More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Jason Fung
type 2 diabetes, but there are many other benefits, including autophagy (a cellular cleansing process), lipolysis (fat-burning), anti-aging effects, and neurological benefits. In other words, fasting can benefit your brain and help your body stay younger.
prisoners of war in Japan during World War II. During their extreme starvation, the prisoners experienced some astonishing
mental clarity that they themselves understood was due to the effect of starvation. One man was able to learn Norwegian in just under a week. Another described “reading”
addition, insulin levels have an inverse correlation to memory—that is, the lower the insulin level, the more memory improves.
auto (“self”) and phagein (“to eat”). So the word literally means “to eat oneself.” Autophagy is a form of cellular cleansing: it is a regulated,
High levels of triglycerides in the blood are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease. It is almost as powerful a risk factor as high LDL
Our liver generates 80 percent of the cholesterol found in the blood, so eating less cholesterol makes little or no difference. By the same token, eating more cholesterol
The only reliable way to reduce LDL levels is to reduce the liver’s production of it. In fact, studies prove that seventy days
True hunger is generally experienced in the body and brain, not in the stomach. It may take some practice, but once you reconnect with the feeling of true hunger, you can follow your body’s lead and eat whenever the feeling strikes.
Hunger is a state of mind, not a state of stomach.
Those who are severely malnourished or underweight
When body fat falls below 4 percent, the body is forced to use protein in order to feed itself. (For comparison, average body fat is 25 percent in men and over 35 percent in women. This is only an average, and an obese person’s body fat percentage is far above that. An elite marathoner, despite looking
very lean, might have approximately 8 to 10 percent body fat.) The stored energy from fat has run out, and the body must now burn functional tissue to survive. This syndrome is called wasting, and it’s neither healthy nor beneficial in any way.
underweight is a BMI of less than 18.5. For a man who stands five-foot-ten, that would correspond to a weight of 129 pounds. I generally advise against any type of fasting at a BMI below 20, as the risk of complications rises dramatically, but it’s especially important to avoid longer fasts.
that water, tea, and black coffee are all allowed during fasting, but sugar, honey, fructose, agave nectar, and other sugars are prohibited. There is some disagreement about
Fasts can range from twelve hours to three months or more. You can fast once a week or once a month or once a year. Shorter fasts are generally done more frequently, even daily, while
7 p.m., and then fast from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. At that point, you would “break your fast” with a small breakfast. This was pretty standard until the 1970s, and perhaps not coincidentally, there also was much less obesity back then.
But while a daily twelve-hour fast may be a great preventative strategy, it may not be powerful enough to reverse weight gain. Slightly longer fasting periods are often required
Eating the largest meal in the evening seems to cause a much larger rise in insulin than eating earlier. Folk wisdom, of course, also advises
So the optimal strategy seems to be eating the largest meal in the midday, sometime between noon and 3:00 p.m., and only a small amount in the evening hours. Interestingly, this is the traditional Mediterranean eating pattern. They eat a large lunch, followed by a siesta in the afternoon,
Constipation This is common and to be expected. Bowel movements will typically decrease during a fast simply because there is less food intake. If you are
not experiencing actual discomfort, then there’s no need to worry about decreased bowel movements. However, increasing your intake of fiber, fruits, and vegetables during the nonfasting period may help with constipation. Metamucil can also be taken during or after fasting to increase fiber and stool bulk. If the problem
Growth hormone is involved in cell repair and the synthesis of new protein. Cortisol, the stress hormone, increases as a general activator. All these hormones peak in the early
morning hours and then fall to low levels during the
Since these hormones all tend to raise blood sugar as part of preparing for the upcoming day, we...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
GRAIN-FREE CAULIFLOWER PIZZA
