > https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/04/silicon...

Yep. I had heard the term bio-hacking, heard about Tim F. talking about it, IF, and exogenous ketones, and knew that it was all the rage for some time now. It wasn't really a new idea for me. In addition, I had done what I considered to be "low carb" in the past. It worked great. It just wasn't sustainable for me for various reasons.

What got me started was when random friends and relatives started talking about it. Then I looked around online and found dozens of podcasts, FB rooms, and so forth all sprouting up in the last year or two. The trend is clear. I don't think we've reached the almost-vertical part of the hype cycle yet.

Re: Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting

#30

Post by andreygrehov »

tachion wrote: post #25
andreygrehov wrote: post #16

For anyone interested to read about fasting, there is an amazing book written by Arnold Ehret, Mucusless Diet Healing System [1], published in 1922. Interesting fact, the book is from Steve Jobs' reading list. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Mucusless-Diet-Healing-System-Scienti...

I would be cautious to make health related reading recommendations where the book comes from 1922 and was on a reading list of a man who was rejecting science based medication for his serious sickness until it was too late.

Good point. The problem is that Steve Jobs ignored Ehret’s concept of a “transition diet,” and became taken with the idea of being a fruit-only eater right away.
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