Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Applying the Health Benefits of Fasting • Hacker News Board

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

#141

Post by raarts » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:44 PM UTC

jobu wrote: post #70

mnort wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

For me it was very similar to the early stages of a bad flu. Tired, headaches, body aches, irritable, and mild nausea for about 5 days. I've heard that MCT oil can ease the transition a bit, but be careful because too much can cause stomach cramps and violent diarrhea. (I've never been able to handle more than one tablespoon at a time.)

I drink a glass of chicken broth with extra salt every morning to alleviate keto flu symptoms.

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

#142

Post by rsync » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:45 PM UTC

kaslai wrote: post #56

I've had serious weight issues for my whole life, primarily due to my love of chocolate. As I approached 400 pounds, I took a hard look at myself and decided to make a change. For the past month (29 days now) I've been doing alternate-day fasting* where I eat about 2000-2500kcal on eat days and cap myself at about 100kcal of half-and-half with coffee on fast days (gotta get that joe). While a lot of it is no doubt no…

"When I lose my weight, I'll still keep fasting as an option, because it's a remarkably powerful tool."

I strongly encourage you to do this because it will remain helpful to your non-overweight body to not incur all of the extra "mileage" of your ramped up metabolic system, day after day, for the rest of your life.

I would also encourage you to attempt to remove the calories from your coffee on your fasting days - it seems picky since it is just 50 calories but your metabolic processes have to turn themselves all the way on in order to process that energy input. I feel that there is a big difference between all-the-way-off and all-the-way-on in terms of your fasted state.

Best of luck to you!

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

#143

Post by mythrwy » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:46 PM UTC

I'm not at all overweight and personally don't see what this fasting thing is about.

If I even skip breakfast forget hard thinking or strenuous effort.

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

#144

Post by jiscariot » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

abakker wrote: post #111

jiscariot wrote: post #105

I've been doing intermittent fasting for about a year--it seems to work for me because I struggle with controlling portion sizes. Mon/Wed of every week I limit caloric intake severely--I skip all meals and snack on olives, pickles, maybe a small amount of avacado in the evening along with a couple of La Croix. Not sure why olives/pickles, other than I wanted to keep the fasting foods keto-friendly. Other than that, I…

How has it effected your biking? More endurance? Peak Power? or just being lighter?

I think it is just being lighter, but the difference in endurance/recovery from hills, etc is pretty significant.

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

#145

Post by pizza » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:50 PM UTC

chillacy wrote: post #120

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'm doing keto too, not for weight loss (heck I could use some weight gain), but to reap some benefits of more stable energy, avoiding carb crashes. I bought some test strips and MCT powder, it took a week to finally reach deep ketosis (according to my test strips). I'm unexpectedly hungry a lot, but I found that coconut milk + MCT oil is very filling.

For what it's worth, since keto strips sort of measure excreted/'underutilized' ketones, you may still be becoming more fat adapted. Also, measuring ketones at night (after a day spent running on them) may be a good time to test.

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

#146

Post by raarts » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:50 PM UTC

mikeklaas wrote: post #49

sameAsYou wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, bone broth, chicken broth and vegetable broth.

How does that work? Doesn't broth generally have calories?

No it doesn't and I suspect the broth is just to make the salted water taste better.

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

#147

Post by rsync » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:53 PM UTC

amelius wrote: post #13

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

"Sounds great, but is this compatible with"

Yes. I guess I can't speak to "bodybuilding" but I have maintained a high level of powerlifting output for years on a schedule of IF (two 16 and one 24 hour fast per week).

In fact, I would go so far as to say that many activities are enhanced while in the fasted state - my distance running (admittedly short, 4-5 mile runs) feels easier and I feel lighter on my feet and I also feel lighter and quicker in my BJJ practice (even though my weight is the same).

I usually do my heavy weight training while in a (16 hour) fasted state, immediately followed by a high protein, 1000+ calorie meal.

The only adjustment I have had to make is that the meal immediately following my 24 hour fast needs to be contain a lot of fiber. If you shut down your digestion for 24 hours, you don't want to fill yourself back up with cheese pizza or a huge steak.

YMMV.

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

#148

Post by jmvoodoo » Fri, May 25, 2018, 7:59 PM UTC

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #136

triviatise wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you tried low or zero carb diets? I have found that I can much more easily go without eating on a high fat high protein diet.

Yes. Believe me, I tried everything. Also, IIRC, while fat doesn't produce a ghrelin response, protein still does.

This is true. You should limit protein intake to 20 grams in 2hr period to avoid glyconeogenesis, which is the process your body uses to convert protein into glucose. This plus reducing net carbs to 20g or less per day should put you into nutritional ketosis within a week or two. Going keto makes fasting a lot easier. I typically fast between 8pm and noon and find it much much harder when I slip out of keto. If you keep up the program and lift weights (find a good strength program at a gym) your body composition will improve. I managed to get to 8% body fat this way.

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

#149

Post by rhinoceraptor » Fri, May 25, 2018, 8:02 PM UTC

not_a_moth wrote: post #41

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…

Let's not lump keto and IF together... IF from what I understand has more substantial as well as proven health benefits (related to stem cells, celluar autophagy, etc.). Whereas keto cannot make the same kind of claims; if you just keep your carbs relatively low you'll probably achieve a similar effect as keto.

They kind of go well together though, I definitely find it a lot easier to fast if I'm in ketosis.

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

#150

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet » Fri, May 25, 2018, 8:15 PM UTC

jmvoodoo wrote: post #148

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Believe me, I tried everything. Also, IIRC, while fat doesn't produce a ghrelin response, protein still does.

This is true. You should limit protein intake to 20 grams in 2hr period to avoid glyconeogenesis, which is the process your body uses to convert protein into glucose. This plus reducing net carbs to 20g or less per day should put you into nutritional ketosis within a week or two. Going keto makes fasting a lot easier. I typically fast between 8pm and noon and find it much much harder when I slip out of keto. If you k…

I get the impression that people think I'm in search of advice here. I'm about half the bodyweight where I started and have been in this range for years now. I don't know what my body fat % is, but an ultrasound tech called me "skinny" when I was 15lbs up from here so it's probably pretty low.

Keto is like some kind of religion with fitness people. My personal opinion is that people use it as an excuse to eat pounds of steak and bacon while virtue signaling that they're being healthy, but clearly some people really do believe it has helped them and who am I to say otherwise? What I can say, is that I certainly didn't see any of its supposed appetite suppressant effects, and there's a way to get there without becoming some kind of dietary zealot.