My husband and I are starting this too (on the 16/8 schedule). I’m on day 2 now and haven’t found it hard to put breakfast off until 10:30 or 11. But my husband has some meds that he can’t take on an empty stomach and he has to take them around 7 AM. If he has a piece of toast or something like that, won’t that screw up his fast because of the insulin response?
@patsmom, I remember reading somewhere that something like 100 calories are allowed. That’s how I let myself have milk in my morning coffee.
Anyone know how this works for someone who is hypoglycemic? I tend to need to eat first thing of feel light headed.
@maya54 , that is true. However, I won’t do that when we socialize. But Sunday through Thursday, I think it’s quite doable.
If you are eating, you are not fasting. If eating something small signals your body that you are indeed eating, you do not get the benefit of IF, so you would be making yourself uncomfortable for nothing. The body DOES react differently to fasting vs. doing severe calorie restriction while still eating during the day. If you have a blood glucometer, you could check to see if eating 100 calories (particularly something carby like toast) does anything to your blood sugar. Note that some artificial sweeteners, while not raising blood sugar, nevertheless stimulate an insulin response. Some people get an insulin response with milk in their coffee, but not cream.
As said before, if you eat a very low carb diet, you tend not to get large blood sugar shifts. You create ketone bodies that function for your energy source, so no light headedness or headaches; your blood sugar remains relatively stable even while fasting. If you have a medical cause of hypoglycemia that is resistant to diet changes, it would seem that IF would not be a good idea. It’s also so much more difficult if you eat a lot of grains, starchy veggies, high glycemic fruit, and sugar/sugar substitutes. So if you are opposed to going very low carb, fasting is just more difficult, and depending on the person, perhaps not something you will be able to tolerate or benefit from. It’s still possible to do IF and benefit from it if you eat a fair amount of carbs, but it is far more difficult. This isn’t for everyone. I personally don’t have the willpower to not eat if I’m very very hungry, so if I’m not holding to very low carb, I’m miserable doing IF. YMMV.
I believe the book I referenced earlier, called The Complete Guide to Fasting, by Jason Fung, M.D. addresses many of these issues. Because he is a kidney doctor, knowledge of diabetes and blood sugar issues is by necessity one of his areas of expertise, particularly as it relates to fasting. You might read the book or check out his web site. Just google his name.
I was thinking about this regarding medications & vitamins. Under instruction from my physician, I take a couple different vitamins and an allergy med daily. A couple I take when I brush my teeth in the morning (at 6 am), and one at bedtime. I assume they are small enough to “not count”… but really no idea.
Anyone with a chronic medical condition like diabetes or taking medications needs to clear any new diets or eating regimens with their physician. Certain drugs need to be taken with food or at a specific interval.
I have tried this. It’s hard as a lifelong breakfast eater, but I can do it if I get my usual half a whole wheat bagel and berries at 11. Usually, the 9-11 a.m. time period is hardest, and lately I’ve just been doing an 11-hour eating window, which may not be super helpful.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is that some researchers think IF may be beneficial in preventing Alzheimer’s. I wrote an article on a clinical trial at the National Institutes on Aging in which this is being studied (in humans, not mice). Apparently, once the brain starts to get energy from ketone bodies rather than glucose it’s “neuroprotective.”
According to the principal investigator, "When we don’t eat, the body kind of holds its own and waits patiently with the hope that nutrients will come in. But at 12 hours it kind of gives up, and says it will now break down lipid stores and start producing ketones.
“Ketones are exactly what we want the brain to be fed on because they are neuroprotective. We think that this is something that has potential for preventing damaging processes that ultimately lead to Alzheimer’s disease.”
@patsmom As @Nrdsb4 mentions, carbs are more likely to knock you out of the fasting state. I saw a video on youtube of a husband and wife doctor couple (not sure if they’re md’s or phd’s!) tested their glucose and insulin levels with various things in their coffee to see if it broke ketogenesis. Cream did not knock either of them out of ketogenesis. Do you know how much your husband has to eat with his meds? Toast would almost certainly break the fast, but if there’s something minimal and non-carb he could have (a hard boiled egg?) that might work.
Coffee<<
100 cals will certainly not be fasting. Do you have a latte or something very milky? If you want to fast, you might try an alternative approach, if you are just looking for weight loss, it probably won’t matter as long as you keep a deficit.
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someone who is hypoglycemic? <<<<<<<<<
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How is your hypoglycemia clinically diagnosed? Lots of people throw this term around with no numbers. Do you have a number that you correlate with your feeling of light headed? Do you track your blood glucose over any period?
@Nrdsb4 . I downloaded that book to my Kindle the other day but haven’t opened it yet. I was waiting until I finished a novel I’m reading but I think I’ll crack it open and skim a little today. Thanks for the reminder!
@thermom – H is taking potassium citrate for kidney stone prevention. It has to be taken with food but maybe I can get him to take it with him to work and have it after his lunch. He’s such a creature of habit, though – he’s used to taking it with his other medications at breakfast and he’d probably forget to take pills at work. Sometimes he doesn’t even have lunch if he’s really wrapped up with something. Maybe IF isn’t for him.
@intparent , I’ve seen an instagram keto person check her blood sugar and ketones during fasting with, and without, her vitamins and supplements, and they were not affected. Now this is only one person FYI, not a study. One thing to watch out for, I know that certain meds and almost all vitamins for me cause upset on an empty stomach, so I shifted my vitamins and supplements to lunch and dinner. Prescriptions tend to be marked if they cause upset on an empty stomach. But it’s a bad, nauseous feeling so watch out.
Absolutely true, especially if you take medications like insulin or other meds that lower your blood sugar. Hypoglycemia can be fatal-if you are taking insulin or other such meds while not eating, you can get into a world of trouble.
This popped up in my Twitter feed today. Excellent summary of what we’ve been talking about:
I failed my very first day yesterday. I’m usually in bed by 10, but got back from something that made me upset. I was up until midnight and about 10:30 had some chips. I’ll try again today.
@Sybylla I was “officially” diagnosed. My mom has it too. I also had gestational diabetes when pg. I had what the diabetic nurse called “predawn syndrome” where my body would ramp up it’s own natural insulin production because it thought I was starving the baby over night. I had to do the opposite of IF and eat a small meal right before bed and then first thing when I got up.
I actually try to keep to a diabetic diet of balancing fats/proteins/whole grain carbs for each meal because that seems to be best to keep my blood sugars stable throughout the day. However, that predawn stuff went away after baby was born and I usually don’t eat anything after dinner and get through to breakfast without any spikes or drops. When my husband travels, I tend to naturally want to eat dinner at 4/5 pm and am fine the rest of the evening until breakfast the next morning at around 8.
I’m approaching 50 and my body is changing in where it deposits fat. Not so happy about some of the shifts and I have ALZ in my family so am curious about an eating plan that could be protective in some way.
I will definitely chat with my doctor. Thanks to all for the info!
^^While it sounds like your misstep was not planned, it is also a good reminder especially right now (Thanksgiving and all) that adopting a plan like this sort of has a time and place, when you can truly be ready for it.
I never eat chips at night…at least the bag was almost empty! Haha. Yes, probably should have started after Thanksgiving when all those carbs and sweets are out of the house!
We had new carpet installed in the family room today. Goodbye late night snacking on the couch! We’ll see what, if any, change this makes in my eating habits and weight loss.