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“People are really excited about not eating these days. There are several variations of fasting or intermittent fasting diets floating around. Some proponents even bristle at the term "diet." It's a lifestyle, they say... usually in all caps on Facebook and Instagram.

The short-term effects seem pretty good, and weight loss is common. But what about the long-term effects? Researchers are now taking a look.


The New Study

In this study, researchers put subjects on an intermittent fasting plan consisting of every-other-day eating. In other words, one day of fasting, then one day of calorie-controlled eating. This was repeated for 3 months.

Note: The equivalent to this is often called "alternate day" fasting, and a quick Google search shows that lot of folks are trying it.

The Results

The subjects lost weight, but ironically gained abdominal fat, what some doctors call "central adiposity" in humans.

The cells of the pancreas that release insulin showed signs of damage

Markers of insulin resistance were detected.

Increased levels of cancer-causing free radicals were observed.

Researcher Ana Bonassa noted, "This is the first study to show that, despite weight loss, intermittent fasting diets may actually damage the pancreas and affect insulin function in normal healthy individuals, which could lead to diabetes and serious health issues."

“ Intermittent fasting (IF) first came on my radar almost a decade ago from several big names in the fitness and nutrition industry. Proponents talked about all the benefits which went beyond fat loss, like reduced blood lipids and blood pressure, reduced markers of inflammation, increased cellular turnover and repair, increased growth hormone and metabolic rate, etc.

So of course this piqued my interest not only for me but also my clients. And we all spent time trying variations of IF, including the common 16-hour fast with an 8-hour window of eating. We also did 24-hour fasts and 12-hour fasts.

I wanted to believe in this strategy, and for some it's still valid. But after giving it a fair shot, I found some fundamental issues with its effectiveness and practicality. Hunger suppression was one area that made me change my mind on IF.

A number of hormones that regulate hunger, appetite, and satisfaction are in play after a meal. For example, both leptin and insulin decrease hunger, giving your brain the message of satisfaction and "turning off" the need to eat.

A side effect of fasting is that, for some, these hormones get out of balance, leading you to become unresponsive to cues that tell you whether you're full and should stop eating. And if people alter their hunger hormones, they find themselves battling an uncontrollable appetite. Once they eat, the satiation cues telling them to stop won't register. Their appetites are insatiable. I know a number of people who have done IF and found that they've binged following fasting.

Another negative is the excess stress and insomnia from fasting. Any time you go without food for long periods you activate the flight or fight sympathetic nervous system and increase cortisol secretion in order for the body to mobilize energy stores.

For people who already have a lot of stress in their daily life (including training) fasting may increase it further, upping the body's cortisol levels, which has a number of negative effects. Cortisol is catabolic – it can break down muscle tissue and make it harder to build muscle. The combination of fasting and cortisol can produce obsessive thoughts about food which raises anxiety, causing a further release of cortisol.

High cortisol and the activation of the hypocretin neurons incite wakefulness, leading to insomnia. I experienced this and heard from others who did too.

Finally, a study by Bogdan looking at the effect of Ramadam fasting found significant alterations in testosterone release, suggesting an alteration in circadian function.

A lot of IF advocates will promote studies that show no drop in strength or lean mass from their fasting protocols. One 8-week study with natural bodybuilders did show that the test group and control group achieved similar results in strength and muscle mass. However, a big point is that testosterone and IGF-1 did decrease significantly in the fasting group.

I also struggled to be proactive both physically and mentally during specific points in the day when fasting. But this isn't uncommon; even IF advocates schedule meetings and other appointments during the feeding window.

Although there's evidence to support this protocol as a fat loss strategy, for me there are too many factors that make IF unsuitable because of how it affects stress, sleep, and testosterone production – all vital components in building muscle. Also, the inability to control your appetite and nutritional choices during the feeding windows can produce more problems than benefits.“

Again...

It's what one eats - in conjunction with Intermittent Fasting.

An "every Three hours" baby food diet, restricted to Eight hours a day?

... is still a baby food diet.


But, you gotta get that PhD in something, right?




GR

I work-out 2 times per week. I combine 22 minutes of cardio (running on treadmill, ~ 8 min miles) and upper body weights (bench press, dumbell press, tricep pull down and arm curls). At 53, I am in excellent shape. However, I struggle with insomnia. As noted above, the exercise is probably contributing to high cortisol levels--which is ultimately counterproductive as I struggle with energy on those bad nights. Unfortunately, I have to take sleeping pills, but I am working myself off of them and now only take them the night before a workout.

And fasting, whether Intermittent or Prolonged, on an "every Three hour" baby food diet?

... is actually Starvation.

The body is not utilizing its Adult capacity to use stored fat as energy.




GR

Calorie restriction - causes weight loss.

Whether it's fasting or starvation.

Diet determines which it is.

On a low carb Human diet, the Adult body, when faced with a deficit, will switch to stored fat for energy, seamlessly.

On an "every Three hour" baby food diet, however, the Adult body will go into withdrawals and Starvation.

Because the point of the baby food diet, from the Human standpoint, is to put on and store fat.


Education... is.




GR

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“While there is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes, this article explores how the condition is diagnosed, what symptoms it causes, the treatment options available and the outlook for individuals living with the condition.”

What about Type 2 Diabetes?

“ Mathieu Bouchard, N.D., said it best: "Nutritional ketosis is an essential survival mechanism that ensures metabolic flexibility during prolonged fasting or lack of carbohydrate ingestion." (1)

That's something people fail to understand. It means that the purpose of ketosis is to safeguard against starvation when energy intake is insufficient.

The body really doesn't want to be in ketosis. Think about it. If ketosis were a favored energy system, it would be the primary system we use all the time. Rather, glycolysis and fat oxidation are the primary energy systems. Ketosis is only there to help you survive when you can't fuel your body properly for a brief period.

Ketosis is like the spare tire of your car. It can "work," but it's not optimal for long-term use.

This is evidenced by several studies establishing that work capacity (especially in intense activities) goes down when using a ketogenic diet.



You can use fat for fuel without being in ketosis. In fact, you could eat 1000 grams of carbs per day and still use fat for fuel.

Remember, ketosis is a safety mechanism triggered to provide fuel for your brain in case of a glucose shortage. Yes, the body uses fatty acids to produce ketones. So, technically, ketosis does use fat for fuel. But not all of the fat usage for fuel is done through ketosis.

Most tissues requiring energy can use fat oxidation or glycolysis for fuel. The main exception is the brain. The brain can only use glucose or ketones for fuel, not fatty acids directly.

As long as the brain has enough glucose to work properly, there's no real need to resort to ketosis, which is more complex than using glucose. Glucose can come from the carbs you eat, but it can also be produced by breaking down protein into amino acids. The liver turns some of them into glucose.

That's why if your protein intake is really high, even if your carbs are close to zero, you might not get into ketosis: you have enough amino acids to produce glucose to fuel the brain.

The body will start producing ketone bodies significantly when carbs and protein intake are insufficient to produce the glucose required for the brain to work. That's why it's a survival mechanism. It happens when you don't ingest the nutrients required to fuel the brain. And having a functional brain is kinda important.

A lot of people claiming to be doing a "keto diet" might not actually be doing a keto diet. True keto recommendations normally include consuming at least 60-70% of your calories from fat.

Ketosis is NOT being "fat-adapted" (although it's a catchy concept). You can use fat for fuel just fine. What they call "fat-adapted" is simply your body producing enough ketones to fully fuel the brain – not having to break down muscle tissue to make some glucose to make up for the insufficient ketones.

In a nutshell, you can function on a backup generator, but it's not optimal.


I'm not going to make any friends here, but facts are facts. Keto and other low-carb diet approaches lead to higher cortisol levels, especially in response to training.

One study found a large cortisol increase in the first two days of low-carb eating. It became "less bad" after two weeks, but it was still higher than the higher-carb diet. (3)

Why? Well, the two key functions of cortisol are:

Mobilizing stored energy for fuel

Elevating blood glucose when it's too low

While number one is more dependent on caloric intake, number two is heavily influenced by carb intake. A diet leading to low blood glucose levels (any low-carb plan) will lead to higher cortisol and glucagon to mobilize stored glucose (as glycogen), or to break down muscle tissue into amino acids to have the liver convert them to glucose.

Why does it matter?

Because high cortisol makes it harder to build muscle.
High cortisol, over time, decreases the conversion of T4 (precursor of thyroid hormone) into T3 (active thyroid hormone), thus decreasing metabolic rate.
High cortisol can lead to lower testosterone and estrogen levels.
Not to mention, a low-carb diet leads to a lower work capacity during intense workouts. And, of course, keto dieting is inferior for muscle growth. I suspect that the higher cortisol is part of the reason, but not the only one.

"Yeah, but keto works great for me, bro!"

I'm not saying it can't work. And it's certainly better than how many people are eating. But don't let personal bias, emotional bias, or recency bias cloud your objectivity!”

That is an interesting site RC, thanks for the link.

You are the one that is failing to understand this.

The Adult Human diet is almost devoid of carbohydrates, save Seasonal fruit, which triggers a "gorge" response, to Store fat.

So the body runs comfortably from meal to meal, on fat, without Starving.


An "every Three hour" baby food diet, on the other hand, Triggers withdrawals and Starvation.


So, live as an Adult human... or an Infant.


Education... is.




GR

“ Here's one argument we often hear to support using a ketogenic or low-carb diet:

You have essential fatty acids and essential amino acids, but there are no essential carbohydrates!"

This is a classic case of something not meaning what keto proponents think it means. In their minds, it means that carbs are not needed in a diet; they're an inferior class of nutrient.

That's NOT what "non-essential" means in nutritional science:

Non-essential means the body can make something by converting other nutrients into it.
Essential means your body can't make it on its own from other nutrients. And because your body can't make it, you need to supply it via nutrition.
As for carbs (glucose), the body can make them by converting some amino acids into glucose – gluconeogenesis. The body can also convert lactate (lactic acid) into glucose. That's why they're called "non-essential." It has nothing to do with how important they are.

"Yeah, but I'll just let my body produce its own glucose from protein! No need to eat those nasty carbs; I'll just make up what I need!"

Sure, good luck with that. The body converts amino acids to glucose at a 30% efficiency rate (or less). To make it simple, to make up 160 grams of glucose – the daily amount necessary for the proper function of organs, not counting physical activity – you'd need to convert 530 grams of protein, or more, into glucose.

Good luck adding muscle if you need 530 grams of protein just to support glucose production!

The point? Yes, you can produce glucose from other substances, and that makes it non-essential. But it doesn't mean that carbs aren't necessary, especially if we're talking about a hard-training individual who wants to build muscle or perform at a high level.

This also doesn't account for the fact that carbs have physiological effects outside of simply providing energy: physiological effects (increases in IGF-1, mTOR activation, reduction in cortisol, etc.) that will not be present to a significant extent by converting other substances into carbs.

In short, carbs being "non-essential" does not make them a less important macronutrient.“

Starvation - depresses the metabolism.

Ketosis - the Natural method of consuming stored fat - enhances the metabolism - as it is a superior fuel to sugar.


Education... is.




GR

The Liver makes all the glucose the body needs - from protein.

An "every Three hour" baby food diet floods the body with excess sugar, packs a lot of it away as fat, and then crashes, leading to withdrawals/starvation.


Fasting - is simply allowing the Human body to work as evolved - eating low carb/high fat meals when encountered, and happily running on stored fat in between.


Education... is.




GR

And why call it an "every Three hour" baby food diet?

Grams Per 100 Calories: Protein / Fat / Carbs

Human milk - 1.5 / 5.5 / 11.0
Cheese Pizza - 4.5 / 3.6 / 11.7
Adult Keto - 5.9 / 8.0 / 0.58

Still wonder why babies, and adults on a baby food diet, eat every Three hours?

Nature.

And then some of us grow up.


Education... is.




GR

Who said anything about curing type 1 diabetes. Of course there in no cure for type 1 diabetes. In type 1 diabetes the pancreas does not produce insulin. Without insulin you die. But IM Fasting can certainly reverse Type II diabetes. There is theory and there is reality, Search the web long enough and you can find theory on anything. But the proof that is provided about IM Fasting from members on this site can not be disputed. You can call them liars if you like. But that doesn't mean their stories are not true. And the pic's posted are fake. IM Fasting may not be for everyone. If your physically fit, healthy and happy with your life. Then good for you, continue with what works for you. But unless you have Experienced turning around Type II diabetes, High blood pressure, inflammation, etc. getting off meds you have been on and getting your blood work completely back to within normal limits. Then don't try to tell people that what they have done is not going to work for them.

It already has. You might as well argue that the Sun didn't come up today. After reading some of the success stories that have been posted from fellow Fire members you should probably just say. Hey I'm happy for you. I am glad you got healthy, Just don't try to make me do what you do. JMO

“Myth 10: Artificial Sweeteners Make You Gain Weight

A few years ago, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center reported that diet sodas made people fat. In fact, they got pretty damn specific about it. They said that every can of soda you drink increases your chance of being overweight by 41%.

I'm not even sure exactly what the hell that means. Should we infer that drinking two and a half diet sodas at a Mets game would make our chance of being fat 102.5%, which means that it's a mathematical certainty and we should stop at the tailor on the way home to have our pants let out because the fat be-a-comin' soon?

Probably not. Anyhow, they had several theories as to why diet drinks might make you fat.

First, they said that exposure to sweetness (in artificially sweetened drinks) might increase the psychological desire for sweetness. Second, they figured that maybe people, upon feeling all proud and puffy-chested about having banked some calories, would then overcompensate by eating an entire Bundt cake or something.

Others thought that the artificial sweeteners, despite lacking any calories, might have an insulinogenic response and cause people to physically crave more sugar. All their guesses had the taint of plausibility around them. Too bad they were all wrong.

I won't bore you, but subsequent studies (Sorenson, 2014, Rogers, 2018) have found pretty much the opposite of the Texas study – people who drank diet sodas lost more weight than the sugar drinkers.

Bottom line, the calorie reduction you get from drinking diet drinks as opposed to sugar-sweetened drinks is more important than any of the theories about how diet drinks could supposedly make you ingest more calories.“

Chemicals - are always a good idea, when your "every Three hours" baby food diet makes you fat.

... like it's supposed to.

Ha!




GR