My last two posts, Leptin: The Master Fat Switch and Leptin and Meal Timing, explain how I recently heard about leptin for the first time and learned that insulin-resistant Type 2 Diabetics may be able to deal directly with leptin resistance in order to restore a level of insulin sensitivity adequate for significant weight loss and normalized blood sugars.
I tried the Leptin Diet for about four weeks, eating only 3 times per day with no between-meal snacks, while trying to allow at least four or five hours of non-eating time between meals. The result was significant: my fasting blood glucose level (BGL) dropped about 50 points (from a typical range of 250-300 mg/dL to something like 200-250 mg/dL).
As I was reading about leptin sensitivity and meal timing, I got to thinking about the increased time lapse between meals. The recommendation is to allow at least 5 hours between meals if you can manage it, and 10-12 hours or more between dinner and breakfast. I had to wonder if skipping a meal or two, or even plain old fasting would offer any added benefit in terms of improving leptin sensitivity.
About a week ago, I was reading Dr. Michael Eades blog, coauthor of Protein Power, and noticed a category in the right column called Intermittent Fasting. I had no idea if this Intermittent Fasting (IF) would have anything to do with improving insulin or leptin sensitivity, but I clicked on the link.
Dr. Eades’ blog has six posts in the Intermittent Fasting category. He introduces the topic like this:
How would you like it if I told you there was a way to eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted to eat and still maintain your health? Or better yet, what if I told you that you could eat pretty much anything and everything you wanted and even improve your health? Would you be interested? I figured as much.
There is a way to reduce blood sugar, improve insulin sensitivity, reduce blood pressure, increase HDL levels, get rid of diabetes, live a lot longer, and still be able to lose a little weight. All without giving up the foods you love. And without having to eat those foods in tiny amounts. Sounds like a late-night infomercial gimmick, but it isn’t.
Before I get to the real nitty gritty of how such a thing can be done, let’s look at a method that has been proven in countless research institutions to bring about all the above-mentioned good things. It’s called caloric restriction.
Now, when he says caloric restriction he isn’t talking about a typical calorie-restricted diet that you or I might have followed before we learned about Low Carb. He means severe caloric restriction: like limiting daily caloric intake to what would normally be considered near-starvation. The benefits are great, but the practice is harsh. Exceedingly harsh.
Apparently, further studies indicate that alternating days between this severe caloric restriction and normal eating yields the same benefit to the dieter as continuous caloric restriction. It has also been observed that the total caloric intake over the alternating cycle doesn’t matter. The calorie-restricted day seems to gain the same benefits for the dieter, even if the entire calorie deficit is compensated for by overeating on the alternate unrestricted day. This practice of alternating eating days with days of fasting or severe caloric restriction is known as Intermittent Fasting.
Many people, myself included, prefer fasting to eating very limited amounts of food. When I was younger I used to practice regular fasting, primarily for religious reasons, but had stopped almost completely because I thought I couldn’t manage it with my blood sugar issues as they were. Boy was I wrong! Not only can I manage it, but it is making me healthier, faster than anything I have tried in a long time (Vitamin D also made big, huge, immediate difference in my health – I’ll have to post about that soon).
It was last Wednesday that I found Dr. Eades posts on intermittent fasting, and I gobbled them up in only a couple of hours. I googled IF and read more about it, and decided to try it right away. There seemed to be multiple options available that might yield improved leptin activity, weight loss and better overall health.
Some practice IF quite literally, planning their food schedule on alternate calendar days, taking food one day, and then fasting or eating little on the next. Some people eat as many as 700 calories on their down days and 5,000 on their up days, without any weight gain or negative health outcomes. Though I do not know how long this can be continued.
One guy has a 5/19 plan: he eats whatever he wants during a 5-hour window (I think he eats from 4-9 pm) and then fasts for the other 19 hours, taking only water and salt. Another plan is to eat breakfast and lunch one day, and then eat dinner the next. This way, you get to eat something every day, and you can plan social engagements for all the different meals on one day or another. Some people practice a more free form IF, and simply try to eat as infrequently as possible, without any restrictions when they do eat.
Dr. Eades has this to say:
Now, based on the IF research data, MD [i.e. his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades] and I are of the opinion that a Protein Power style diet interspersed with a little fasting is probably the optimal diet. We ourselves follow this diet. We eat one meal a day sometimes, a couple of meals others, and sometimes three squares. If we’re not hungry we don’t eat. We try to fight off the culturally induced feelings of, Oh, it’s lunchtime, so we must be hungry: let’s eat.
When my blood sugar started to go wrong, the first thing I did was place myself on a regular feeding schedule that I thought would help normalize my blood sugar. I ate several times a day, whether I was hungry or not, because I was convinced I needed constant nutrition to avoid blood sugar surges. I’m sort of embarrassed now that I kept at it for so long when it was so clearly not working! Oh well! I’m not the first one to believe this apparent error, and unfortunately, I will not be the last either.
I decided to begin IF by skipping one or more meals per day, simply trying to eat as infrequently as possible, but eating at least one meal on every calendar day. I threw out the old admonition against skipping breakfast, and stopped eating breakfast. I also skipped lunch every other day or so. I had some social engagements on the weekend, so I ate when I was with others, and skipped meals that I would have eaten alone. I ended up eating breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and lunch and dinner on Sunday.
I want to eat as infrequently as I can for a while, until my blood sugar normalizes, which I truly believe it will now, and fairly quickly I think. Earlier in this blog, I told you my typical fasting BGL had dropped about 50 points over the last month. After only 7 days of IF, my fasting BGL has dropped another 50 points, falling somewhere in the range of 150-200 mg/dL. This morning it was 143 mg/dL, which is the lowest I have seen it in about 5 years. I am really starting to LOVE Intermittent Fasting!
I am off to such a great start!!! For maybe the first time in my life, I feel like I have made a significant difference in my health in only about 6 weeks. My clothes are loosening, even my three-years-ago black jeans that I have been unable to wear for, well, … a while. You know what I mean!? I expect to see some changes on the scale before too much longer as well. Oh Happy Day!!
This is the end of my series on Leptin, Meal Timing and Intermittent Fasting. I’ll post updates to let you know how my blood sugar is doing.
Lovin’ It Low Carb
Ramona Denton
The books and resources listed are suggestions. Their presence on this list is not necessarily an endorsement.
The Leptin Diet
The Leptin Diet Website
Mastering Leptin: Your Guide to Permanent Weight Loss
and Optimum Health (Third Edition)
by Byron J. Richards and Mary Guignon Richards
The Leptin Diet: How Fit Is Your Fat?
by Byron J. Richards
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent Fasting Archive of Dr. Michael Eades’ Blog
coauthor of The Protein Power Lifeplan
Mark’s Daily Apple Blog, by Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint
Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor’s Program for Conquering Disease
by Joel Fuhrman M.D.
The Alternate-Day Diet
by James B. Johnson M.D.
The QOD Diet: Eating Well Every Other Day
by John T. Daugirdas
Fasting
This is one of my all-time favorite books about fasting:
Fasting Can Save Your Life by Herbert Shelton. It seems to be out of print, but your local library may have a copy you can borrow if you’re interested. There are a few copies available at Amazon if you follow my link.
Protein Power
Coming in September: A new book by Dr. Michael R. Eades and by Dr. Mary Dan Eades, coauthors of Protein Power
The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle:
The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast!
Always consult your doctor or healthcare professional
before intiating a program that involves fasting
or severe calorie restriction.
~ : o : ~
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