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RECOMMENDED CONCISE

Diets for weight, heart, and diabetes

Concise Dietary Recommendations for health, and to fix/prevent IR, NAFLD, MeS, T2D, Obesity, AS, & CVD (Definitions in Section #4)   --    10/23/16 -- http://healthfully.org/rc/id21.html  short 1-4

 

AS         Atherosclerosis

 

KOL      Key opinion leader

ATP       Adenosine triphosphate-energy molecule

 

MeS      Metabolic syndrome

CVD      Cardiovascular disease

 

NALFD  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

IR          Insulin resistance

 

T2D       Type 2 Diabetes

Healthy Diet

Increase

Decrease

Avoid

Saturated and monounsaturated fats (animal fats, lard, & butter are best, followed by palm kernel, coconut, and olive oils), fiber, leafy vegetables, egg, peanuts, , fish, free-ranging beef, nuts, whole milk dairy products including cheese, plain yogurt, and cottage cheese, breakfast protein mix, whole grain products[1], beans­,

Meats & poultry unless free ranging[2], large portions of fruits especially melons, bananas, grapes, raisins, and dates[3]. 60 grams of protein male, 45 female daily ideal.

Fructose, sugar added foods[4], fruit juices,[5],polyunsaturated and transfats, vegetable oil [6], refined carbohydrates, whole wheat4, large portions of carbs and fruit, potatoes, rice, instant breakfast cereals, alcoholic drinks, artificial sweeteners[7]    

Vinegar,[8] high fiber cereal,[9], tomatoes juice, Karo corn syrup or sorbitol as sweeteners.

Fried foods (unless high in saturated fat), large portions of food with high glycemic index,

Lunch meats unless cooked[10], all GMOs12, corn[11], soy products,[12] most crackers, chain restaurants.  

Sugars without fructose:  barley malt, corn syrup (Karol), corn syrup solids, dextran, dextrose, diastatic malt, diatase, ethyl maltol, galactose, glucose, glucose solids, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, & rice syrup.  For extensive foods recommendations use Fat Chance, pages 199-205 by Prof. Robert Lustig.

The only significant change I have made in the last 5 years (9/21) of full-time research is the use of the insulin table.  Protein though having a moderately high rating, the increased insulin is different than from that caused by carbohydrates.  The measurement is in error since it is measuring 2 related hormones, IGF1 & 2 the insulin like growth factors, which do the good thing of causing the production of proteins from the amino acid from eating high protein foods.  The high number in the insulin index is from IGF1 & 2.  Based on this I have stopped relying on the insulin index 

1.  FIVE DIETS   10/23/16

1) Healthy diet: For those in good health and normal weight without IR or abdominal; fat.  The goal is to keep fructose low, thus avoid added sugar, juices, & limit fruits.  Increase saturated fats, therefore lower starches.  Increase physical excursion to keep serum glucose lower and thus insulin low.  Low rate of glycation requires very low fructose (see section 6) and taking antioxidant supplements. The short fast at least once a week promotes a healthy liver. 

2)  Fatty liver (abdominal fat) but no major weight issue: follow the above but do the short-term fast every morning.  This must continue until the few extra abdominal pounds are lost, and your middle has that youthful look, then gradually go off the daily fast and see if your weight has stabilized at the lower point; if not than go back to short-term fasting.  Expect to be fasting for 4 months or longer.  Longer fasts speed cleansing of the liver and other organs-- section 8.   

3) Weight loss diet of more than 15%:   Daily the short fast and restrict calories from carbs to 20% less.  If progress is slow, then add the New Atkins Diet (ketogenic) with moderate proteins, and/or alternate day fasting. See section 9.   

4) T2D diet on 1 or 2 drugs, or obesity:  Daily short fast and the new Atkins type diet with moderate protein.  Monitor plasma glucose so as to reduce dependence on drugs.  If after 6 month this hasn’t cured T2D then switch to full alternate-day fasting.  Watch Dr. Jason Fung explain the issues on insulin and diabetes and alternate day fasting diet. 

5) Severe T2D and morbid obesity: Follow a very low carb diet with alternate-day fasting.  T2D is a progressive disease treated with drugs to lower glucose, then more drugs, & then insulin injections.  It is caused by diet and can be cured by diet.  The fast following bariatric surgery cures over 80% of T2D in the first few weeks, before major weight loss.

Short fast:  go on a 16 hour fast (7 PM until 11:00 AM) or longer, thus extending nighttime fat burning to produce ATP (the energy molecule) to midday.  At night because of not eating there is low glucose and thus low insulin.   If hunger becomes an issue than eat green vegetables, black coffee or tea with lemon.  Lower carbs especially those high in sugar.  Keep lowering carbs if progress slows and extend the fast. 

Atkins maintenance phase:  Once weight target is reached, the daily intake of carbs is increased by 10 grams per day to find the level where weight is gained, then drop below that level.  Continue to limit refined carbs and foods with high glycemic index to small portions, limit sweets with fructose, & use the short fast weekly to maintain a healthy liver.  Vigorous exercise is a general health tonic and mood elevator.  For seniors the addition of natural hormone replacement therapy might be also required, click on estradiol and testosterone; they play a role in fat storage, muscle tone, will to exercise, and general health, and very significantly lower the risk for heart attack, dementia, osteoporosis, arthritis, atherosclerosis--pharma is against prevention. 

. 



[1] Most whole wheat breads are comparable to white bread as to glycemic index (GI) and insulin index (IL) (see  table Part 3), plus they have phytic acid (inositol hexaphosphate (IP6):  Phytic acid has a strong binding affinity to important minerals, such as calcium, iron, and zinc” Wiki that binds to and thus prevents their absorption. Phytic acid is also in beans, peanuts, soybean, brown rice, oat meal, corn, and nuts. White flour lacks phytic acid.  Sugars are added to mask the rancid taste of phytic acid.  Lustig, Fat Chance 133. 

[2] Cattle are fed a diet of GMO grains.  Certified Organic has been outsourced to companies most of whom do sham inspections. 

[3] High sugar fruits with high glycemic index compared to most other fruits. 

[4] In 2015 “Sugar added” is to be listed (maybe) under sugar in food labels.  For current labels, how much has been added depends on ingredients, vegetables have natural low levels of sugar, fruits higher. There are 56 different sweeteners used in processed foods.   If in doubt, look at the list of ingredients for sweeteners.  Ingredients are listed in order of percentage by weight.       

[5] Fruit juices having most of the fiber removed produce a serum glucose increase comparable to like amount of soda. 

[6] Polyunsaturated fats undergo in the body unhealthful rancidification, and they are high in omega-6 fatty acids which block the healthful conversion of omega-3 fatty acids.  Like trans-fats they cause CVD.  US regulations are just a pseudo fix—see fats.

[7] They raise insulin through a hormonal system found in the stomach and intestines.  Studies of the obese show that artificially sweetened  drinks do  not promote weight loss.  The problem is insulin causing fat storage, similar to sugar sweetened drinks. 

[8] Vinegar reduces insulin resistance and increase satiation. 

[9] These oils are lowest in polyunsaturated fats, including omega 6 fatty acids And because they are from trees they are free of GMOs. 

[10] Given the broken food-inspection process, they pose a major risk factor, which has been grossly under reported in our corporate media.  A 2008 study in France showed that their rate of food poisoning was 1/4th the US rate

[11] Avoid because of high insulin index, and they have a GMO gene that causes corn to produces a pesticide—same for other crops such as canola, soya bean and others.  Testing and review is a regulatory façade:  and the companies do tobacco science to “prove” the changes in the crops are beneficial, and the FDA is business friendly. There is very little true science on GMOs.

[12] Soybean has estrogen-testosterone mimic, for which there is evidence that the detrimentally interfere with their functions.

2.  Explanation of processes/fixes -- Outline of process at http://healthfully.org/rc/id23.html

The issue isn’t calories, but abnormally high level of insulin and its affect upon the weight-regulatory system.  Insulin causes fat storage.  A fatty liver causes IR, thus higher than normal levels of insulin with ever increasing store of fat. 

If you fall under situations 3 and 4 above, your metabolic system is mucked up from excess fat in the liver, and simply following the standard recommendations since the 1970s of “eat less and exercise more” will not work long term.  A population study found that 99.4% of those who were obese, were still obese or overweight 9 years later and for those morbidly obese 99.898% (situation 4 above)—those who had bariatric surgery were excluded, see British Medical Journal.  Moreover because of existing leptin resistance, when on an energy-restricted diet appetite is increased and metabolism is reduced by over 20% as the body attempts to preserve its fat store (there goes the desire to exercise).[1]  The energy restricted diet with carbs doesn’t cleanse these organs; thus the regulatory system will cause a gradual regain of weight (the yo-yo diet).[2]  The reason for the high long-term failure rate of diets is that obesity, IR, and T2D are the result of defects in the hormonal regulatory system.  Its main regulatory hormone is insulin.  The process leading to the regulatory defects starts with consuming over the years too much fructose and refined carbs that result in a high level of insulin.  With high insulin most of the fructose is converted to fat in the liver and the excess is stored there; this results in a fatty liver (NALFD), which mucks up the hormonal system, first by causing IR in the liver and then in other tissues.  High insulin also entails that the fructose which is only metabolized in the liver and thus accumulates in the liver, that it will take much longer to be cleared because the mitochondria will be metabolizing the excess glucose another function directed by insulin as a gateway hormone.  Fructose is a net 15 times more reactive than glucose and its slow clearance via metabolism from the liver entail increased damage to the liver in a process known as “glycation.” This and the excess fat work together to promote IR.  With IR the pancreas must release more insulin than is normal to lower the amount of blood glucose.  Because insulin causes the cells to burn glucose and store fat, the excess in insulin causes an excess fat storage; viz., weight gain.  There are two main metabolic systems one for fats the other for glucose burning. 

The very low carb Atkins type diet (called a ketogenic diet) causes the cells to switch to a fat-burning mode and stays on it.  Staying in this mode causes tissues to metabolize their stores of fat at a high rate, and thus to slowly cleanse the pancreas and liver of excess fat; this will cure IR, MeS,  NAFLD,T2D,12 obesity, leptin resistance, and eventually for the long-term overweight to reset their weight regulatory system.  This regulatory system functions for the long-term overweight with IR and NAFLD to restore the lost fat to it set point, thus the so called yo-yo diet.  Only with fasting can the regulatory control be bypassed, and for the more severe cases this also requires a ketogenic diet.     

3.  Net Carbs while on Atkins ketogenic diet—easy table by JK                    

Net Carbs = total carbohydrates minus fiber content in grams (avoid those in red)

Egg 1 = 0.4 grams

Seafood 6 oz. = 0

Meats 6 oz. = 0

Poultry 6 oz. = 0

Oils 6 oz. = 0

 

Dairy

American processed 1 slice 1.5 grams

Cheeses 1 oz. = 0.7

Cottage cheese ½ c = 5

Cream 1 T  = 0.4

Cream cheese 2 T = 1.2

Milk 1 c = 11.7 to 15

Yogurt plain 1 c = 11.6

Greek Yogurt plain 1 c =  9

 

Raw Vegetables

Avocado ½ = 2 grams

Bell pepper green ½ c= 2.2

Bell pepper red ½ c =3

Broccoli ½ c = 1

Cabbage shredded ½ c = 1.1

Celery stalk = 1

Cauliflower florets ½ c = 1.4

Cucumber ½ c = 1

Green beans ½ c = 2

Nuts

Almonds 24 = 2.5

Brazil 6 = 1.4

Cashews 2 T = 5.1

Mixed nuts 2 T = 2

Peanuts 2 T = 1.4

Pecans 1 oz. = 1.2

Walnuts 1 oz. 1.2

 

Lettice 1 c = 1

Olives black 5 = 0.7

Olives green 5 = 0.1

Onion 2 tbs. = 1

Spinach 1 c = 0.2

Squash summer  c = 5.2

Tomato 1 med = 3.0

Tomato juice 1c = 8

For those off

the induction

(ketogenic) phase

 

Fruits

Apple med = 8

Banana med = 30

Blueberries ½ c = 9

Dates dried 1 oz = 21

Fig dried med = 6

Grapes 1 c = 26

Grapefruit ½ = 9

Melon cantaloupe 1 c  = 12

Orange navel med =15

Peach med = 15

Pear med = 20

Strawberry 5 lg = 5

Legumes

Black bean home cooked 1 c = 8

Canned baked beans 1c = 36

Kidney home cooked 1c = 11

Pinto bean home cooked 1c = 25

Soybean white 1c =10

Vegetables not  leafy

Beets steamed 1c  = 13

Carrots steamed 1c = 8

Corn on cob med steamed 15

Eggplant 1c = 5

Olive cured 7 = 1

Onion 1 c = 12

Peas 1 c = 14

Potato med with skin = 26

Rice brown 1 c = 43

Snow peas ½ c cooked = 2.7

Squash acorn 1 c = 21

Squash zucchini 1c = 3

Sweet potato med = 20

Also avoid refined carbs, high carbs, and like such as in chips, breads, pasta, soda, all juices and sweetened drinks, most deserts.  Since goal is low insulin, also avoid artificial sweetened foods, which through stomach stimulate insulin.

To calculate from the food label, simply subtract fiber from total carbohydrates

On the Atkins website (http://files.atkins.com/1501_CarbCounter_Online.pdf) is an extensive table of net carbs.  For simplicity the food label on products can be used, simply subtract fiber from carbohydrates to get an approximate value.  Remember that food manufacturers add sugar to nearly every product plus many of them have various forms of starch as filler and thickening agent (starch is pure glucose). 

Each portion of food contained 240 Calories—score relative to white bread which was set at 100

Peanuts                   20

 

Fish                            59

 

Grapes                           82

Eggs                          31

 

Oranges                    69

 

Crackers                         87

All bran                    32

 

Potato chips            61

 

Ice cream                       89

Porridge                  40

 

Brown rice               62  

 

Cookies                          92

Brown Pasta          40

 

Special K                   66

 

Whole grain Bread      96

White Pasta           40

 

Honey smacks         67

 

White Bread               100

Cheese                    45

 

Coco Pops                71 

 

Yogurt sweetened    115

Granola plain         46

 

French Fries             74

 

Baked Beans can       120

Beef                         51

 

Corn Flakes              75

 

Potatoes                      121

Popcorn                  54

 

Croissants                79

 

Mars Bar                      122

Grain bread            56

 

White Rice               79

 

Jelly Beans                  160

Lentils                      58

 

Bananas                   81

 

Fats                                 10

Apples                     59

 

Cake                          82

 

 

from http://graemethomasonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Insulin-Index.pdf

Detail explanation of testing at http://www.janurky.sk/db/articles/20150703n0(kj_not_kj)/images/insulin_index.pdf

These figures are based on test results for an ideal group:  average age 22 and BMI of 23.  Foods needing preparation such as potatoes and pasta were boiled, stored overnight in the refrigerator then warmed the next day in a microwave.  Test score was based on the average insulin level over 120 minutes divided by that for white bread times 100.   There were 503 tests total test for the 36 listed foods.  Breakfast cereals were served with milk.  “Plasma insulin concentrations were measured in duplicate by using an antibody-coated tube radioinmmuonoassy kit (Coat-A-Count; Diagnostic Products Corporation, Los Angeles)”at 1997, p. 1295.  Samples of 1.5 to 2.5 mL. of blood were obtained at 15 minute intervals over the 2 hours test period.  Unfortunately this table lacks important foods of vegetables, milk, soda, diet soda, and fat (which I included from another source--Dr. Fung’s book The Obesity Code p 193).                                                                                                                                                                            

The goal is to maximize the rate of fat burning which requires a low insulin diet.  Insulin causes fat storage.   Since protein is needed to maintain muscle mass, it must be restricted but only somewhat.  The USDA dietary recommendations are high.  Thus I recommend cutting it to 35 grams women, and 45 grams men--for those of average body frame size.  This is sufficient to prevent muscle loss.[3]  The effect of protein upon insulin and thus fat storage explains why short-term and alternate day fasting make a very significant improvement upon the low carb ketogenic diet.[4]  For most on a ketogenic diet, after a couple of months the rate of weight loss will decline, the effect of insulin upon leptin.  Fasting prevents this phenomenon.

4. Body & Food Basics 10/23/16

Adipocytes (fat cells) for fat storage; they secrete the hormones resistin, adiponectin, leptin and apelin.  

Amino acids:  the 20 different molecular building blocks of protein.  Digestion splits proteins into amino acids. 

ATP, Adenosine Triphosphate (adenosine with 3 phosphate molecules (PO4) attached):  the body’s main energy molecule.  ATP transfers chemical energy within the cell through the loss of one or two of its phosphate groups.  ATP returns to the high state of energy 3(PO4) through absorbing energy from the metabolism of carbohydrates & fats in the mitochondria.  ATP provides the energy for over 90% of biosynthesis (hormones, collagen, etc.), for muscle contraction, and for intra & intercellular active transport.  GTP, NADP, NAD and others also function as energy molecules.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) causes, cigarettes and a high fructose diet.  By causing endothelial dysfunction those cells permit pathogens to colonize in the artery walls to cause inflammation that results in atherosclerosis, and CVD. 

Carbohydrate (carb):  fiber, fructose, glucose, glycogen, starch, sucrose, lactose, net carbs (total carbs minus fiber):

Fiber, vegetable fiber, roughage, the carbohydrate component not broken down by digestive enzymes, but some is by gut bacteria.  Fiber has more than ten sugar units.  It lowers the insulin spike when consumed with refined carbs. 

Fructose (fruit sugar) a monosaccharide found in fruits.  Main sources are the disaccharide sucrose, fruits, and high   fructose corn syrup.  It is metabolized in the liver into either glucose, or fat which when insulin is stored there to cause fatty liver.  Also fructose is 7.5 more reactive then glucose and by glycation damages the liver, etc.

Glucose a monosaccharide is the main energy storage molecule for plants; in humans 1-2-lbs is stored as long-chain glycogen a backup energy source stored in muscles, fat, and liver cells.  Glucose is as one half of sucrose, and is also obtained from the hydrolysis of the digestible starches.  Glucose and fat are the main sources for production of ATP.

Glycation:  a process where a monosaccharide (simple sugar mostly fructose) randomly attaches to proteins or lipid; this adversely affects their functions, thus glycation is a major cause of our chronic age-related diseases.

Starch is long chains of glucose units.  This polysaccharide is produced mostly by green plants, seeds, tubers, and other parts of plants.  It is the molecule for energy storage of plants. 

 Sucrose, table sugar, produced by plants; it is the readily hydrolyzed disaccharide consisting of fructose and glucose. 

Diabesity:  the combination of diabetes and obesity; they afflicts those on the Western diet—a recently coined term. 

Fat (Free Fatty acids and triglycerides): up to 24 carbon molecules with an organic acid or glycerol molecule on end.

Glycation:  The non-enzymatic attachment of a monosaccharide (mostly fructose) to a protein which through changing its structure thus often diminishes the protein’s functions It is thus a causal factor for most age related conditions.

Incretins:  a class of hormones secreted by the stomach and intestines into the blood in response to bulky foods to cause satiety and insulin secretion.  They are particular responsive to the presence of proteins and amino acids.

Insulin: a gateway hormone produced by the pancreas.  Its main function is to have cells absorb glucose and store fat.  Cells already loaded with glucose, to prevent toxic level resist the message by insulin to absorb more glucose.  Insulin also regulates other enzymes and hormones including leptin.  Low insulin is the cause of type 1 and 2 diabetes.  Insulin also promotes the storage in amino acid, and thus we secret insulin by the incretin system in response to proteins. 

Insulin resistance (IR):   Since excess glucose is toxic, cells resist the signal by insulin to absorb more glucose. Thus to promote absorption, the pancreas releases even more insulin, and thereby cause in a person with IR a higher than normal amount of blood insulin.  IR occurs in the liver cells, and causes fat to accumulate there.  Later the muscle and fat cells develop IR.  As IR progresses, fat storage increases to cause obesity and NAFLD.  Fat also increases in the pancreas to a point which hinders (reduces) the production of insulin to become T2D. Over 50% of Americans have IR.

Ketogenic diet (KD):  the Atkins type diet, a very low carbohydrate diet that causes the body because of lack of glucose to metabolize fatty acids to produce ATP and substances that are collectively known as ketone bodies.  Most KD doesn’t limit calories, only carbohydrates.  Ketogenesis also occurs during fasting.   Moderate protein & fasting hasten progress.   

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs):  people who rise to top positions in their area of expertise.  In fields relevant to business nearly all of them violate the standards of science to produce and spread business-favorable spin, and are handsome rewarded for their services.  The term is used in that sense of bad conduct.  Pharma has used KOLs along with regulatory capture to produce a drug disaster, then sells it to medical students, physicians, politicians, and the public as cutting edge science.   

Leptin:  produced by fat cells is in part regulated by insulin.  Leptin in the brain suppresses appetite and it also regulates metabolism.  Leptin is responsible for the 25% reduction in metabolism plus increased appetite that eventually occurs during an energy-restricted diet.  Leptin functions to maintain fat storage and to restore weight even years later.

Leptin resistance is common among the obese.  Resistance entails a reduction in satiation, thus weight gain.    

Lipids are a group of naturally occurring fat like molecules including waxes, sterols, fats, phospholipids, and others.

Metabolic syndrome (MeS) “is a is a clustering of at least three of the five following medical conditions: abdominal (central) obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated fasting plasma glucose, high serum triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels”, wiki. It is associated with development of cardiovascular disease and type two-diabetes.  Pharma has framed the discussion of causes of CVD to promote ineffective drug treatments—see cholesterol myth.  A more appropriate list—as its name metabolic denotes--would be insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, and type-2 diabetes.  I am using the metabolic list.    

Metabolism in reference to diet refers to the metabolic conversion of mainly either fat or carbohydrate into the energy molecule ATP mostly in the mitochondria.  Under conditions of starvation proteins also can be used to make ATP.

NAFLD (Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease):  the accumulation of fat by liver cells sufficient to significantly downgrade their various functions.  The NHANES survey 2011 found NAFLD in 30% of adult population—similar % for Europe. 

Tobacco science:  generated by tobacco ethics, industry funded studies which are by design positively distorted to sell products, or for other business objectives such as deflect criticism, attack off patent drugs, to promote diseases, etc.

Type-2 diabetes (T2D): occurs when the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin to lower glucose to its normal range; it results from chronic IR and the accumulation of fat in the pancreas which eventually causes the decline in insulin.

Western diet:  one in which there is over 20% of calories from sugar, under 35% of calories from fat, of which over half of that fat is polyunsaturated.  The most common diet of developed countries and the cause of the diabesity pandemic.

 



[1]  Unless under a controlled environment of a boot camp, the obese dieter simply goes through the motions at the gym, so I have observed.   The biology is stronger than the rational side of the brain under a typical environment. 

[2] This fix of weight regulation according to one research takes at least 18 months.  Thus remain on the Atkins Maintenance Diet. 

[3] The science on the effects of elevated insulin due to protein when carbs are low is very incomplete.  For one thing, with a high-protein-low carb diet (once popular in the 1920s and before) proved successful.  Obviously the when there is no glucose to burn the body will continue to burn fat; however there could be for those who don’t fast a point where metabolism declines. 

[4] There is a second hormonal system, one not affected by glucose, stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Supplemental^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


9  Fasting is easy and essential  10/23/16

What has gone wrong:  It all starts with too much of the very reactive sugar fructose (net 15 times more than glucose), which damages the live.  The liver is part of the glucose regulatory system and this damage causes insulin resistance.  Because of insulin functions to cause the cells to take up glucose and burn it; it also causes those cells to stop burning fat and to store it.  With insulin resistance, they require a higher than normal level of insulin to lower the blood sugar, and thus they have a higher than normal rate of fat storage.  Those people are prone to storing more fat than they burn.  Over 90% of people of the long-term obese have what is called insulin resistance, and its consequence a fatty liver (NAFLD, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease). 

Why fasting works:  The fix is to burn the excess fat in the liver (and if diabetic in the pancreas), and to continue in the fat burning mode by fasting.  Without a signal from blood insulin, the cells throughout the body switch to burning the stored fat, this is what occurs while sleeping.  Staying in fat burning longer by fasting allows the liver to gradually ship-out and metabolized the excess fat it stored.  Once the liver heals by both lowering the sugar in the diet and by eliminating the excess fat in the liver, the liver’s contributions to the control and metabolism of glucose normalizes and insulin resistance is cured.  A healthy liver is essential in the long-term fix of the weight regulatory system and thus being able to lose weight and keep it off.    

The use of fasting along with a low carb diet reverses obesity and type-2 diabetes.  This fix has been growing in popularity, though food manufacturers and pharma ignores this fix and gives us the wrong message, that of eat less and exercise more.  This doesn’t work for the long-term overweight because their weight-regulatory system has been reset to their current weight, and attempting to lose weight only results in the yo-yo diet.  I have extensively research the topics of diet and fasting.  With the insights of this research I shall use my experiences to illustrate why fasting with reduced carbs is the fix for insulin resistance, NAFLD, and excess fat.    

My Experience:  I never had a protracted weight problem.  By logic I had used the short-term fast when I gained 20 pounds during the winter of 1969-70.  I was in graduate school, philosophy, University of Manitoba.  At the age of 26 during the winter my metabolism slowed down, and so I didn’t burn off rapidly the now excessive calories.  I had developed a fatty liver, and thus was putting on abdominal pounds.  It took 3 months of reduced meals and short-term fasting to lose the weight around my middle.   It stayed off because it was short-term weight gain; my white adipose tissue through leptin had NOT reset my weight to 178 pounds.  After that, whenever I gained 5 pounds, I simply cut back on portions, quit eating by 7 PM, and skipped breakfast several times a week.  The second change was exercise.  I moved from Winnipeg to southern California in 1974 and became in 1975 a sports addict.  I started regularly playing volleyball, cycling, and running, In 1980  I added moderate weight training and singles racquetball.  In 1993 my diet changed for the worse:  following the lead of a very fit friend who both weight trained and ran 7 miles a day, I went on a very low fat (thus high carb) Western diet.  Fortunately I exercised daily and watched my weight; thus I never went more than 5 pounds above my slim weight.  Skipping breakfast, reducing portions, and cutting back on sweets was an easy fix. 

In 2012 I watched Prof. Lustig lecture on YouTube, which had gone viral.  He explained why sugar was poison and I took notes.  A year later, I researched his explanation of the diabesity pandemic (obesity and diabetes);   he presented the evidence on how excess fructose harmed the liver like alcohol and was driving the diabesity pandemic.  In the spring of 2014, I reduced by 75% sugars including fruits.  I also cut back on carbs from grains about to about 30% of calories; thus I increased saturated and monounsaturated fats to replace those calories.  It took about 4 months before candy, fruit juices, ice cream, and melons tasted way too sweet.  Though my weight remained for decades the same, I had 3 pounds more around the lower abdomen than when entered college in 1962.  It was a sign of a fatty liver, so I decided in March of 2016 to experiment with daily short-term fasting. I still ate the rest of the day whatever I desired (my carbs had been reduced a year before and replaced with saturated and monounsaturated fats).  By July of 2016, 4 months later, I lost 4 pounds, waist shrunk 1 inch, and fasting glucose (a measure of IR) was 10% lower.  I noticed that by skipping breakfast, I had reduced my total consumption of food.  I was less hungry especially at dinnertime and there was no decline in metabolism with its negative affect upon physical activity and mood.  The low-insulin diet causes a lower level of hormone leptin, a hormone which reduces metabolism and increases hunger—it is the main cause of the yo-yo diet.  (Leptin produced by fat tissue, functions to restore fat to its normal level.)  A big plus was that I experienced in the morning an increase in mental and physical energy; it is a time when I do most of my studies and writing; and I avoided the decline following breakfast.[1]  I like the short-term fasting. 

One advantage to the lower carbs is that while in the fat burning mode the body increases metabolic rate about 10%.  Secondly neurons releases the catechol amines (adrenalin and noradrenalin, and dopamine) which cause stimulation and mood elevation.  This combination has been inherited because of the survival advantage when food is short—more energy for hunting and gathering.  This is why I now like skipping breakfast.  Morning fasting and not eating at night has convinced me that weight control with short-term fasting is easy and pleasant, much easier than an energy-restricted diet.[2] 

Literature on Fasting:  Dr. Jason Chapter 20, “When to Eat” in his Obesity Code, 2016, p 235-251 covers the history and advantages of fasting; his opening Sentences:  “LONG-TERM DIETING is futile.  After the initial weight loss, the dreaded plateau appears, followed by the even more dreaded weight regain. The body reacts to weight loss by trying to return to its original body set weight…  Even if we eat all the right things, our insulin levels stay elevated…. But we fail to address the other problem insulin resistance.”  The reason for the major drop in metabolism is leptin[3] (regulated by insulin) and it physical and emotional consequences; lack of energy with its consequences on moody and activities.  Thus very few of the long-term obese are capable of going on a life-long energy restricted diet—there are numerous long-term studies which show that the obese gain back most or all of their lost weight.  Only fasting addresses insulin resistance.”  His clinical experience (over 1,000 patients) and extensive published research proves that fasting is both easy and works—as too my own experience, and other whom I have consoled. 

From Fung’s Obesity Code:  I shall present what I find of most value in that chapter, sometimes quoted and my additions will be in [brackets].  IR causes excess fat storage and leptin promote reduced metabolism and increased appetite.  [But it is not appetite/hunger exactly, rather the feeling that if I eat a bit more my energy and mental clarity will return to what it ought to be; viz., I will feel better and be in a better mode (this is the effect of leptin on energy)].   All foods promote the release of insulin; only not eating will keep blood insulin level low—see insulin table section 3.  As Fung points in other chapters, incretin hormone system responds to digestion in the stomach and small intestine by stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas [fats and fructose by far produce the least response, insulin index of 10 and 17 respectively].  Incretins explains why meat, fish, and poultry have a higher insulin index than boiled pasta.  Though Fung writes of 24 to 36 hour fasting as curing IR, his clinic also uses the short-term fasting.  “The term ‘breakfast’ is the meal that breaks the fast—which we do daily”--p 237.  Fasting has been used in most cultures and religions, and our ancestral hunter-gatherer was forced by circumstance.  Hippocrates of Kos (c. 460-370) wrote; “instead of using medicine, better fast today; to eat when you are sick is to feed your illness” p 237.  Humans like most animals do not eat when sick.  Plato and Aristotle were staunch supporters of fasting.  “The body does not burn muscle until all fat store is gone” p 240.  “Blood glucose levels remain normal as the body switches over to burning fat for energy.  This effect occurs with fasting periods as short as twenty-four to thirty six hours.  Longer fasts reduce insulin even more dramatically…. Regular fasting has been shown to significantly improve insulin sensitivity.[4]  This finding is the missing piece in the weight-loss puzzle.  Most diets don’t address insulin resistance,” p240.  One of the most potent stimuli of [human] growth hormone {HGH] secretion during fasting.  Fasting promotes the use of fat as fuel and preserves muscle mass and bone density.  Adrenalin [and noradrenalin] levels go up with fasting,” p 241 they are the natural amphetamines that create alertness and physical energy.  “Breakdown of muscle tissue happens only at extremely low levels of body fat—approximately 4 percent,” p 242.  “The human body has evolved to survive episodic periods of starvation,” p 243.  “Caloric restriction diets do not allow the evolved adaptation that occurs during fasting,” p 244. We have also like all mammals have evolved a system to return to our normal weight when weight has been lost through increased hunger and reduced rate of metabolism.  Its main regulatory hormone is leptin that is produced by the adipose (fat) tissue.  “Studies of eating a single meal per day found significantly more fat loss, compared to eating three meals per day, despite the same caloric intake” 243[5].  “Total energy expenditure is increased during a fast—in a 4-day fast by 12%,” p244.  “In our clinic, experience showed that appetite decreased as duration of fasting increased.  The most astonishing aspect of this study [107 obese subjects unable to lose weight] was the ease with which prolonged starvation was tolerated.  These experiences echoes our own clinical experience at the Intensive Dietary Management Clinic with hundreds of patients,” p245.  The more dangerous visceral fat is preferentially removed with fasting.  There is reference to Dr. Michael Mosley (British on BBC) 5:2 diet, 5 days of full caloric and 2 days of 25% of calories at the end of a short-term fast.  In the trial that compared the 5:2 to the Mediterranean diet with a 25% reduction in calories.  At 6 months both groups lost about the same amount of weight, but the 5:2 group have lower insulin and less IR, at p247. This change (though not measured) indicates that excess liver fat had been metabolism.  The short term fasting made this important difference.  For the long-term overweight fasting reverses insulin and leptin resistance, thus it is essential, and it is used by Dr. Fung to cure type-2 diabetes.     

For those who want to know more of the science behind fasting, I highly recommend that you read my “Evidence of Alternate Day Fasting—Cures Type-2 Diabetes” and Fung’s book The Complete Guide to Fasting.  On P. 204 he states that, “A major advantage of the sixteen-hour fast is that it is fairly simple to incorporate into everyday life.”  The graph on page 202 indicates the amount and duration of the traditional 12 hour fast (7 pm to 7 AM) the 16-hour fast and the 20 hour fast (3, 2, and 1 meals respectively as to the extent of fat metabolism, and fat storage when eating.  My own experience and others whom I have counseled has convinced me that short-term fasting is easy, and the scientific literature confirms that longer periods are also easy; this is because our body has evolved a system to burn the fat reserve and to keep us alert and full of energy so that we more likely to hunt and gather foods.  And as Fung states, “it has a high rate of compliance.”



[1] Seniors, much more than people under the age of 60, experience postprandial a major decline in energy because of the major reduction in metabolism by the mitochondria as it switches to glucose metabolism to produce the energy molecule ATP.  The lower store and reduced rate of production of ATP has profound effects upon seniors.

[2] As I age (73 years in 2016), the diversion of energy and blood to promote digestion entails a low point after eating a full meal.  

[3] Leptin is produces by the fat (adipose) cells and among its functions is the restoration of fat to the set level.  It does this by a 25% to 40% decline in metabolism.  The obese dieter feels that if he eat more he will have more energy and be in a better mood.  

[4] This could well make a daily skipping of breakfast equal or better than alternate day fasting.  There is journal evidence to decide this possibility.  

[5] I two friends have lost significant weight on one meal a day.  One a Dr. Evans lost over 150 pounds, and both kept the weight off.   


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Disclaimer:  The information, facts, and opinions provided here is not a substitute for professional advice.  It only indicates what JK believes, does, or would do.  Always consult your primary care physician for medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment.