The Perks Of Fasting, With None Of The Work
“If there’s a downside, it is kind of crazy tasting,” said Geoff Woo, the founder of HVMN, a Silicon Valley company that makes nootropics, or performance-enhancing supplements. We were in a conference room in The Atlantic’s office building, and he was bracing me for my trial run of his latest product. It was a small, clear vial labeled “Ketone,” a new type of energy drink his company is releasing this week. Its nutrition label says it contains 120 calories, but no carbs, no fat, and no protein. Instead, it’s all ketones, the chemical that Woo and his company are calling a “fourth food group.” He hopes the drink will allow people to reap the benefits of occasional fasting—high ketone levels inside the body—without actually having to not eat. I unscrewed the top and, college-days muscle memory kicking in, chugged it like a shot of Captain Morgan. It tasted like cough syrup that had been poured into a garbage bag and left in the sun. “Augh!” I cried. “I compare it to a combination of a liquor shot with nail-polish remover,” Woo said. Woo’s coworker, Brianna Stubbs, went to fetch me a glass of water. “We’ve done a lot of work to make it better,” she said. Within an hour, the drink was supposed to help improve my athletic performance by changing how my body burned energy during exercise. Some people also say it helps them feel more energetic and focused on their work. About 25 minutes after I drank Ketone, Woo and Stubbs pricked my finger to see if it was working. My blood sugar, which had verged on diabetic levels from some pineapple I had eaten that morning, was down to near-normal levels. Meanwhile, my ketones, which had been practically nonexistent before imbibing—measuring just 0.2 millimolar—had soared to 4.9. “It would have Continue reading >>
What A Fasting Diet Can And Can't Do For Your Health
Google “fasting for health” and you’ll get more than 6.3 million hits, ranging from doctors who recommend it for treating a range of diseases, to spas that promise detoxifying food-free vacations, to bloggers who say that fasting makes them feel clearer mentally and more fit — and, increasingly, to fitness professionals touting diets that incorporate fasting as a method for weight loss. But does medical research actually support those claims? Every day, organs such as the liver, kidney, and spleen work to remove and neutralize toxins from the body to keep our cells healthy, says David Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. “When you fast, you eliminate input of additional toxins from food,” Dr. Katz says — “and there is a potential biological benefit to that.” “Potential” is the key word. While a growing body of research suggests intermittent fasting may have health benefits, much of the evidence is far from conclusive, and there are still a lot of unknowns about how a fasting diet or intermittent fasting diet might affect our bodies, particularly over the long-term. How Intermittent Fasting Diets Work Fasting, or intermittent fasting diets, shift the focus from what you’re eating to when you’re eating. It’s not about restricting calories for days on end, but rather it’s about eating for a prescribed number of hours a day, or a certain number of days per week, and then abstaining or limiting food consumption for another period of time. For example, the Fast Diet, also known as the 5:2 diet, advocates for eating what you want for five days of the week (without too much thought to calorie intake), and restricting calorie intake to 500 calories for women and 600 for Continue reading >>
- Not Just Eye Candy: From Diabetes Risk To Diet Woes, What Your Butt Says About Your Health
- A cure for diabetes: Crash diet can REVERSE Type 2 in three months... and Isobel and Tony are living proof that you CAN stop the killer disease
- Fasting diet could regenerate pancreas and reverse diabetes, researchers say
Autophagy: The Real Way To Cleanse Your Body
For the last time, forget juice cleanses and detox diets. They’re fluffy nonsense words. While there’s probably nothing wrong with drinking your weight in liquid kale, it won’t flush out toxins any faster than if you were eating, you know, actual food. The good news: There's a little-known way your body does cleanse itself, and it’s a process that you can control. All you need to do is practice a little self-cannibalism. What? Yes, you can actually train your body to eat itself—and believe it or not, you want it to. It's a natural process called autophagy (literally “self-eating”), and it’s the body’s system of cleaning house: Your cells create membranes that hunt out scraps of dead, diseased, or worn-out cells; gobble them up; strip ’em for parts; and use the resulting molecules for energy or to make new cell parts. “Think of it as our body’s innate recycling program,” says Colin Champ, M.D., a board-certified radiation oncologist, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and author of Misguided Medicine. “Autophagy makes us more efficient machines to get rid of faulty parts, stop cancerous growths, and stop metabolic dysfunction like obesity and diabetes.” There’s also evidence that the process plays a hand in controlling inflammation and immunity. When scientists engineer rats that are incapable of autophagy, they’re fatter, sleepier, and have higher cholesterol and impaired brains. To sum it up, autophagy is key to slowing the aging process. And you can learn how to do it better. 3 Ways to Self-Destruct "So how do I eat myself?” is a question you probably haven’t asked before, but we’re about to tell you. First of all, autophagy is a response to stress, so you’re actually going to want to put your Continue reading >>
7 Tips To Get Into Ketosis
Ketosis is a normal metabolic process that provides several health benefits. During ketosis, your body converts fat into compounds known as ketones and begins using them as its main source of energy. Studies have found that diets that promote ketosis are highly beneficial for weight loss, due in part to their appetite-suppressing effects (1, 2). Emerging research suggests that ketosis may also be helpful for type 2 diabetes and neurological disorders, among other conditions (3, 4). That being said, achieving a state of ketosis can take some work and planning. It's not just as simple as cutting carbs. Here are 7 effective tips to get into ketosis. Eating a very low-carb diet is by far the most important factor in achieving ketosis. Normally, your cells use glucose, or sugar, as their main source of fuel. However, most of your cells can also use other fuel sources. This includes fatty acids, as well as ketones, which are also known as ketone bodies. Your body stores glucose in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen. When carb intake is very low, glycogen stores are reduced and levels of the hormone insulin decline. This allows fatty acids to be released from fat stores in your body. Your liver converts some of these fatty acids into the ketone bodies acetone, acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate. These ketones can be used as fuel by portions of the brain (5, 6). The level of carb restriction needed to induce ketosis is somewhat individualized. Some people need to limit net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) to 20 grams per day, while others can achieve ketosis while eating twice this amount or more. For this reason, the Atkins diet specifies that carbs be restricted to 20 or fewer grams per day for two weeks to guarantee that ketosis is achieved. After this point, s Continue reading >>
Intermittent Fasting And Ketosis – Different Perspectives
My belief is that we are not meant to eat 3 times a day, which is the general R(x) in most countries. People eat much more than that, as you see the ones near you always having something to put in their mouths, always craving for something. It’s extremely easy to get food these days, with basically 0 effort. I do not want to be a critic but look at the Chawners for example, the fattest British family. They are not employed and they live off the government receiving approximately $20,000. Again, the purpose is not to criticize but to point out how easy it is to receive food. I don’t wanna say that their morbidly obese status has something to do with the amount of food they eat, but in some part, it has. Currently and as far as I know, there are more obese people than starving people in the world. Not wanting to derive away from the subject, let me give you some examples why I think it’s no good for us to eat at least 3 times a day and to eat every day. Let’s start with some history. Early Ancestors Enter the Australopiths (a.k.a. Australopithecus). They have been a hominid species living mostly in Africa between 4.2 to 1.5 million years ago. First of all, their upper body size is much more developed (larger) compared to the lower body size. These images (even though they may not 100% reflect the reality of the past) show that their hands were bigger than their feet. You cannot see in these images, but the Australopiths had flat feet, making them less adapted to moving faster and over larger distances. You may have heard of Lucy, the recently discovered fossil. She was an Australopith female living in Ethiopia 3.2 million years ago. They’ve evolved from earlier primates and they could spend time both in trees and on the ground, constantly reaching for food (henc Continue reading >>
Searching For Your Soul Mate Diet? Find Out If Keto Or If Is Right For You
Waffling between trying out intermittent fasting or the ketogenic diet? First of all, put down the waffle, because they aren't on the menu for either of these popular diets. Sorry. But now that we've got your attention, let's get down to business. The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting have pretty much taken over our collective news feeds at this point, and for good reason. They've both been touted for their ability to help people drop weight without restricting calories, improving blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure numbers. The perks sound similar, but these diets differ in how they work and who should be using them. We're breaking down the ins and outs of both diets, as well as how to determine if either of these may be right for you. What Is the Ketogenic Diet? The ketogenic diet, or keto, is all about getting your body into the fat-burning state of ketosis. Basically, by shifting your calorie intake to high-fat, moderate-protein, and very low-carb, your body stops burning glucose for energy and begins burning ketones. This allows your body to turn to stored fat for fuel instead of the sugar in your morning bowl of Froot Loops. The benefits of being in ketosis, according to Jimmy Moore (he literally wrote the book on keto) include better sleep, stable blood sugar, reduced inflammation, improved blood pressure and cholesterol, clearer memory and cognitive function, better recovery from exercise, and maybe even clearer skin. How Does the Ketogenic Diet Work? When we say low-carb, we mean low-carb. If you go this route, you'll be forgoing bread and pasta and replacing them with high-fat foods like avocado, beef, coconut oil, and cheese. It's not all burgers and bacon, though. You'll also be loading your plate with lots of low-starch veggies like greens, t Continue reading >>
Quick Start Keto
Low carbers know ketosis is the superhero of fat-burning. But what is ketosis? And how do you get into ketosis quickly? Keto FAQs and why it makes a difference in fat loss. 6 techniques to get into ketosis fast 3-Day rapid reach ketosis technique Try a few rapid keto techniques and eat specific low carb keto foods. Our quick start guide covers everything you need to reach ketosis fast. If carbs are limited to small amounts in your diet, your body relies on fat for energy. When you reach ketosis, fat burns rapidly and muscle tissue is spared. Why Does Keto Burn Fat Faster? To get into ketosis you’ll avoid sugar, leading to low insulin levels. Low insulin curbs hunger and accelerates fat-burning. Metabolizing fat and producing ketones burns more energy than metabolizing carbs. The result is a much higher calorie burn. How Do I Reach Ketosis? Ketosis happens when carbs are very low – usually when eating 20 to 50 grams of net carbs or less per day. (Carb grams from fiber are NOT counted in daily totals.) Everyone is different. Some low carbers must eat very low carb to reach ketosis. Typical Keto Ratio Getting into ketosis requires eating meals that are high in healthy fats and low in carbs. Protein grams should not exceed 20 % of total daily calories. Keto Calculator This free online keto calculator determines your ideal nutrient ratio for weight loss or maintenance during ketosis. The keto calculator recommends the optimum daily calories, fat, carb and protein amounts to help you get into ketosis – and meet your weight loss goal. How to Know You’re in Ketosis Keto Symptoms During keto, low carbers experience bursts of energy and heightened mood – just two of the big benefits of ketosis. Some dieters notice a temporary, sweet taste in the mouth or a mild, sweet b Continue reading >>
What Everybody Ought To Know About Ketosis
Recently I wanted to explore the world of Ketosis. I thought I knew a little bit about ketosis, but after doing some research I soon realised how wrong I was. 3 months later, after reading numerous books, listening to countless podcasts and experimenting with various diets I know have a sound understanding of ketosis. This resource is built as a reference guide for those looking to explore the fascinating world of ketosis. It is a resource that I wish I had 3 months ago. As you will soon see, a lot of the content below is not mine, instead I have linked to referenced to experts who have a greater understanding of this topic than I ever will. I hope this helps and if there is something that I have missed please leave a comment below so that I can update this. Also, as this is a rather long document, I have split it into various sections. You can click the headline below to be sent straight to the section that interests you. For those that are really time poor I have created a useful ketosis cheat sheet guide. This guide covers all the essential information you should know about ketosis. It can be downloaded HERE. Alternatively, if you're looking for a natural and sustainable way to improve health and lose weight head to this page - What is Ketosis? What Are The Benefits from being in Ketosis? Isn’t Ketosis Dangerous? Ketoacidosis vs Ketosis What Is The Difference Between a Low Carb Diet and a Ketogenic Diet? Types of Ketosis: The Difference Between Nutritional, Therapeutic & MCT Ketogenic Diets Is The Ketogenic Diet Safe? Long Term Effects Thyroid and Ketosis - What You May Want To Know What is a Typical Diet/Macro Breakdown for a Ketogenic Diet? Do I Need to Eat Carbs? What do I Eat On a Ketogenic Diet? What Do I Avoid Eating on a Ketogenic Diet? Protein Consumption a Continue reading >>
5 Day Water Fast Results (self Experiment)
I’m not a fan of cancer. The only people I’ve lost in memory – my grandfather and other close family – it was cancer that took them. NOT putting an end to the fun of life because of cancer has been a part of my plan since my early 20s. So after my discussion with Dr. Thomas Seyfried in episode 16 I was looking forward to put his 5 day water fast “cancer insurance policy” to work. As I read into the details to start planning my prolonged fast what I found convinced me even more this was something I had to do soon. Maybe what I discovered would inspire you to try a 5 day fast soon too? Fasting for Reasons Beyond Cancer Since getting bitten by a tick in Phuket, Thailand a few years ago I’ve been fighting some chronic health issues. I discovered that it’s probable that these are at least in some part due to lyme disease and babesiosis infections I only got documented earlier this year (and thus had never been treated for). It bears mentioning, since there’s a fair amount of non-rigorous and dubious material on the internet on the subject of lyme disease in particular, that this was documented via the IgM/ IgG labs, and met CDC criteria. What does this have to do with fasting? It comes down to this: Having a stronger immune system gives you a better chance of eliminating lyme. Since in cases like mine where it was not treated in the early stages it seems to be relatively tricky and long-winded to get rid of. I’ve made it a rule to collect and put into practice anything that improves the odds of a quicker recovery. And… fasting is a potential new tool to speed up recovery. Valter Longo, Director of the USC Longevity Institute, has published a large number of studies on fasting and caloric restriction and their application to treat disease and enhance agi Continue reading >>
Dr. Group’s Ketogenic Fast For Rapid Weight Loss
Maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the best ways to support your overall health. Excess body fat increases your susceptibility to serious conditions like type II diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, sleep apnea, fatty liver, cancer, and joint problems.[1] Many fat-loss fads, diets, and pills come and go, and very few yield lasting results. Adopting a ketogenic diet is one strategy for losing fat that’s tried, tested, and proven effective. Knowing this, I began my research into improving the typical ketogenic diet. People who are familiar with my work know that I’m always trying new cleanses, detox programs, and diet plans in my ongoing quest to discover new ways to improve my health. I kept coming across the many benefits of fasting, and I thought, “Why not combine principles of fasting with the best elements of a ketogenic diet and enjoy the best of both?” What Is a Ketogenic Diet? A ketogenic diet is a diet that provides fat and protein, but few or no carbohydrates. The body prefers glucose and glycogen, both derived from carbohydrates, as its primary source of fuel and it generally operates in a sugar-burning state known as glycolysis. Depriving the body of carbohydrates, however, forces it to use stored fat for energy. This special fat-burning mode, known as ketosis, quickly burns through fat reserves. It takes about 24-36 hours to completely burn through the glycogen stored in the muscles and liver. The catch? The body tells the brain to refuel on carbohydrates when blood sugar dips. In other words, your appetite kicks in and you feel hungry. This physiological response makes it a challenge for many people to adhere to a ketogenic diet long enough to enter ketosis. What Is Fasting? Fasting means avoiding food for longer stretches o Continue reading >>
Water Fasting Ketosis Is Where The Fat Burn Heaven Begins
In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know about water fasting ketosis. I'll explain how water fasting can help you reach your absolute highest possible fat burn rates, which is easily the single biggest benefit of ketosis. You'll also see the science on how long it actually takes before you can enter ketosis during a water fast. You'll also learn about one of the most dangerous problems of water fasting ketosis. I'll also tell you why it is a very good idea to avoid one of the most common mistakes people make once they already reach ketosis during a water fast. Now that you know what you're getting yourself into, here's a quick overview of everything that's covered in this guide: The single biggest benefit of water fasting ketosis Simply put, ketosis is a state where you get to enjoy your absolutely highest possible fat burn rates. If you're on your regular diet, your body can draw energy from a couple of different sources (so not just from your body fat reserves). Those other, non-fat energy sources are the main reason why your fat burn rates stay on the low end, even if you start eating less food. But during a water fast, because you're eating no food at all, those other energy sources in your body will be completely wiped out after a while. Once that happens, your body will enter full ketosis, and in that state of full ketosis, your body will have no choice but to rely almost exclusively on your body fat reserves. With no other energy sources available, ketosis will trigger some pretty amazing fat burn rates in your body. Water fasting is one of the fastest ways to reach that state of super high fat burn. And a lot of people do a water fast just for this reason. There's only one problem with reaching ketosis through water fasting. PRO TIP: A different Continue reading >>
The Effects Of Fasting Ketosis
Understanding ketosis and muscle loss during fasting. The process of ketosis is one of the physiological effects of fasting in which the brain (and some other bodily processes) uses ketones produced from fatty tissues as a fuel instead of the usual glucose. This is called "muscle sparing". When glucose isn't readily available via the diet (in the form of carbohydrates) and the glycogen stores in the liver become depleted, the body could break down muscle to get it. But ketosis is an adaptation that will spare muscle during times of shortage by instead breaking down fat stores and manufacturing ketones for brain fuel. It is said this state is attained at approximately 48 hours of a water fast for women and closer to 72 hours for men. The effects of fasting ketosis have become a more popular and controversial subject in recent years due to low-carb, high-protein dieters relying on it long-term to "burn the fat". Where ketosis was once considered a "crisis response" of the body and fine only for short durations, there are some doctors who now contend ketones are an acceptable alternative fuel, produced and used by the body any time glucose is scarce, which can happen even in non-fasting, non-dieting individuals, such as during intense exercise or during sleep. They are considering it a natural metabolic process where ketone production and use fluctuates constantly in response to the body's needs. What is so controversial about the low-carbers use of ketosis is the long term, artificially produced, use of it. Over long periods of time, their high-protein diet produces excess protein by-products that become a strain on the kidneys to eliminate. Ketosis also creates a mild acidosis of the blood, which, over a long period of time is considered detrimental to our health. One ef Continue reading >>
The Results Of My Four Day Fast To Start A Ketogenic Diet
Greetings Ketonians! Dr. Anthony Gustin writing to you today. Many of you know I created Perfect Keto to help ketosis be accessible to everyone who wants it, and that includes me. One of my favorite quotes from Fr. Peter Drucker is, That’s why I encourage everyone on a ketogenic diet to test their ketone levels. I’m taking it about 10 steps further than just ketone blood tests by conducting an intensive two-month ketosis experiment on myself to learn precisely what changes occur in my body in ketosis. I began with a four day fast and I’m pleased to share that the results are in! They truly rocked all the old ideas I had about fasting and ketosis and I can’t wait to share them with you. If you think I’m nuts and wondering why the hell I would fast, start by reading my article about why I am choosing to fast here. The reason is I wanted to maximize my transition into ketosis. I’ve tracked body composition, lab blood work, ketone levels, microbiome tests and other noteworthy biomarkers to answer the questions I had for myself. Does fasting lead to massive lean tissue losses? Does it destroy your metabolism? Is it unbearable? Does it sap your energy? All of these questions and more are answered in this article. The Results of My Four Day Fast to Start A Ketogenic Diet Since there’s about a 0.003984% chance you read linked article about fasting, let me explain something from the start, this fast was never going to be a water fast. There are a few reasons to not do a water fast, but we won’t get into that here. We’ll get into what type of fasts I’m now doing regularly and why. My fast was similar to what researcher Valter Longo has shown to actually be preferential to a water fast in many ways, in what he dubbed the “fasting mimicking diet.” Much of hi Continue reading >>
- 7-Day Ketogenic Diet Meal Plan to Fight Cancer, Heart Diseases, Diabetes, Obesity and More!
- The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus
- DIABETES DIET: Fast-acting low calorie ‘Super’ diet of soups and shakes help in fight
Keto + Intermittent Fasting: The Ultimate Fat Loss Program
Summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to end the bulking season and enter full on fat loss mode. It’s a task that’s not always easy or all that enjoyable, but the results are certainly worth it come beach season. There’s a ton of information out there on how to get shredded, but none quite like what we’ve developed here. Previously we’ve covered one of the newest and most effective eating protocols around in Intermittent Fasting. And while that can be great for weight loss, when it’s combined with a ketogenic diet, the two will get you shredded like never before. What is Keto? The ketogenic diet, a.k.a. “keto”, is an extremely low carb diet that places a premium on fat intake (as much as 75-90%!) along with a moderate protein intake. There have been a number of keto diets circulating around the fitness industry in recent years as the diet has grown in popularity, but to “standard” ketogenic diet consists of the following macronutrient breakdown: 75% Fat 20% Protein 5% Carbohydrate The benefit of substantially reducing carbohydrate intake forces your body to enter ketosis - a metabolic process stimulated when carbohydrates are severely restricted. This essentially “shifts” your body from a glucose fueled machine, to a fat fueled one that generates ketones. Ketones are synthesized when a person doesn’t consume ample carbohydrates to provide the body with adequate glucose (sugar) to run the required metabolic processes. Upon entering a ketogenic state, the body becomes significantly more efficient in utilizing stored fat for energy. Some may worry that such a drastic reduction in carbs may affect neurological function, as the brain runs on glucose, but don’t worry, a metabolic process called gluconeogenesis can synthesize Continue reading >>
Intermittent Fasting While In Ketosis As Beneficial?
I am about 3 weeks into a ketogenic diet, following the framework outlined by Volek and Phinney in their books. They recommend that protein is a set amount based on your height and ideal body weight. For me this is around 90g per day minimum. Carb intake is minimized, and for me its less than 20g net carbs (Atkins calculation) per day. Based on this approach, the rest of my energy needs come from fat. If I am active, I eat more fat. The protein and carbs remain consistent as total amounts, not % based. I have been monitoring blood ketones twice daily and have been in the recommended range for some time now. I may not be fully keto-adapted yet (as they say it can take 4-6 weeks), but I am definitely generating enough ketones to provide adequate fuel for my brain and other organs once my body does largely adapt. On the 'Ask the Low Carb Experts' podcast a few months ago, Jimmy Moore had Dr. Phinney on the show. It was a long show with a ton of great info, but there was one thing that Phinney said that didn't make sense to me and he didn't really explain. What he said was that fasting is a bad idea because one will lose lean mass when not eating for an extended period of time. He said skipping lunch might be OK, but he wouldn't recommend going longer than that. There was no real further explanation or discussion on the topic. Since the context of this show was ketogenic diets, I am under the impression he was speaking of fasting while in ketosis. Alas, I could not tell if his statement was general or specific. Many people here are familiar with the Lean Gains (18/6) and the Eat Stop Eat approaches, in which you have fasting windows of 18-24 hours, but never actually have an entire day where you do not eat (well for most people most of the time). There are many supposed ben Continue reading >>
