Comments on: Inflammation and intermittent fasting

By: pam

pam — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:06:04 +0000

Hi, Dr. Eades,

I just found your wonder site via search engine & bookmarked it.

re. fresh meat & scurvy, as an “antarctic geek”, i have read quite a few books on early antarctic exploration/

when vitamin C was a hypothesis. for a while, some thought it was spoiled food that caused it. so Caption Scott’s team ate mostly canned food hence scurvy, perhaps Vitamin B deficiency as well in 3 months. & all perished.

While captain Shackelton believed in fresh meat (esp. organ meat). his team were on stranded on the ice for 18 months. they ate mostly a meat diet. no one got scurvy.

Amundson trained with Innuits so his team also ate fresh meat. also didn’t get scurvy.

i also heard that early Chinese ocean explorers in 15 century just carried beans & let
them sprout on board. so they didn’t get scurvy.

anyway, you may have known these.

regards,

By: mary titus

mary titus — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:30:59 +0000

Dr. Eades, Finally I read this blog and was quite blown away to learn how sinificant vitamins such as B12 and folic acid levels improve during fasting. As you know I have been practicing this for nearly 3 years. Now, I have come to the point in my low carb journey, where I need to come to a better understanding of what supplements I need to take and how I can improve low carb lifestyle. I have recently been diagnosed as pre-diabetic and anemic although I am quite healthy. The doctor wants me to adhere to my low carb lifestyle but I want to venture further into my journey to see how intermittent fasting affects my glucose.

Although I am anemic according to saturation and ferritin levels, I feel great. I understand the low B12 levels can affect my iron levels and was considering increasing my vitamin B12. However, I am questioning that decision now that I see that fasting can increase these levels naturally. Also, I have read that people who do various versions of IF have a natural tendency of higher glucose levels. That being the case, should highlight the importance of restricting sugar intake. I like intermittent fasting and plan on sticking with it for quite some time. I just want to share where I am at present with my journey.

Thanks Doc,
Mary

By: Joseph Gentzel

Joseph Gentzel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:43:13 +0000

Hi Dr. Eades
This is an old blog so I am not sure it is still being followed, but let me query it anyway in hopes.
First I arrive here with a bit different mindset i.e. concerned with the inflammatory factors of food ingested and the ratios of Omega 3 fatty acids VS Omega 6 fatty acids. I reading much of the info on IF I am fascinated by the anti inflammatory response of the body and think it has real merit to be combined as part of the process of eating and living to a good health result. But I wonder about some of the discussion on present diet if the food choices had been determined by its inflammatory properties and how the total diet played out in the Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratios how it would have changed some of the decisions and then of course the results of the responses to food eaten. I personally have lost aobut 70 pounds since April 2009 just watching the inflammatory factors of foods and keeping my diet positive in an anti inflammatory way. I have also used the diet approach with fish oil for the mega omeaga 3 boost to dogs diets and am sucessfullly treating several inflammatorty based problems. I have taken two dogs off phenobarbitol for epilepsy and made remarkable improvment in another dogs severe cerebellar function to the point I have pulled his quality of life back up that I an no longer considering sending him over the bridge because of the constant trauma he was causing himself. I digress here too muchI think IF has a place here with both humans and our animals.
BTW there is some very good scientific data to document that type II diabetes is caused from the inflammatory status and not the fat itself (although fat produces inflammation into the body directly as well). Fat is an inflammatory disorder and should be looked upon as such. Until we do that the obesity epidemic will continue to exacerbate in every area and group. If IF deminished inflammation that in itself is a wonderful modality and with as much as a 20 residual, that is a true blessing that we should be able to harness and use with a proper diet that continues to stimulate anti inflammatory actions of our God given bodies. .
BTW I have driven down my hsCRP from 4.9 to just over 2 and my HDL/TG ratio is now 1.7 and I am still 275 pounds with a BMI of 39.7 (a lot better than where I began at 49.2 in April) I am using fish oil to help as well. Too much good news here to tell it all, I just want to share for the benefit of others.

By: Alfredo Echavarria

Alfredo Echavarria — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:01:36 +0000

Hi Dr. Eades. I just jointed your blog and I am very much impressed at the amount of work and knowledge you put into answering ALL comments. It is unbelievable. I know what it means since I am also a webmaster. I see you also have a nice Alexa Ranking, 50.000. That is something you don�t get overnight.

Congratulations,
Alfredo E.

By: Rabbi Hirsch Meisels

Rabbi Hirsch Meisels — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:06:53 +0000

Would one need to consume double the amount of protein your books suggest all in the one eating day? i.e. someone who needs to consume 100 grams of protein daily, would they need 200 grams daily with an alternating IF schedule?
Thanks for answering (if you get to it)

By: Melissa McDowell

Melissa McDowell — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 13:48:52 +0000

Is “fasting” while awake any different than not eating when you’re asleep? My family routinely at dinner at 5:30 pm and then that was it until breakfast, which was rarely before 7am,. We were not a snacking family. That would be 13 hours at a stretch, no hardship because you’re asleep for most of it anyway. These days my evening workout doesn’t even get me home for dinner until after 9pm, so even a small dinner means eating within an hour or two of bedtime, and only 9 or 10 hours.

It seems to me there must be some difference as I would have thought many, if not most, people have at least 12 hours between their last meal and their breakfast the next day.

By: Lyn P

Lyn P — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:55:00 +0000

Great article: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/54/6/1615?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=brownlee&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Thanks!

This is a terrific article that came out four or five years ago. Well worth reading.

By: Andrea L.

Andrea L. — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:52:26 +0000

Dr. Eades,

I was excited to stumble on your blog while researching fasting, as I am very impressed with Protein Power Lifeplan and use it as my nutrition and weight loss basic text.

I have lost 50 pounds and normalized my blood glucose with a low-carb 1500-calorie diet, but seem to be stalled at this point. I’d like to try the intermittent fasting. I would also like to follow the fast my church prescribes, which is no animal products from now until Christmas. I can’t eat soy or gluten, and nuts are too high in fat to get adequate protein without going over my calorie limit. Are there any vegan foods which can provide enough protein without excessive carbs or calories? What would be the likely result of two weeks of every-other-day fasting with limited protein?

Thank you.

Andrea

As far as I can tell, about all you can supplement with is rice protein powder. You would probably do okay on that from now until Christmas.

By: Mary Titus, Orange California

Mary Titus, Orange California — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:21:46 +0000

Well, I have to say that this is the first time I actcually read the entire study and I am amazed. I also would like to add that I have been IF since April 2007 and I honestly believe that my fibroid tumors are gone. Up until about 2 months ago, I cramped during and between periods. The exciting part is that I haven’t been cramping between periods but cramps are barely even noticeable during menses. My tummy even seems flatter and much less gassy. Also, I am working with people who all have the flu yet I remain disease free and guess who did not get the flu shot this year. I’m just sayin”…

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:16:45 +0000

Dr. Mike;

Is it possible that a confounder in the CR studies was nutrient density versus calorie amounts? what I mean is that could the agent of benefit be not so much the calories, but the nutrient density of foods that has the most benefit? Gary Null mentioned this once long ago and I never heard it fully addressed anywhere.

Thanks!
BMC

Most studies of CR use food of the same nutrient density, but just less of them in the CR arm. So, although consuming foods with the greatest nutritional density is a good thing, I’m not sure it really figures in to the CR equation.