Over recent months I've had the pleasure of corresponding with Dr. Ramana, an Indian bariatric surgeon who is actively exploring ways of treating obese patients comprehensively, rather than through the narrow prism of his specialty.

Among other topics this Six Pack Doc explores on his blog, he has made several mentions of Intermittent Fasting. I very much enjoy his take on the subject and find he has a very interesting approach and perspective. So I asked him to share his thoughts on fasting with you. Enjoy!

LEARNING MORE ABOUT IF

One would have thought readers of Better's Better have had enough of fasting, or posts dealing with them, but Coach Steer assures me that they are made of sterner stuff. He would have us all remodeled in the image of the Functional Physique and amenable to doing all the contortions inherent in his incredible brand of exercise. Not for him the well fed look, one understands!

Intermittent Fasting is something I picked up from the internet, and the regular suspects are to blame for it: Brad Pilon, Martin Berkhan, and the Fast-5 guy.
“Nah! This ain’t for me!” I always thought since then. Somehow, I tried it in order to beat a fat loss plateau. I found it really hard to stop thinking of food (I love it). My cravings were not for pizza or cake, but for anything! Even spinach and broccoli would have been gratefully accepted during my fasts, I can tell you!

Over time, I overcame this obsession with food during the fasts, and my confidence grew. I was no longer afraid of failing to cover the period of the fast. I increased the frequency of my fasts till I reached my current practice of fasting thrice weekly. Now that sounds downright crazy, I agree.

I started with a 24 hour fast, but also put in an additional 18 hour fast another day to teach myself discipline and help myself understand my body’s demands better. I started enjoying these experiments so much that I added another day of 19, 21 or 22 hour (mood-dependent) fasting.

I have been eating my favorite sweets within the ambit of a largely (90%) clean Paleoid eating lifestyle. This has led me to escape feeling deprived and covetous, even as I notched up 1000-calorie deficits on my fasting days. While I am nowhere in the class of Adam Steer or many of his readers (I am sure), I have become stronger and leaner in a relatively short time. My personal journey apart, I have studied some literature on fasting, and have some to share:

Intermittent Fasting Insights from the Six Pack Doc

First of all, I don’t buy the detox argument. I don’t know of any ‘toxins’ that are detoxed by a fast, unless they are named and identified.
Rat studies suggest that chronic IF improves survival after heart failure “through its pro-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic and anti-remodelling effects”. As it is a rat study, I will not care to spend time explaining what that means.
Would fasting bring your blood glucose levels too low? A 2008 Tunisian study says no. “Ramadan fasting induces positive changes in body composition without disturbing glucose regulation or activity of the GH/IGF-1 system.” GH is Growth Hormone, while IGF-1 is Insulin-like Growth Factor.
I enjoy my fasts, and am in excellent mood. Not for me the irritability and truculence of others, but this may only because I am a gem of a guy (as my old girlfriends always said). A 2004 Moroccan study rather disturbingly reported, “The major changes during Ramadan fasting are chronobiological and behavioral. They could be responsible for the high incidence of road traffic accidents and the reduction of working hours during the month of Ramadan”.
Do men respond better to IF? A study says that women use more fat mass and less lean mass to meet metabolic fuel requirements during fasting.
Is IF a mask for anorexia nervosa? In other words, is an AN patient lurking within an IF-er? I am afraid it could be in some individuals, though I am not aware of studies about this. Each individual needs to think over this point.
Is IF anti-inflammatory? Yes, it seems that markers like IL-6, C Reactive Protein, and Homocysteine are lower during fasts. This may reflect lower cardiovascular risks, especially considering that there is generally an improvement in lipid profile in fasted individuals.
IF could be a means to slow aging, including brain aging, by as yet unknown/unproven means.
Fasting also causes voice fatigue in women, and I strongly recommend that men should conceal this fact to their wives while encouraging them to start on the IF lifestyle.

Comments

I've been IFing for about 3 months now and it's been a wild ride.
I started out great, but when I switched over to Eat Stop Eat I started having problems with food. I have been eating way too much ice cream and other sweets and my mental state regarding food has gone down the toilet.
I have decided to go back to what I was doing before, random 15-24 hour fasting 5 days a week and see if I can get back on track. Everyone is different, I guess!
I really enjoyed the change in attitude toward food which I can sum up by saying: There are many food choices out there and NOT eating is one of them!

Posted by: Jessica | May 04, 2009 at 06:32 AM

Hey Jessica,

Thanks for sharing your IF experience! I think you are right, everyone reacts to IF differently and what is optimal for one person is going to be wrong for someone else. ESE tends to cover a pretty broad spectrum of people, but it's interesting to see that it doesn't fit everyone.

Let us know how the switch back to the other method goes...

Cheers,
Adam

Posted by: Adam Steer | May 04, 2009 at 08:55 PM

Rambodoc,

Great post. I used to do The Warrior Diet style of IF and it didn't work very well. The problem is that "eating until you are full" is bad advice for someone who can put down a lot of food.

Eat Stop Eat is the approach I prefer. Brad suggests eating a normal size dinner and not compensating by eating more food after the 18-20 hour fast. Plus two days a week is pretty easy to follow.

Great guest post!

Rusty

Posted by: Rusty - Fitness Black Book | May 05, 2009 at 01:50 AM