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Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

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Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#131

Post by lisp-and-seo »

HNJohnC wrote: post #124
bobowzki wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a physician. While it's good to lose weight (at least if you are overweight), keep in mind that losing weight is not the only interesting outcome. Any diet might have long term side effects. Such as an increased risk of cancer, arteriosclerosis etc. Also remember that weight loss is not the only benefit of exercise. That said, congrats on losing weight. Now start exercising :-)

"Also remember that weight loss is not the only benefit of exercise." Weight loss is not part of any benefit of exercise. Though your statement is commonly held as a belief there is absolutely no scientific basis for your statement. Anyone can easily verify this for themselves: take a chart showing calories in common foods beside a chart showing common activities and how many calories they burn and try to find any sc…

By exercising one gains muscle mass, that consumes energy 24/7.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#132

Post by mikelat »

tokenizer wrote: post #35
bobowzki wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a physician. While it's good to lose weight (at least if you are overweight), keep in mind that losing weight is not the only interesting outcome. Any diet might have long term side effects. Such as an increased risk of cancer, arteriosclerosis etc. Also remember that weight loss is not the only benefit of exercise. That said, congrats on losing weight. Now start exercising :-)

Regarding the diet above, which limits your sugar intake to 20 grams a day, what are some potential consequences of starving your body of sugars? Sounds good in theory (sugar is bad), but it sounds stressful (body starts producing ketones due to suck a lack of sugar, flu like symptoms for a week).

> what are some potential consequences of starving your body of sugars

If you look at history we've never had so much sugar in our diet at any point in human history, not to mention the fact that most sugar isn't actually sugar but things like HFCS which has a higher glycemic index.

The keto flu may sound bad, but it happens because your body isn't used to producing ketones since you've never been in ketosis before. I've been on and off keto for the last two years, and I don't get a keto flu since the first time I went into ketosis.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#133

Post by mikelat »

Theodores wrote: post #39

A lot of the diets mentioned on this thread are a long way from the diet used in this article. Note it is not mentioned in the article, however it is mostly vegetables with some fish. That is a long way from 'chipotle'!!! It is worth bearing in mind that a lot of things we consider to be food really does not want to be food. Grains want to be carried away by the wind to plant themselves somewhere else. Their ancestor…

> Not one single animal, insect or fish has evolved specifically to be eaten.

I would disagree. Most animals didn't evolve any defense mechanism to make them less appetizing, and animals at the bottom of the food chain reproduce the most so they have the most numbers to keep the species going. Meanwhile animals on the top of the food chain evolved in a manner to eat other animals. It's just nature for you.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#134

Post by js2 »

ehsanu1 wrote: post #15
stickydink wrote: post #3

I don't think we're even close to really understanding how the body works here. I'm not obese, but I gain weight from eating a little more, very easily. Last summer, I followed a Keto ("ultra low carb, high fat, medium protein") diet for about 4 months. After the first week of feeling terrible, a well-known side effect, I felt perfectly fine. It felt like I was binge eating, I limited what I could eat and just went m…

fulmato, you were hellbanned after your first comment saying "this is bs". Not a great comment, but hellbanning for a single comment is quite extreme. Posting your useful comment here: On top of /r/keto Dr. Peter Attia has a great blog on this topic http://eatingacademy.com/ It's a great resource for a more scientific explanation of what happens to the metabolism when keto-adapted and on the effects of carbohydrates…

See also Prof Timothy Noakes, a professor of exercise and sports science, also a marathoner and ultra-marathoner. He struggled with his weight and pre-diabetic status until himself switching to a ketogenic diet.

http://www.runnersworld.co.za/nutrition/novel-dietary-ideas/

He doesn't say a ketogenic diet is right for everyone, rather that some people are very sensitive to carbs ("carbohydrate-resistant") and would be best served avoiding them.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#135

Post by kolev »

Keats wrote: post #4
gojomo wrote: post #2

I find it frustrating when people often discuss experience with 'intermittent fasting' without describing exactly what they mean. The term ranges over lots of approaches. I've seen it used to describe just 8 hours (perhaps every/most days) without food, to a full day or couple of days without food (perhaps every other day or once per week or two), to other things, as is the case here. Fortunately, clicking through to…

8h without food wouldn't be intermittent fasting unless everyone does it when sleeping. There is one diet type quite popular right now in fitness called Leangains which calls for about 16h of fasting and a 8h eating window (granted that you can reduce the eating window if you feel like it). Some people even reduce the eating window to just one meal (warrior diet).

For nearly a year, I've been just having coffee with MCT oil in the morning, which pretty much keeps you satiated until 4 pm when I get a light "lunch" and then eat dinner around 9 pm. No hunger ever, no snacking, a few pound of weight loss even though I've increased my calories (get tons from the chunks of grass-fed cheese). Calorie counting is oversimplification of the complex metabolic processes in the human body and ignore major components such as hormones, thermogenesis, etc. Also, I don't get how sane people can accept that boosting your metabolism is healthier (like eating 5 times a day, exercising, etc.). It can't possibly be. Aging is a natural method of dealing the increasing cancer risk. Also, the faster your metabolism is, the sooner you will reach the Hayflick limit!

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#136

Post by sov »

bane wrote: post #128
HNJohnC wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"One of the possibly side effects is decreased kidney function from the rapid increase of proteins in the diet (which don't metabolize very cleanly compared to fasts or carbohydrates). People with kidney issues or possible problems should avoid these diets." You are confused and incorrect on this point at least, I recommend anyone considering this to go to some legitimate sources of information. There is a liver cond…

Nope, I'm definitely correct on this point. There's an unbelievable amount of bullshit in ketogenic diet circles about it - to the point an absurd reverse of well researched results. It's one of the very well researched downsides of any low-carb, high protein diets. The trick is to eat low-carb and low-protein as high-protein diets simply aren't good on kidneys. But then you're basically just eating fats and that get…

That's with respect to high protein diets, and not necessary to keto, which is typically a medium protein, high fat diet. I'm also not certain an uncited webmd link is the best nutritional reference.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#137

Post by coryfklein »

Theodores wrote: post #84
Xephyrous wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on critique. Two additions: What about pure carnivores? Surely their food doesn't want to be food, but carnivores do just fine. While I agree that the amount of corn we eat is absurd, to call it inedible is ludicrous. Raw corn on the cob is plenty edible, and sweet corn is quite tasty, although that's admittedly not what's grown on large corn plantations.

True, in the classic 'cheetah chasing wildebeest' scenario the the wildebeest is not 'chemically defended' and the cat enjoys his dinner. However, we aren't pure carnivores are we? Our taste buds are different as is our gut flora, our saliva has enzymes in it plus we have a lengthy intestine. Sure we can eat wildebeest - raw - but we would have to sit around all day - cat style - to have it digest. Due to the intesti…

Good points and rebuttals, but I had to laugh out loud at the end because that last sentence sounded like a command rather than a suggestion.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#138

Post by rickdale »

encoderer wrote: post #116
rickdale wrote: post #53

Been doing IF every day since July 1, 2013. Before that I was eating slow-carb diet and had lost about 50lbs. When I started doing IF, I was lifting pretty heavy and after the first week I had gained weight. I was pissed because I was hungry all the time it seemed, but I gained weight this week? Huh? Well, fast forward to now, and I put about 20 pounds since July 1, and yet I am not fatter. I am muscular. It's weird,…

I too only have 1 meal a day. Some days (few a month?) I cheat, mostly for social reasons. It's hard to refuse every lunch request. Usually, though, I have an apple and cup of tea about 2PM. Dinner about 8. So I'm doing all my eating in a 6 hour window, fasting the other 18 hours, every day.

For lunch requests my go to excuse to people is that I am in the middle of a fast. Thus, I don't mind going to eat with them, I dont seem weird for eating healthy, and for whatever reason, people have been more understanding of the fasting excuse over, oooo I cant eat that.

But with cheating in general, I will move the hours of fast around. So if I do go to a lunch, I'll probably eat pretty damn big and then fast until 6-8 the next day, make a good dinner. It's funny how much you enjoy food when you learn how to eat.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#139

Post by bane »

sov wrote: post #136
bane wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, I'm definitely correct on this point. There's an unbelievable amount of bullshit in ketogenic diet circles about it - to the point an absurd reverse of well researched results. It's one of the very well researched downsides of any low-carb, high protein diets. The trick is to eat low-carb and low-protein as high-protein diets simply aren't good on kidneys. But then you're basically just eating fats and that get…

That's with respect to high protein diets, and not necessary to keto, which is typically a medium protein, high fat diet. I'm also not certain an uncited webmd link is the best nutritional reference.

Seriously, if webMD is getting canned as a fringe site these days with inaccurate medical information and nothing to counter their medically accurate information, then there's literally nothing you can trust on the internet.

It's literally the accredited health care information site.

I'm not saying that their information is free from being wrong, just that given a standup between webMD and some random keto blog, I'll go with webMD.

Regardless of the source of dietary calories, a diet that triggers ketone production, which is the point of a ketogenic diet, introduces ketones into the bloodstream, which are processed in the kidneys.

Because there appears to be at least 2 people on HN who don't know about ketones (a family of organic compounds that includes acetone), but know about ketogenic diets, a well known and researched diet intended as a medical aid for epilepsy in children with a wealth of academic research on the effects of the diet both positive and negative. But it's also used widely to treat type 1 diabetes. Since diabetics often have reduced kidney function, ketone management can become critically important.

We know that ketogenic diets stress kidneys. This is basic information known to medicine. It's about as basic anatomy.

Other well known side effects include bone demineralization, constipation (which increases risk for colorectal cancer and other lower digestive complications), menstrual irregularities in women, increased colestrerol (up to 30%!), kidney stones are recorded at rates as high as 1 in 20, acidosis and all that includes.

It's considered as a diet that you should only go on under doctor supervision and constant blood tests.

Re: Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body

#140

Post by bane »

nickstinemates wrote: post #129
HNJohnC wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"One of the possibly side effects is decreased kidney function from the rapid increase of proteins in the diet (which don't metabolize very cleanly compared to fasts or carbohydrates). People with kidney issues or possible problems should avoid these diets." You are confused and incorrect on this point at least, I recommend anyone considering this to go to some legitimate sources of information. There is a liver cond…

Anecdotally I've gone on keto 3 times, for different periods of time, and after being off of them for a month or so, I've developed kidney stones. I have no idea if they're related, but I am the only one in my family that gets them (no medical history) and it's the only 'abnormality' in my normal, generally healthy, life.

Kidney stones are a well known side effect of ketogenic diets.
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