fatty acids are attached to a glycerol molecule to make a triglyceride, the storage form of fat. The bonds that attach the fatty acids to the glycerol are a type of bond called an ester bond. When these fats come off the glycerol molecule (i.e., the ester bonds are broken) the fats are de-esterified. When they come back together, they are re-esterified.

I did not make myself clear in the question I asked you about how long does one need to fast before a test for the amount of insulin in the blood after a fast. I apologize, and I also apologize for asking again, but I am going to have a measure of the insulin in my blood taken, and the individual doing the test does not have a good handle on how long I should fast before the blood draw. How long did you tell your patients to fast?

Also, I read a post above from somebody who wonders how people do the PPLP long term without falling prey to carb foods or meals. We have been on it four years now, and it seems to get easier with time. I don’t have the foods in the house, basically, and we never eat out. I cook three low carb meals per day, and snacks are nuts or cheese, and occasionally low carb ice cream. I mean occasionally, because that stuff is expensive, as is the low carb bread that I stopped buying. Carb foods make us so sick that on my birthday this past January, i made a tiny homemade birthday cake and we pitched most of it. When you really look at other people, even small children, and see the effects of carb eating, it turns you off to it even more. For awhile, bread and pie and so forth was so alluring, because I make all that stuff homemade and it IS tasty, but you get so weary of the resulting nausea, stomach pain and bloating and swollen hands and feet that you just get past most dietary vacations. Food in restaurants and carb loading in the grocery stores, as the economy worsens, seems to be getting worse, anyway. Just stay home and cook for yourself and the habit will come on its own. robyn cardy

Sorry if I misunderstood. I had my patients fast for about 12 hours (overnight) before checking their fasting insulin levels.

I have a question. How long does a person need to fast before having a fasting insulin blood test? This is the only test I can get my insurance to pay for– they balked at the other tests described in Protein Power. No one seems to know how long the fast prior to the test should last. What did you used to recommend for your patients in the old days?

thanks for your help. robyn cardy

If you want to see what happens during the intermittent fast, you should get your insulin checked before you start. I always checked my own patients before they started the program and then again 6 weeks into it to see the changes.

Hi Theresa–

MRE

Hey Richard–

MRE

I suspect you are right, but Gary did say there was some interest from the NIH.

MRE

A question I have – in the book Taubes mentions certain populations like the post-war Asians that manage to NOT gain weight on high carb diets…presumably due to calorie restriction. Yet, at the same time he makes the case that an obese person isn’t likely to reduce weight on a high carb restricted calorie diet, or the Amerind populations that become obese eating such diets, or animal experiments showing obese animals can actually starve, while remaining obese, on a restricted calorie diet. These observations are somewhat contrary and given his ideas on explaining things simply and through empirical observations I wonder how this issue is reconciled.

I think these notions have to do more with the difference between gaining and losing weight. I’m not sure the Amerindian population on the reservations were on calorically restricted diets. But I don’t think the composition of their diets was such that they would provide for growth for children, resulting in a situation in which the adults were obese and the children starving.

MRE

Yep, I heard from him a few days ago. He said that the talk went well and that he spent about 30 minutes after talking to people at the NIH in charge of grant giving. He is working on funding for a couple of studies to confirm or refute his hypothesis, but so far, no takers.

MRE