Four Simple Steps to a Healthier and Leaner Life
Many are jumping from diet to diet in pursuit of a thin and healthy body. Over the past eight years, GI (low-glycemic) and then LCHF, have been the most popular methods in Sweden. However, during the past few weeks intermittent fasting in the form of 5:2 (eat just 5-600 calories two days a week) has become hysterically popular.
The reason is likely that all three methods work. Furthermore, they work in a similar way.
The figure above is from a recent and worth-reading post by science writer Ann Fernholm:
You’ll Become Less Sweet with the 5:2 Diet (Google translated from Swedish).
Lifestyle for Weight Regulation and Health
The figure above shows how all versions of a low-carb diet (for example a low glycemic load diet, LCHF, Atkins or Paleo) will lower blood sugar and the fat storing hormone insulin. And so does intermittent fasting, such as 5:2 or 16:8. And so do exercise and adequate amounts of sleep and relaxation (by hormonal influence).
In other words, a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting, good sleep and exercise create a synergistic effect – for optimal weight and good health.
However, diet is by far the biggest piece of the puzzle when it comes to weight.
The Opposite
What about the opposite of this? A lifestyle that creates the worst conditions for maintaining a good weight and health?
This means living a lifestyle that most people in our modern society live today:
Lifestyle for Obesity and Disease
The figure above is also from Fernholm’s blog post, but I modified (improved) it a little.
What’s the best way to become fat and sick? There are four pieces of this puzzle.
- Eat a diet full of bad carbs and sugar (this includes all wheat flour foods – such as bread and pasta – which turns into glucose already in the stomach). Looking for low-fat products may facilitate weight gain (fat storing) as they often contain extra sugar/starch
- Make sure to eat at least every three hours (a sick piece of advice)
- Keep a continuously high stress level and sleep too little
- Don’t exercise
Conclusion
Follow the advice in the green figure to become thinner and healthier. Or choose the red ones for the opposite effect.
Which one of the green puzzle pieces is hardest for you to do?
More
Would You Like to Become Smarter, Healthier and Leaner by Putting in Less Effort?
Lose Weight by Reducing Stress
With regards to fasting and diabetes, I read with absolute fascination Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book Anti-fragile in which this former options trader lays out why fasting will cure diabetes and guess what? He's absolutely right! I have been treating type 2 diabetes with intermittent fasting for over a year with 90+% response rates.
The Bulletproof Coffee makes me feel great, and it makes my hormones in balance! I love it! It tastes like a creamy latte.
Which means low carb high fat will keep such meals further away than any other regimen, as it also automatically reduces calorie intake.
The reason IF cures diabetes - and heart disease - is two-step: fasting first empties glycogen stores in liver and muscles, then forces the burning of fat, which would be at least 50% visceral fat, the fat that is strongly correlated with insulin resistance, poor blood sugar control and heart diease....
If you eat a SAD (standard american diet) between fasting the high carb intake would
1/ replenish glycogen stores and if too much 2/ even store fat, and/or at create hunger when the blood sugar spike tails off in to a undershoot, often causing immediate failure.
Simply, real long term benefits of intermittent fasting can not easily be achieved on a SAD.
The progressive loss of visceral fat could be as powerful a healing agent as the SAD diet is the opposite when it progressively increases plaque deposits.
Why, because high blood sugar cause inflammation when over 5.0-5.5. Check what NFAT.is.
My son (who was debilitated by "ADHD" as a child) has had very good luck with the bulletproof coffee concept. He makes his with Yerba Matte and has found that it gives him a lot of energy in the morning. He offered some to a hung-over roommate and the friend actually got over his hangover with it. I am too "lazy" to go to the work of getting out the blender, but do well with coffee and cream in the morning, then don't eat again until late morning. I usually only eat twice a day, with an early dinner, then IF until the next day's brunch.
Thanks Doc and thanks to all the other bloggers who have helped me to find the right tools for me to lose the fat.
Michelle
Instead, I believe that insulin is the cause of both diabetes and obesity. Therefore, the reason these strategies work is that fasting and LCHF both lower insulin levels and therefore reduce both obesity and diabetes simultaneously. That's why this is such a great post by Dr. Eenfeldt. We need more people to spread the word.
***fast for 15hrs most days,
***read books instead of watch TV. also lower my internet time.
***Ride bike (long distances maybe 100km or 60miles)or kayak on weeknds.
*** shoot bow or guns with friends
***some weekends eat whatever i want for 1 day or sometimes 2 days
***maintain 11% bodyfat
***drink beer on weekend
***start again monday
***life is good
We make our bulletproof coffee with a handheld milk frother and it works like a charme! The blender is too much trouble in the morning in our family woth small children ;-)
Agree that there is no strong connection total obesity-diabetes. The connection visceral fat -diabetes-2 is however strong. Is any diabetic-2 without excess visceral fat (CT-scan) known ? Visceral fat is in turn best connected to waist circumference, but not to subcutaneous fat, clear from other studies, checked with CT-scan.
See http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7504/1363 for waist-insulin resistance correlation.
Regarding that visceral fat could be the cause of insulin resistance, it is based on professor Roy Taylor's intervention trials purposely reducing visceral fat by means of a short starvation diet. He measured VF before and after with CT scan and saw reductions of VF cover over pancreas with 25% . Of course the diabetes-2 could have been cured by some other effect, for instance by reduced liver fat through the diet. Liver fat often(?) goes hand in hand with visceral fat: Liver making triglycerides of excess carbs causes fatty liver (Not only for ducks and geese..., fois gras), and some(?) visceral fat at the same time. Knowing that visceral fat causes hormonal upsets it is near but not conclusive that VF is the culprit.
When you mention liposuction, was visceral fat around organs like heart and pancreas removed then? If yes, VF is not the culprit but something happening at the same time VF is reduced by means of a quick near starvation diet.
The actual mechanism becomes of pure academic value if professor Taylor's trials can be repeated as the solution to diabetes 2 is then available.
Then recently I started to check my blood sugar (BS) in mornings and found that it could go up over 6 , even 6.8 if I had not exercised day before or had 2 glass wines. With exercise or wine it was always below 5, sometimes even 3.9.
The same for a friend who has been a diabetes-2 for over 10 years.
This told me that the regulating organ, the pancreas may well be dysfunctional orget distorted readings as it produces glucagon to stimulate the liver to produce BS when it is already too high! That is one reason why I lean towards Taylor's theory that the pancreas is embedded "too deep" in VF.
Another organ that possibly also could become less powerful by VF is the heart: My resting heart rate (RHR) was 60 all my life until after I got CVD and it measured 80 !
RHR is also correlated to insulin resistance or waist measure. (The higher the less health.)
My RHR now dropped from 77 to 68 during 11 days intermittent fasting (23:1) !
If the heart becomes "wrapped" in excessive VF reducing effective stroke length the RHR then would need to rise to maintain same hourly flow.
If that explains rising RHR it would then be a very simple indicator of general health.
insulin --> visceral fat --> insulin resistance (diabetes).
I think that the link from visceral fat to diabetes is very tenuous. I think the link goes like this
insulin --> visceral fat
insulin --> insulin resistance (diabetes)
In either case, since 'starvation' (fasting) or LCHF reduces insulin, either hypothesis is true. In both cases, VF is tightly linked to diabetes as well. For instance, in this study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8422777
type 2 diabetes patients were tightly controlled in their blood sugars. Over 6 months they went from 0 to 100 units/day of insulin. What happened? they gained weight, but also their insulin resistance went up. Again, both hypotheses may be true, but I think that there is a direct link from insulin to insulin resistance. In other words, insulin causes insulin resistance, or insulin causes diabetes.
Why is this distinction important? Because we currently treat diabetic patients with insulin! So we are treating hyperinsulinemic patients with insulin - that will make the sugars better, but the diabetes worse. And I think this effect does not require the intervening step of visceral fat.
If you look at it this way, you see that the key to the treatment of diabetes is to lower insulin (which is too high). Either fasting or LCHF will work.
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2013/06/28/intermitt...
Perhaps you could try this for 30 days?
http://www.whole9life.com/2013/08/the-whole30-program/
I've found it very effective. I suspect dairy can be problematic.
Thank you while awaiting your kind response in this regards
And a investigation in Kronoberg Sweden found it was easy to get the wrong diagnose.
"Incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in adults and children in Kronoberg, Sweden"
http://www.diabetesresearchclinicalpractice.com/article/S0168-8227(08)00334-3/abstract
But heres the food regime;
http://www.fitintegrity.com/uploads/9/5/1/6/9516119/no_sugar_no_starc...
If you get that adapted to LCHF you often only eats twice a day, that IF or 16:8!
If you get able to use stored fat for long periods you can have 1 meal 1-2 days a week.
But I still think you have to get a better diagnosis?
Some people have problems whit Incretine hormons to.
Hi Maggie,
I'm not a nutritionist & learn everything I know through research & personal study. I thought it might help to know that Dr. Atkins, first well-known low carb advocate said, in one of his books, that if you weren't losing weight on a truly low-carb diet, it is most likely because your body has not switched from burning carbs to burning fats. He said some people are more resistant to this switch & need to drastically increase their intake of fat as their main source of calories until their body kicks in & begins burning fat for a while. After your body has fully switched to burning fat for a while you can begin to add some low carb foods back into your diet.
Have you ever used ketone testing sticks to see if you are burning fat? You can buy them at most places that sell diabetic supplies. Eating almost no carbs at all usually puts your body in a state of ketosis, which just means a state of burning fat instead of carbs. You can learn more about this by googling 'keto' or 'ketogenic' diet. (Do not confuse this with diabetic ketoacidosis; they are not at all the same; burning ketones is very natural & safe).
Check it out. It might be the answer you're looking for
michael garcia
Filipino
28yrs
Here is a TED talk by Dr. Sarah Hallberg (obesity specialist): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ
Dr. William Davis (cardiologist) has a blog: http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/
Dr. Fung talks about the two lies of diabetes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcLoaVNQ3rc
I get a lot of recipes from the Wheat Belly blog; I bought the book and the cookbook. I also get a lot of recipes from Low Carb Zen: https://www.lowcarbzen.com/
The “rules”
No GPS: No grains, no potatoes and no sugar.
No low fat or diet anything.
Eat real food (usually does not come in a box.)
Don’t eat anything you don’t like.
Drink lots of water
Have a craving for sugar? Eat fat. Feeling hungry between meals? Eat fat. Craving bread? Eat fat.
Of course, I make things more difficult because I don’t consume artificial sweeteners. I use Stevia and xylitol.
My favorite snack:
Chocolate Pudding
4 oz cream cheese
5 tbsp sour cream
5 tbsp whipping cream
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tbsp xylitol
Blend in blender. Add more sweetener and cocoa to taste. If it gets too thick, add more sour cream.
I leave it in the refrigerator and just eat a spoonful when I want something sweet or chocolaty.
Elana’s Pantry is also a good source for recipes but some of them call for agave syrup or some flours that are high on the glycemic index. I delete those and make substitutions. http://elanaspantry.com/
First of all I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU!!! To Andreas and Dr. Jason Fung for all the amazing information that has been put on the website. It really has answered a lot of questions I had during my weight loss efforts.
I am now just starting intermittent fasting 16:8 and I have just one question :
Is it just as effective for women as it is for men as I have read some articles that it may not be very effective for women???
Please help
Thank you in advance
If you want more information on fasting, I highly recommend Dr. Fung's video course on the membership site. You can try the membership for free for 30 days: http://www.dietdoctor.com/new-member