Straight talk on Intermittent Fasting (does it work or not!?!)

Toronto Star ^ | Jan. 13, 2021 | Christine Sismondo

[Yaelle]

I think it is important for health to have a long period without eating. Drinking water (unless you’re asleep ) or naturally unsweet beverages (black coffee, matcha tea etc).

However, when you get actual hunger weakness, both the body and the bacteria biome in us need food.

I can only do 12 - 14 hours. Usually only 12. It is what it is. I know the difference between low blood sugar in the morning (caused by eating carbs the previous evening) ( a bit of a sweet tooth feel and which should be ignored) and true hunger, which comes across as a body weakness and a craving for animal protein, and it’s time to eat.

[logi_cal869]

“Science takes time, especially dietary science”

---

It’s not science when it’s fraught with confirmation bias, and most research is...exactly that.

This is the most sensible article on dietary advice I’ve seen since I abandoned outreach on the topic until I finish my book(s).

Words of wisdom soon to be demonized by those who proclaim otherwise (I’ve met them).

[Mr Rogers]

I combine keto and IF. Definitely NOT an eat anything approach. Eat between noon an 6 pm. Lost 35 lbs quickly. Weight has leveled but my waistline has decreased a little over the last 18 months. I’ll never go back to three meals a day.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

It works great if you can keep it up.

I have done it for periods of time, but eventually I get lazy.

[SaveFerris]

I average 1,000-1,200 calories a day plus IF (never heard it called that).

I’m down roughly 50 lbs in 15 months (and I’m on my feet several hours a day lot of walking)

I’m down 70lbs from 6 years ago

And yes I had taco bell last night - I had not eaten for 24 hours because too busy

Just weighed myself a few minutes ago

[Blurb2350]

If you’re going to do IF, it’s best to do keto — or something very much like it — to be successful. If you continue eating a lot of carbs/sugars, your blood sugar will yo-yo and you’ll be miserable during the fasting hours. The beauty of keto is that your blood sugar is entirely stable and your appetite is well under control. Done right, IF is a breeze, with weight loss a pleasant side effect.

[CodeToad]

Try it and see for yourself. No need for pseudo intellectual discussions about it.

[icclearly]

“I average 1,000-1,200 calories a day...”

Same here. I also am an “almost” vegan. I rarely eat meat and get my protein from plant-based sources. I’ve been doing this for five years. I also walk 3 to 5 miles a day.

Age = 76

Former cancer patient and a former dialysis patient. I credit the above to my survival and coming off of dialysis.

[BlackAdderess]

I’ve done it, but I’ve gotten better results from making sure I have adequate nutrition and supplementing with a good supplement when my diet lacks. Cod liver oil is also helpful this time of year due to containing vitamin D and Omega 3s.

I suspect that a lot of health problems in this country might be due to malnutrition, as crazy as that probably sounds. The last time I fasted I ended up getting sick.

[SaveFerris]

Sounds awesome

Keep it up!

[icclearly]

A great book on this and a related topic is Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To.

https://bit.ly/3sQOIkl

[Fai Mao]

“Should, one day, the entire theory of vitamins be overturned, men will still eat their dinner and feel better for having done so.”

~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

Although I have been attacked, and name-called by others on this topic in this forum, I still maintain that if input is > than output then one is going to gain weight. If input = output then weight will be maintained. If input is < output then weight will be lost.

In other words, if one fasts and intakes only water then one is going to lose weight, regardless of output, period. I guarantee it!

[TigerClaws]

Agree wit your comment.

Keto or Atkins combined with IF is the best way to go.

You can still eat veggies and healthy proteins. Very doable diet.

[Bullish]

I have a simple diet plan... I fast between each meal.

[4Liberty]

I have two cups coffee with non- or low-fat milk in the am's to hydrate, and then drink water or tea until Noon. No breakfast. Then, early afternoon to evenings I go for some popcorn or rice cracker-type snacks, and then - for early evening meal - a large serving of fish or chicken if I crave protein, or occasionally a plate of scrambled eggs or an omelette.

For evening meal, I sometimes instinctively want "only" vegetable + dairy ---- like a big lettuce salad with side of lite cheese, or big bowl of tomato/vegetable soup with rice crackers and add chunks of lite cheddar to the soups. For dessert -- some dried papaya or a fresh fruit, for example.

A few nights a year - I'll only have a big bowl of cereal with milk if I return home late from work - or, a large bowl of plain yogurt with honey and berries mixed in it. BTW, a big bowl of yogurt at night makes for A VERY SOUND & GOOD Sleep -- I recommend that, if you have sleeping troubles.

I take an assortment of multi-vitamins every day as well.

This practice has kept my weight at about 134 as a woman. Men need much more calories & more "beefy" stuff, so not advising this for men.

[pepsi_junkie]

Most dietary science is pure nonsense. The low fat guidance all came from one guy who studied 21 countries and then cherry picked the seven that confirmed his theory that saturated fat caused heart disease and threw out the countries that went against that theory. Most other studies in diet are completely uncontrolled because you can't easily control what people eat and in what portions unless they are prisoners (and courts have ruled that you can't do it there either). So they use words like 'linked to' to suggest something causes something else even when they really mean 'we found a loose correlation in several unrelated studies of different things that didnt control for any of the variables we're talking about. But only if you squint and hold the data just so'.

I'd say the evidence that the conventional advice to eat low fat, carb heavy meals has pretty blatantly failed people in spectacular fashion is crystal clear. Heart disease isn't really down but diabetes and obesity are through the roof. But too many people staked their careers on that advice, their pride has blinded them to the obvious. And that is that on balance another way is needed.

What works to lose weight is suppressing insulin (see the work of Dr Joseph Kraft, among others). Carbs do the opposite, insulin spikes and you get fat if that's your primary form of food. Low carb / high fat spikes insulin less. Fasting doesn't spike it at all, in fact it lets it fall to it's natural level. That's why it works to lose weight. And of course eating less to lose weight is common sense. What they should say, though is that eating less often will result in weight loss. Time is a key factor.

People say though that if you fast you'll die because you aren't getting nutrition. That's false, plenty of evidence on that. Burning your fat stores releases various nutrients and vitamins and the blood work shows it clearly.

Bottom line: people should do what they want but for me, intermittent fasting works and my own health, as indicated by hard measurable factors, has never been better than has since I started eating this way (mostly one meal a day).

[joshua c]

I am doing the same. Rarely eat breakfast then my big meal is in the afternoon. Sometimes if I feel hungry after 6 just a salad or vegetable snack.

The first time I tried keto, I lost 20lbs very quickly. Then I broke off keto and went right back up. This go around, I lost 10lbs quickly but now stuck. Not sure what to do at this point.

The best part about keto is no processed foods, few carbs, no sugar and you have to eat a lot more vegetables. That is good advice no matter your diet. It does take time though. It forces you to cook rather than popping something in the microwave.

[joshua c]

It is much easier to skip a meal on keto. I find that I many times pass mealtime without any hunger pangs