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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

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just listened to The Obesity Code by Jason Fung and my mind is kinda blown. Everyone you've said matches what the book covers. The takeaway points are: - Raised insulin is the key driver in weight by preventing the burning of fat and triggers the storage to fat. Insulin is the hormone that tells allows cells to absorb glucose - Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance, which happens over years of prolonged p…

> Sugars and carbohydrates do not trigger the hormone that says we're full when compared It's important to note the difference between refined sugars (candy) and natural sugars (fruits). Refined sugars are basically fructose (hello High Fructose Corn Syrup). Refined sugars -- super hella bad. When you eat the refined sugars, your liver actually traps the ATP, blocking the pathway to the brain, making you still feel h…

I've found that Fountain Soda (in addition to not containing huge amounts of tooth destroying acid) does not make me hungry and does seem to fill me. I've been a single meal a day guy for decades (as well as a soda fan). The switch to Soda Fountains (commercial) and their offensive costing, has kept me in good shape (no visible fat) when paired with continuous fasting.

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

#152

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.

It is the same mechanism of action -- the switch of the metabolism to using B-OHB (and other ketones) through the process of ketosis. People have been on a ketogenic diet for a long time to treat epilepsy, and it doesn't seem to have any major downfalls.

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

#153
Fasting is great and all if you don't have to perform mental tasks throughout the day.

When I am on vacation and have time off of work to just relax, I regularly forget to eat, and I barely even notice.

When I'm at work and doing programming, however, even the slightest reduction in my caloric intake schedule results in me feeling lightheaded and "foggy". My ability to code effectively plummets, and I also find myself unintentionally being more irritable towards co-workers.

As such, my job as a professional programmer basically requires me to eat regularly. Fasting is not an option for me, unfortunately.

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

#154
post #88
post #2

seems to be becoming more and more “scientifically” clear that brains run better on ketones, and burning fat is cleaner for the body

Wait I might have to dig up the sources. But it is generally accepted in the “Keto sphere” that the brain runs on glucose. Even in ketosis the body creates some glucose for this purpose.

I don't have sources handy, but IIRC the brain will generally to run on about a 60/40 or 70/30 mix of ketones/glucose, but in some experiment they gave people in ketosis a does of insulin to drop their blood sugar to near 0, and they didn't pass out and were otherwise fine.

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

#156

Fasting is great and all if you don't have to perform mental tasks throughout the day. When I am on vacation and have time off of work to just relax, I regularly forget to eat, and I barely even notice. When I'm at work and doing programming, however, even the slightest reduction in my caloric intake schedule results in me feeling lightheaded and "foggy". My ability to code effectively plummets, and I also find mysel…

You could fast before and after work. Eat all the calories you need in your 9 hour window, fast in the remaining hours.

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

#157

Fasting is great and all if you don't have to perform mental tasks throughout the day. When I am on vacation and have time off of work to just relax, I regularly forget to eat, and I barely even notice. When I'm at work and doing programming, however, even the slightest reduction in my caloric intake schedule results in me feeling lightheaded and "foggy". My ability to code effectively plummets, and I also find mysel…

You could fast before and after work. Eat all the calories you need in your 9 hour window, fast in the remaining hours.

Oh, well, that's basically what I already do. I don't eat at night time (obviously).

There's a reason why the first meal of the day is called "break fast"...

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

#158
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just listened to The Obesity Code by Jason Fung and my mind is kinda blown. Everyone you've said matches what the book covers. The takeaway points are: - Raised insulin is the key driver in weight by preventing the burning of fat and triggers the storage to fat. Insulin is the hormone that tells allows cells to absorb glucose - Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance, which happens over years of prolonged p…

This thread about Dr. Fung was enlightening: https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/7jw4r9/the_obesity_... OTOH I do think that IF is a "easy" way to control calories, though.

[deleted]

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

#159
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're exactly right. Just skip breakfast and don't eat snacks after dinner and you'll be at 16 hours easy. Try it for a week and see how you feel. I've been IF'ing for 15 months now and it's great. Lost 20 pounds without even trying and have more energy during the day.

What time do you eat and how many times. Did it improve your concentration?

My window is 12:30 to 8:30, so I eat lunch, maybe some snacks in the afternoon, and then dinner. I usually try to get one more snack in right at 8:30, too. No other dietary changes, like high protein or low fat or anything; the lunch, dinner, and snacks are all normal food.

I do find that my concentration has improved in the morning, as I'm not digesting a big breakfast. I start to get a bit hungry around 11:00, but (as you'll read about if poke around the forums and such) it's not a "Ohmigod, I'm going to die!" type of hunger, but more of a "Okay, almost there. Just focus on working for another 90 minutes" hunger that kind of feels good.

Lastly, when people discuss IF, you'll hear a lot of theories about why it works, how it works, what's the best way to IF, including in this thread. But don't try to overthink it, and just try it yourself for a week. Skip breakfast, don't snack after dinner, (optional) go to bed at a reasonable time. If you don't like it, or you're not losing weight[0], then go back to your former routine. Not a big deal.

[0]But I've never heard of anybody not losing at least 1-2 pounds that first week.

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

#160
post #13

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

You can indeed get very strong and very lean with Intermittent Fasting. This is a goto site backed by plenty of good research. http://leangains.com/

The leangains subreddit has good summaries of the leangains site, without the Jordan Peterson stuff that the guy has added lately.

https://www.reddit.com/r/leangains/

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