The blog of Dr. Jason Fung's Intensive Dietary Management program, covering fasting, insulin, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.
HN commenters recommend Fung's posts and book for fasting and metabolic health, citing success stories, though they note the book is a toolset rather than a regimen.
Yeah, sorry bud, you're just not in the right on this one. Your body always turns over muscle, sure, so some is going to be consumed. Your body produces huge quantities of HGH during starvation specifically to conserve protein and protein consumption goes down during fasting compared to steady-state. Otherwise our ancestors in periods of famine would turn into fatty puddles unable to drag themselves around. Starving means you need to get food, that's why noradrenaline levels go up, HGH production spikes (which many studies show changes your body composition to favor muscle over fat), your body switches to consuming primarily fat, and yes, some protein but not all protein is muscle. Your body also switches to producing what little glucose it actually needs via gluconeogenesis - which has many feedstocks including the glycerol backbones from triglycerides and yes, protein.
But to say your body prefers to burn muscle over fat when starving is ridiculous, and just not supported by facts.
[1] https://idmprogram.com/fasting-and-muscle-mass-fasting-part-14/
Our metabolism is very complex. But if it's not backed up by studies and science, it doesn't count.
Type 2 diabetes is defined by insulin resistance. The only way to "beat" type 2 diabetes is to lower your insulin resistance and thus to lower your insulin response. At the moment you can only lower your insulin with lifestyle changes that implies fasting + eating a diet that triggers a low insulin response.
The vegan lifestyle is high in carbs. What many people don't understand is that there are only 3 macro-nutrients: proteins, fats and carbs. You cannot do a low carbs diet without at least eggs and diary. And carbs stimulate insulin.
Note that there are clinics that have successfully treated people of diabetes via fasting. Here's one: https://idmprogram.com/
N.B. carbohydrates are not the enemy, but _refined carbohydrates_ are and unfortunately for a type 2 diabetic it's too late to switch to healthy carbs.
Yes, a potato is healthy, however for a diabetic it is basically poison.
I read the link you posted [0] and it did not say distilled water is bad for you. I don't disagree with the statement "extreme fasting can be dangerous".
>You have insecurity...
Why are you making this personal?
>break down your body, lose muscle, produce ammonia, urea, and all sorts of toxins, pull out stored toxins and use them because your body is so desperate on its low reserves of vital nutrients..and destroy your organs. Bravo!
According to this video _none_ of that happens. He addresses all of those claims. (provides proof from actual medical studies)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuj-oMN-Fk
The medical studies he presents (not his own) state the opposite of what you are saying. If you don't want to watch the video, I think this article is similar:
https://idmprogram.com/fasting-and-muscle-mass-fasting-part-14/
This does of course detract from your argument that distilled water is bad for you.
[0] https://www.ncahf.org/articles/e-i/fasting.html
Yes, I went a couple years doing a very easy 14:10 fast, which was easy to maintain and is what I credit for stabilizing my blood sugar, which used to crash all the time (especially bonking during bike rides). My body now is fine exercising without having eaten, no problem. That alone is worth it.
Due to other health issues and related sensitivities and metabolic problems I have gotten more serious about it and learning about the science, and thus moved to an 18:6 fasting schedule. I have continued to be very happy with the results and the lifestyle.
The book I'd absolutely recommend is The Complete Guide to Fasting by Dr. Jason Fung (see an article by him on IF 101 here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/intermittent-fasting). I'd also recommend the Intensive Dietary Management program's various blog posts such as https://idmprogram.com/the-failure-of-the-calorie-theory-of-obesity/
The book in particular doesn't give a regimen -- it's more of a toolset approach. Here are your options, here are the goals they're useful for accomplishing, here are some tips, here are some dangers. I would definitely read it before embarking on a program (or even planning or choosing one).
You can also work directly with the author's foundation at https://idmprogram.com if you prefer.
With that said, he doesn't really talk about three to five day fasts much. It's kind of a suboptimal length. He talks about 24-48 hour fasts for weight and diabetes control, and 7-14 day fasts as cancer preventatives. The former is recommended multiple times per week, and the latter is recommended once per year. But again -- it depends on who you are and what your goals are.
While I agree with you that this is not a major effect, it is an effect nonetheless and it's due to changes in hormones. Dr Fung has a blog where he discusses it using an analogy https://idmprogram.com/how-to-control-the-body-weight-thermometer/.
I'm not the OP, but I'm also not convinced that the set point exists. Regardless, fasting is a better way of losing weight than caloric restriction IMO since it lowers insulin, but to each their own. Either way, the laws of thermodynamics haven't changed, it's just how your body responds, and we're all unique in that sense. Whatever works for people, so long as they're losing weight if they're obese or overweight.