Intermittent fasting

[DMP1391]

Has anyone tried this before?

I am not overweight, I'm actually very skinny and light for my age. But amid countless health problems, like acid reflux, no gallbladder, liver disease etc I'm trying different methods of eating to see what works best. I like to mix up my diet to a little bit of everything...sometimes I'll do low carb, other times I'll do lowish fat, some days I do vegan, others I'll eat plenty of meat and eggs, mostly healthy grains and seeds yadda yadda. I have recently started drinking bone broth and find it as a great pick-me-up. I have heard people use it for intermittent fasting - just bone broth till a late lunch or dinner. So only eat 2 meals a day essentially. I have heard it can be very beneficial for health and for me it would serve a huge convenience as I need to mostly eat my own cooking, so if I could train my body to go most of the day at work fasting it would save me having to constantly prepare and worry about what I'm gonna eat when I'm out of the house.

Are there any real benefits to fasting, should I try it?

[SilverDreamMachine]

Hi DMP,

Our bodies have been developed over millennia and that development is very slow. Most of our species lifetimes have been in caves (approx 80+%). So imagine the life style your body is best suited to. I'd suggest that the life of hunter gatherers is akin to feast and famine, so fasting should suit are bodies processes. Ask yourself when 3 meals a day arrived in our history and I think you'll find it was in the last few % of our lifetime history. I'd give it a try and see if it is beneficial or not. I could mention processed food in the same light, but I'd better stick to your point.

Peter

[DMP1391 in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

Hi Peter, Thanks for your words.

I believe you have a strong point. I feel that with so many dedicated diets a lot of us still struggle because our bodies simply weren't designed to eat as much food as we do. The more we eat over time the more our bodies burn and begin craving more and more. 3 meals a day with snacks in between definitely feels like too much. It's a culture taught to us by recent generations of poor eating habits and commercial interests.

I'll give it a try and see if I can at least cut 1 meal from my day or significantly limit it to just some broth and juice. Will keep updated on progress. And don't worry I don't touch anything that is processed. I'm pretty much 100% whole-food eater.

[noname2 in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

Three meals a day probably only started about 500 years ago. Less than one quarter of one percent of humans in their present form. If you think about it, it's ridiculous to eat on a regimented schedule. Eat when you're hungry.

[Zest]

Hi DMP1391 ,

I have tried intermittent fasting in the past - e.g. I tried the 5:2 diet for a while, but I found that I didn't get on with it too well, as I tended to feel a bit faint and bad-tempered on the lower calorie days.

Nowadays I 'fast' after my evening meal - i.e. I always try to eat as early as I can in the evening, and then I don't have any snacks or further foods until my breakfast the next day, and I've found that to be really helpful - and I find that I have sustainable meals for my breakfast, lunch and evening meal. I often have a mid afternoon snack as well. I find it works well.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Zest

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Zest]

Do you get hypoglycemia if you don't eat right away, Zest ?

[Zest in reply to Activity2004]

No, I don't think so, Activity2004 - I don't eat anything from the early evening to the next day, and occasionally I'll miss a breakfast - and it doesn't give me any ill-effects. The occasions when I tried the 5:2 - I found that eating less calories on the 2 'fasting days' - the recommended calories for those 2 days were just 600 calories - it just wasn't sufficient food for me. I eat on average about 2,200 calories, daily - at present, and I do quite a lot of exercise, so I'm quite 'active'. I think I didn't get on with eating less calories - hence why I didn't stick with the 5:2 diet for more than about a week or two.

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Zest]

Not all diets are the same for everyone. Some work well for some people-- while some can not be.

[SilverDreamMachine in reply to Zest]

Hi Zest,

Did you spread the 2 low cal days over a week or one after the other?

[Zest in reply to SilverDreamMachine]

I did them one after the other.

[SilverDreamMachine in reply to Zest]

I've never been on this 5:2 diet, but I believe you are advised to spread the 2 low cal days over the week. This should eliminate your weak feeling on the second day.

[Hidden]

I've been on every diet going & lost weight only to put it back on & more, I started with IF in January 16 hours fasting 8 hours eating & have lost 1st 9lb with a few weeks maintaining but never put any back on, I've still got a long way to go but stopping dieting is the best thing I have ever done 😜 I eat natural wholesome , all food groups including home made treats & wine too, I also don't really count calories as I only eat 2 meals a day, occasionally 3 so I don't really over eat anymore x

[noname2]

I see nothing wrong with intermittent fasting. our bodies are built for it. That's why we store fat in in the first place. If you do it, be sure to keep your electrolytes up. Bone broth is perfect. or take magnesium citrate and potassium supplements. If you don't keep your electrolytes up you will feel tired and weak. And you'll get muscle cramps.

[Agoodenough]

Hi, I think fasting can be good for you if you can do it. I had bad acid reflux and this was resolved when I became vegan. For me the best diet is vegan. I think it's the healthiest diet. I thought about doing the fasting but I know I would be too hungry. Like you I have also done the low carb high fat diet which I really liked and was good for stripping off any extra weight but it's not sustainable long term. Good luck!

[DMP1391 in reply to Agoodenough]

I went on a vegan diet in response to a host of health problems too (including acid reflux as well) and it worked very well for me also. I'm still mostly vegan but I occasionally consume home-grown animal products, because I realized that a lot of vegan options I ate too much of (like grains, buckwheat, potatoes etc) can also be detrimental to health, and aggravated my condition further. So I like to mix it up.

[BadHare]

I stick to time restricted eating at home with a HF/LC diet. I rarely eat before 11 or after 7pm rather than have two separate fasting days which suits some other people better. Initially it was a way to prevent weight gain when I had undiagnosed hypothyroidism, then I found it helped other health conditions. Here's a few articles I've posted previously:

the-scientist.com/?articles...

verywell.com/eating-for-hea...

chriskresser.com/could-you-...

my.chriskresser.com/ebook/h...

[Lantyrn]

Firstly, there are no healthy grains. Sorry, Vegans, Vegetarians. Bone broth is a GREAT choice. I would try Paleo or Keto "diets". A high fat, low carb breakfast means I don't feel hungry when at work (8-9 hours); whilst my colleagues are constantly eating their fruit and sandwiches, crisps, biscuits, cakes, soft drinks; plus they're cold (and run down) in winter due to the carbs producing very little to no heat (unlike fat).

You mentioned genetics in another post. Don't get too hung up on the genetics thing; thinking that you're stuck and doomed. Doctors, in their restrictive sandbox thinking often point to genetics when they're puzzled over why certain conditions present themselves.