Chapter 10: Fasting
Yuichi Haga
Global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Lead at Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC
“Life is an equilibrium state between synthesis and degradation of proteins”
- Yoshinori Ohsumi
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NOTE: Please consult your doctor about anything brought up in this chapter, especially if you are taking medication. ?
According to Dr. Peter Attia, it is more cause for concern to be thin and still have Metabolic Syndrome than obese. As explained in his book, Outlive, we have genetic information that outlines how much subcutaneous fat we can safely carry. Once we exceed a specific amount of fat around our body, the fat starts to spill within and surround our internal organs which is a much larger cause for concern. This is called visceral fat. Even a small amount of visceral fat can lead to chronic illnesses such as Type-2 diabetes and cancer. You can be “thin” but still have enough visceral fat to cause long term health issues.
So how does a person get rid of visceral fat? This was the question I focused on in my research.
As mentioned in my Perspective chapter, I found Japanese biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine (2016) with his research in autophagy. I found autophagy to be revelatory and something I wanted to try for myself. I feel that this is the key to help restore my body. Something I wish I was aware of when my mother was diagnosed with cancer.
Autophagy
In my Chapter on Diet, I used the analogy of being a CEO of 30 Trillion employees (the cells of your body). In this company, there is a delivery team, your circulatory system. In my research on autophagy, it appears that the delivery team is also the janitorial team as well. Once there is nothing left to deliver, your body will go into self-cleaning mode. Autophagy, literally translated to “self-eating”, is the process in which your body will start recycling and removing damaged proteins and restoring your body after a time of not eating. The key here is that your body will only search for and remove damaged cells, leaving your perfectly healthy ones intact. A biological self cleaning state.
The problem in western society is that we rarely go without eating long enough to go into this state of autophagy. Our bodies, biologically, are not designed to be getting food at a regular basis. In fact, it is designed to go without food for days while also keeping at a high work levels. Some of the studies I’ve seen show that autophagy, in lab rats, start after 14 hours of fasting. However, due to the rat having a higher metabolism and shorter lifespan, it may take more time for people to get into a state of autophagy. ?
Fasting is recovery
Similar to sleep being important to recover from a difficult exercise routine, it is equally important to allow your body to recover from the stress of eating. With Type-2 diabetes or pre-diabetes this means allowing our insulin levels to drop. Endogenous insulin is reactive to our eating habits, meaning each time we eat something, there will be a spike of insulin afterwards. Once the glucose levels lower to healthy levels, the insulin will start to, or be in the process of, lowering to normal healthy levels as well. This could take hours to take place or even more if you have Metabolic Syndrome like me. We must give our bodies enough time between meals to allow our insulin levels to drop or else we train our bodies to ignore high insulin levels in our blood which worsens our ability to lower our blood glucose levels. It truly is a downward spiral.
Stop snacking and reduce your eating window
In the image above you can see how endogenous insulin spikes after glucose spikes and how long it takes for insulin levels to go down. In order to allow my body to recover, I have trained my body to eat all meals within 8 hours of the day. In addition to that, I only eat in 3 of the 8 hours. I start eating after lunch, have a snack 3-4 hours later, have dinner 3-4 hours after the snack. I am trying to ensure that my body has time to recover and lower insulin levels (which I have no way of accurately tracking at this time).
Don’t rely too heavily on artificial sweeteners
Our bodies may be too smart for its own good. I found out that the human body can still respond with endogenous insulin production even without consuming actual sugar or carbs. This is due to a cephalic insulin response, which means that if we taste something sweet, our brains automatically creates insulin in preparation for an expected rise in blood sugar levels, even if there is actually no glucose. I was able to test this early on with a diet soda. My blood sugar levels dropped quickly while I was sedentary after 1 can. This means my body created insulin that would force blood sugar to go down. For this reason, I try to limit my use of artificial sweetener to 1 hour of the day (usually lunch).
Longer fasting
I started the year with a 5-day water fast (I was desperate). My first meal after the new year was on January 6th. This was a new experience for me. Previously, the longest I had gone without food was 24 hours. As I usually do, I took notes of my experience and I learned that I don’t get hungrier after each day of fasting. On the contrary, on day 4, I no longer felt hungry. My body switched to using my stored body fat, and hopefully visceral fat, as fuel. Even though I am not obese, I know my body can handle a multi-day fast without hurting my body composition. There was some muscle loss but much more fat loss during this period. Since January, I have done a 3-day fast and several 1-day fasts (usually before or after a large feast).
As it turns out, there seems to be some correlation with a long fast prior to and during chemotherapy to reduce the symptoms that generally come from such a traumatic process.
How to cope with ghrelin
Ghrelin is the hormone that gives you the sensation of hunger. It was difficult not to feel like I was “starving to death” when I first started to fast. Part of the issue is due to a Pavlovian need to eat at the same time each day. Ghrelin does not increase with time. You will not continue to get more and more hungry as time goes on. On the contrary, as your body switches into autophagy, you will get less hungry or stay at an even hunger level. Eventually I got used to the feeling of hunger, but it took a day or two. Here are some tricks I learned to keep my mind off of hunger.
Tip 1: Drinking 3x 8oz glasses of water during meal time.
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Rather than eat, I would drink 3 glasses of water at once to fill my stomach and then walk for the remainder of the meal time. There are 0 calorie spices you can add to the water to give it additional taste. Refer to the helpful recipes section below.
Tip 2: Distract the mind
I will often watch a television show, play a video game or work to keep my mind off of the hunger. Depending on how engaged I am, I will not feel hungry at all.
Tip 3: Exercise
I’ve found that zone 2 & zone 5 exercises can keep my mind off of the hunger. However, if you are on a longer fast, it is not recommended to do more than 5-10 minutes of zone 5 exercises per day. It turns out that zone 5 exercises in moderation during a long fast can boost Human Growth Hormone drastically. This is great for keeping or building muscle while lowering body fat.
Supplements
During my fast, I took mineral based supplements such as Magnesium, Potassium (via cream of tartar) and a 1-a-day multivitamin pill. Also it is important to get sodium content via Pink Himalayan Salt to replenish stores during a longer fast. I could not take any fish oil as it will break the fast.
Helpful Recipes
If you are anything like me, you will want to have flavor to trick your mind into thinking you are eating or drinking more than water, even if the caloric intake remains 0. I started adding some spices to my water to help. With these recipes, you will not break your fast.
Recipe 1: Electrolyte replacement (Drink multiple times a day during long fast)
Recipe 2: Fake broth (Tastes like a broth/soup)
Recipe 3: Powdered Mexican Chocolate
Recipe 4: Coffee with cinnamon and turmeric (Drink in the morning)
Recipe 5: Citrus flavored seltzer water and Apple Cider Vinegar
Action Items
1.????? Make sure to stay hydrated and take electrolytes during a fast.
2.????? Remember you won't get hungrier over time.
3.????? Keep your mind off of hunger with distractions.
4.????? Do not do more than 5-10 min of Zone 5 exercise per day on a long fast.
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