I came across this article regarding fasting. It sounds too good to be true, but... I am inclined to go ahead and give it a try. Perhaps closer to my next CBC check, so I can see the results, if any. Meantime I intend to continue my 16 to 18 hrs a day intermittent fasting regimen coupled with very low carb / keto eating. I keep the carb levels of what I eat in this range, though it is nothing pleasant and it does require no small effort to say no to the many tasty high carb foods available. I do strength train a lot, I am in good shape so far and I hope to slow disease progression this way while still early into my CLL journey. I am 53, have HCMBL.
Written by
LeoPa
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Yes, 4+ days before the blood draw. My serum glucose was 3.89 😁 or so. But I do not know whether it helped with my lymphocyte numbers or how much exactly because there was no blood draw before I started the fast.
OK, thanks.
For more detailed info, Try Looking up "fasting" with any of the following: Rhonda Patrick, Jason Fung, Valter Longo, Nadir Ali.
thanks, I read all of them except Ali from time to time. While I Iike and respect Longo I have a problem with his FMD. It is not a real fast but a starvation diet. A real fast is 0 calories.
No argument regarding your personal preference, though I have to give Longo credit for his kinder gentler FMD potentially being more palatable to those who don't want hard core zero calorie fasting. And, that he is specifically researching effects on cancer, chemo and is looking to do a clinical trail related to CLL.
yes, I especially like his pre/during chemo fasting experiments and the conclusions drawn. I hope not to have to use them but I plan to use them if and when the time comes.
Yes, or High Count Monoclonal B Cell Lymphocitosis. I am in the waiting room for now. Once I graduate and reach 5000 monoclonal B cells in a microliter of blood I'll become a full member 🤔 of the fraternity which I still hope will not happen at all. For now my ALC is 4.7 and the monoclonal ones are about 2500. Trying to keep them in check the best I can.
As bad as it sounds on the face of it, I hope you do not become a full-blown member, too. The pace is said to be about 1-2% a year for some. Best wishes for being as indolent as possible in the cancer area--gotta be a bit more active in physical, though to keep as healthy as possible. It looks like you have all that in your sights.
My experiences with fasting have always been positive. I did my first water-only fast for 7 days about 50 years ago. (I'm 73 now). So I've done them without CLL and with CLL. The longest fast has been 10 days, but there are medically supervised fasting clinics that will fast people for 20 or 30 days depending upon their ailment and how much repair the body needs.
The key to fasting is that the body is a self-repairing organism, and while in the fasting state the body can really do its work while not having to use much of its resources for digestion and processing of proteins, fats and carbs.
Autophagy is a natural process of the body, but fasting keeps autophagy in full swing. Phages seek out and 'eat' any foreign substance or cells that are not necessary for survival. As we age, we accumulate a lot of senescent cells which are also dispensed with. This is useful because a senescent cell is one that remains alive but is no longer capable of performing any useful duties. They create inflammation in the body which is best avoided.
I only fast when the weather is warm as my body gets too cold in winter without food. I try and do a fast every year but sometimes I miss a year because I'm too active with other things. On a 10 day fast, it's good to rest as much as possible.
Re-feeding is just as important as the fast itself, so it is important to be well-informed about both fasting and re-feeding. A 3-day fast is safe and easy for anyone, but longer than that requires an education or professional supervision. Especially if we are either sick or aged.
I endorse Hawkeagle's suggested reading list (or YouTube watching). These people all know what they are talking about. There are others as well who run fasting clinics.
As I've mentioned before, I am doing this but it is very important to eat enough protein as this can't be stored by the body, also good fats and drink enough water. X
Your muscles are your stored proteins Floxxy. During a fast 0 calories can be ingested. That's why it's a fast and not a hypocaloric diet. It's for a limited duration of time and the full benefits of it can be reaped only when doing it properly. A starvation diet does not have the same effect. It's a different thing altogether. The worst of both worlds because it can not be maintained indefinitely and does not have the benefits of a real fast. There is no way to cheat one's way around it 😑
To elaborate a bit more, the difference is that a starvation diet puts the body into a calorie sparing regime. It tells the body that famine is approaching and it needs to save every calorie available. Thus the body goes into survival mode, reduces body temperature, makes one feel tired and sit around all day and it ramps up the fat storage process. People actually gained weight during a starvation diet while feeling cold, tired and beaten down at the same time. As opposed to it during fasting the flood gates of stored body fat open up because a real fast signals the body that the famine is here, time to use up the stored energy and to release lots of it, because you need to go secure some food else you will die soon enough. At the same time autophagy kicks in to use up and recycle everything available inside the body. Bacteria, viruses, damaged cells, old cells are attacked and broken down first to be used for energy. If the fast lasts long enough there go the healthy cells, muscle, etc. and one dies of hunger in the end.
Yes sorry I should have made myself clear, I'm talking about IF which I do 18:6 where you get autophagy during the 18 hour phase. I hope it goes well for you. X
What is a 18:6 fasting? I do intermitant fasting most days. Nothing to eat or drink between 6pm and 11 or 12am the next day except water. That is very easy. How long do you have to fast for results?
I agree with you. CLL is a blood cancer in which reduces your bone marrow function to produce red blood cells and palettes. All of your cells are made from protein and require replenishment of protein. Not consuming enough protein may be speeding up one's CLL.
Big Dee, where did anyone argue for insufficient protein intake? Protein intake is tightly regulated by the body You don't eat enough and you crave it. Boiled eggs and steak start looking like manna from heaven. You overeat them and you feel sick to the stomach. No need to worry about those. Whatever protein the body needs it will quickly release from your muscles. The more of those you have the better.
Hi Big Dee. Understood. The storage house for protein is our muscles. Most everyone has enough of it except some skinny fat dieters who do it all wrong and anorexic models and of course severely ill people who are not to start anything without proper medical supervision.
Thank you for this information, really interesting.
I think that the immune system needs all the help we can provide, especially with all the procedures we are expected to follow with cleanliness, I feel this too can destroy the immune system.
Thanks so much for sharing this. There is more and more evidence that fasting, whether hard core or gentler, is very good for us and should never be regarded as a “fad”. These doctors have done so much research.
I’ll definitely continue with the couple of days fasting I do and also get Dr Longo’s book.
The trouble with low carbon diets is that we need them as they are the main source of energy: They help fuel our brain, kidneys, heart, muscles and central nervous system.
The fibre keeps our digestive system healthy.
I did a low carb diet some years ago and my kidneys paid the price. I am classed as stage 3 kidney disease. Unlike the liver they cannot rejuvenate.
actually that sounds like you did a high protein diet which can be damaging if done incorrectly. that's why it's important to either have a nutritionist supervising or enough knowledge gathered about the topic. there is no such thing as essential carbohydrates, the body can run beautifully on fat and produce the minimum necessary carbs for the brain and heart through gluconeogenesys during fat breakdown. But very low carb slash keto is another topic and a complex one at that. Fasting is not about low carb. It can still be moderate carb. I eat 2 meals a day. Around midday and at around 1800. All calories ingested have to fit into those 2 meals. The hardest part is the NO SNACKS IN BETWEEN. Only plain water, tea or coffee. All plain. So there are 2 fasting windows in between the meals. As long as one keeps portion size in control it does not really matter if he eats moderate, very low or near zero carbs. Just a reminder, very low carb and keto means about 85% of calories consumed as fat, which is the cleanest fuel source. It's not by random chance that the body stores energy in the form of fat around our waste lines. It is the preferred source of fuel for the body. Sugar is utilised for energy first, true, but only because elevated sugar levels are toxic and the body wants to get rid of the excess sugar from the blood as fast as possible. Sugar is addictive, it stimulates the same areas in the brain that illegal drugs do. That's why nearly nobody is able and willing to give it up.
with intermittent fasting, yes. but the intensity will suffer somewhat as HIIT is fuelled by sugars mostly. it depends from how many hours passed since the last meal. during a multiday fast, I don't think so, but I did not do more than 36 hours yet and I fast that long on an off day so can't say from my own experience.
thanks, don't forget to do a post with the results if any pls. my only concern is that these studies are a couple of years old and seem to have no continuation. perhaps the results were not as good as expected? I have friends who routinely do 3 to 5 day fasts and swear by it but they don't have CLL. I am curious to find out if it can help us. plan to do it before my next CBC sometime in November. hopefully it will prove beneficial or at least not harmful. we'll see.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
An interesting article on Covid
Side effects of Booster for CLL'rs
The power of exercise
side effects of ibrutinib - bladder pressure?
