You might have heard that going without a meal or two a day does nothing but shut the metabolism down, causing your body to hang onto fat. Well, if this is what you believe, it’s time to have that myth shattered.
New research supports not only that fasting helps people drop pounds but also generates valuable antioxidants that can help reverse some effects of aging. Wow, lose weight and look younger….
It’s not really that hard to adapt to a fasting lifestyle once you set your mind to it. There are a number of different types of fasting, with the most popular being intermittent fasting whereby you eat your last meal around 7 pm and don’t eat until 11 am the next day. The later you can push your first meal, narrowing your eating window, the more you push your body to a place where it starts to burn fat for fuel.
New research suggests fasting supercharges cells
Scientists from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University and Kyoto University found 30, previously unreported substances which increase during fasting bringing with them a number of health benefits.
Researchers analyzed human blood, plasma and red blood cells drawn from fasting individuals and monitored changes in levels of metabolites – substances formed during the chemical processes that give organisms energy and let them grow. The results were staggering and revealed 44 metabolites, including 30 that have not been recognized before. These metabolites increased 1.5- 60 fold in just 58 hours after fasting.
Previous research has shown that some metabolites decline with age including leucine, isoleucine, and ophthalmic acid. In fasting individuals, these metabolites increase which suggests that fasting could have an impact on longevity.
According to research leader Teruya,
“These are very important metabolites for maintenance of muscle and antioxidant activity, respectively, This result suggests the possibility of a rejuvenating effect by fasting, which was not known until now.”
What happens when the body is starved of carbs
When the human body is deprived of carbohydrates, it goes in search of
energy stores elsewhere. This hunt for energy leaves a trail of metabolites or markers of energy substitution that accumulate during fasting.
In addition to energy substitution, blood analysis showed that a
“global increase in substances produced by the citric acid cycle, a process by which organisms release energy stored in the chemical bonds of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. The marked increase suggests that, during fasting, the tiny powerhouses running every cell are thrown into overdrive.”
Fasting brings balance and fights free radicals
Two chemical substances that enhance metabolism, purine, and pyrimidine were also enhanced with fasting. These substances play a key role in gene expression and protein synthesis. This suggests that fasting may reprogram which proteins cells build at what time – enhancing their function. This promotes balance in cells and edits their gene expression in response to environmental influences.
Both purine and pyrimidine boost the body’s production of antioxidants when metabolized. A number of antioxidants were found to increase during the 58-hour fasting study period. This means greater protection for cells from the harmful impacts of oxidation and free radicals that promote aging.
More benefits of intermittent fasting
A 2013 review of studies on intermittent fasting in humans suggested that intermittent fasting has been shown to reduce inflammation, reduce blood pressure, improve metabolism, reduce LDL and total cholesterol levels, prevent or reverse type 2 diabetes, protect against cardiovascular disease and lead to significant amounts of weight loss.
How to get started
The first week, get used to only eating within a 10-hour window, between 9 a.m to 7 p.m for example, and not snacking or grazing outside of that. The second week, see if you can reduce your food intake to an 8-hour window, for example, between 11 a.m to 7 p.m. Some people eventually reduce even further to a 6-hour window, or to only eating every other day, but that’s something to experiment with once your body gets used to smaller changes in your eating schedule. It’s possible to experience significant weight loss and other benefits including possible anti-aging effects when you’re on the less extreme, 8-hour eating schedule.
If you are on a ketogenic diet plan, you are already eating more fat than those on other diet regiment like Atkins.
However, if you’ve hit a keto plateau and find it extremely difficult to lose weight, your body might be metabolically resistant to weight loss. Your body might have problems getting into ketosis fully.
Maybe, you’re doing everything right but the ketone testing strips won’t turn even pink or your blood ketone level isn’t in the optimal range at all.
If so, fat fast is what you need to get into.
While the fat fast works beautifully for those who are metabolically challenged, there are some key points that you need to consider before taking the plunge.
The rationale behind this fasting regime is pretty solid.
You are going to try and force your body to go into the state of lipolysis, or fat oxidation, so you can begin to use your fat stores for energy.
Lipolysis cannot be triggered if there are significant sources of glucose available, so the fat fast is a pretty radical 3 to 5 day plan that severely lowers your protein and calorie intake, and ups your fat consumption to around 90 percent of your calories.
Keep in mind that this fast is nutritionally inadequate, so it’s reserved for those who are severely insulin resistant, metabolically challenged, or those who have gone 4 to 6 weeks without losing either pounds or inches.
The program is not for those who want to carve off the pounds faster or even those who are brand new to a low-carb diet.
The fat fast is only safe for those who can’t get into the state of ketosis in any other way or for those who need a potential stall breaker to help them get past a set point.
For this reason, you don’t want to forget that this is not a weight-loss diet.
This is fasting, without having to go completely without food. It’s a way to coax your body into giving up its fat stores by using plenty of fat, which doesn’t raise insulin or blood glucose at all.
What is the Fat Fast?
In the 50s and 60s, Alan Kekwick and Gaston Pawan conducted a scientific study that looked at how the body metabolizes protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
Participants lost more weight on a low-calorie, low-protein, high-fat diet than they did on a low-calorie, high-carb diet, even though the calories were the same across both diets.
This Kekwick diet caught Dr. Atkins attention because in his professional experience, about 1 percent of his patients had serious problems getting into ketosis, even after correcting their medications, thyroid issues, and yeast overgrowth.
Dr. Atkins called the Kekwick diet a Fat Fast because it contains almost no food at all, except for fat. All sources of glucose are severely limited. There is only incidental carbs and a tiny bit of tag-along protein allowed.
The idea is to get rid of as much glucose-producing food as possible, which will force the body to make ketones to take up the slack.
This means the greater majority of what you eat during the fast is just fat.
Examples of what you might eat on the Fat Fast include:
- avocado
- nuts
- eggs
- heavy whipping cream
- cream cheese
- bacon
This is a “fast,” rather than a “diet,” because the program is very protein deficient. You’ll only be eating a mere 10 percent of your calories in protein, or less.
This is not a long-term solution to your weight problem.
Fasting is always a last resort.
In fact, if you’re having trouble getting into ketosis, and you have addressed medications, thyroid, and any yeast overgrowth with your personal doctor, that you try doing zero carb before you try doing the Fat Fast.
Zero carb is much more comfortable and sustainable than fasting.
It’s also recommended that if you do need to use the fat fast, that you follow the principles for only 3 to 5 days, at most, and then move into a typical
Calories are limited to 1,000 per day, the amount that Dr. Kekwick used, and food is broken up into 5 very small meals spread out throughout the day.
This means you’re going to eat every 3 to 4 hours, or so. Each meal contains 200 calories and must contain the same approximate ratio of 10 percent protein to 90 percent fats.
When you combine low calories, low protein, and high fat together, you get a powerful tool that can break through a stubborn metabolism.
How Does the Fat Fast Work?
Ordinarily, during induction carbohydrates should be limited to 20-net carbs a day, or less. This forces the liver to continuously use the body’s carbohydrate stores, called glycogen, to keep your blood glucose level from dropping too low.
When glycogen stores drop to about half full, the body turns to oxidizing protein for energy.
While the body is using protein, the liver is also using fat to convert lactate, pyruvate, glucose-producing amino acids, and the glycerol molecule attached to triglycerides into glucose for use by the major organs, muscles, and brain.
During this fat-burning process, incompletely burned fragments known as ketones result.
The liver cannot use ketones for energy.
It uses fat.
But the brain, heart, muscles, and other body organs and systems can use ketones, so the liver dumps the ketones into the bloodstream along with any glucose that it’s able to make.
Because muscle-burning is life threatening, the body ramps up its production of ketones and switches to using stored body fat for fuel, but in those who are resistant to weight loss, this switch in metabolic pathways does not occur.
However, when you lower protein, you remove most of the liver’s ability to convert amino acids into glucose, as well as the body’s tendency to oxidize protein directly for fuel.
Coupled with a very low calorie diet, the urgency for fuel skyrockets and the body is now forced to begin making ketones to fuel itself.
Benefits and Side Effects of Fat Fast
Metabolic problems are more common in women who are going through menopause, but can actually affect anyone, especially those who have cycled on-and-off of a weight-loss diet for many years.
The body gets more efficient at adapting to your calorie intake and activity level, so slow to non-existent weight loss isn’t always about insulin.
Sometimes, it’s due to a lack of commitment.
While there are many benefits to giving the Fat Fast a try, you also need to be warned if you are looking to speeding up your weight loss:
If you are not metabolically resistant, fat fasting might actually be dangerous. For people who lose weight fairly easily, the rate of weight loss is too rapid to be safe.
This doesn’t mean that the fast is dangerous for those who need this type of dietary intervention. It is beneficial for people who can barely lose weight on any other regiment.
Benefits of going on the fast fast include:
- drastic drop in appetite
- lower basal insulin levels
- getting the ketone-testing strips to turn at least pink
- improved sense of well-being
- increase in energy
And hopefully it can enable you to lose a few pounds as a reward for the drastic restrictions.
But most importantly, the fat fast enables a stubborn metabolism to go into the state of ketosis, which causes a typical low-carb diet to begin working for you.
In addition to the benefits, there are some real side effects that can also make this fast a challenge.
You can expect to start craving real food and go through a series of withdrawals when your favorite ketogenic foods are no longer an option.
For many, not having regular meals with the family or significant other can also be problematic.
You can also begin to experience some of the symptoms of protein deficiency, especially if you’ve been skating on the edge of protein deficiency already from being misinformed as to how much protein is needed to stay healthy on a ketogenic diet.
Protein is essential for the production of hormones and enzymes, as well as your white blood cells to help fight off viruses, bacteria, and other invaders.
Some of these protein-deficiency side effects include:
- water retention
- bloating
- hair loss
- very dry skin
- headaches
- insomnia
This is why a fat fast shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s a solid tool for busting through metabolic resistance, but it is not to be used as a long-term solution.
Does the Fat Fast Work on the Keto Diet?
For those who are already in ketosis, but losing weight extremely slowly, or not at all, you need to first address the problems of medication, yeast overgrowth, and potential thyroid problems before considering the fat fast regime.
If all of those check out okay, you need to get started with a 5-day fat fast meal plan.
Most people are able to tolerate this fast for at least that long, but don’t extend the fast longer than a maximum of 5 days or you’ll risk muscle wasting.
When you don’t eat enough protein, the body doesn’t go without. It simply gets the amino acids it needs from your muscle tissue.
So, just do the 5 days and then move to a more traditional Keto diet of 20 carbs and 15 to 20 percent of your maintenance calories in protein, with the rest of your calories coming from fat.
At the end of the week, you can evaluate the results.
Since many on the keto diet are already eating more fat than those on Atkins, the fat fast won’t be as much of a shock for you, but you still might go through some of the emotional side effects listed above.
You’ll also be at risk for protein deficiency, so make sure you’re getting enough protein once you move into Atkins Induction macros.
Diet Plan for Fat Fast on Keto Diet
This diet plan is a Fat Fast designed for those who are already on a Keto Diet and stalled, or those who are struggling to get into the optimal Nutritional Ketosis zone.
It contains only 1,000 calories, what Dr. Atkins originally recommended, spread out across 5 meals throughout the day. Since each meal contains about 200 calories, you can switch out one meal for another quite easily, without harming the fast at all:
Day 1:
Meal 1 – coffee or tea with 1/4 cup heavy cream
Meal 2 – 1 ounce of macadamia nuts
Meal 3 – 2 ounces tuna, 2 teaspoon mayonnaise, 1/4 avocado
Meal 4 – 2 ounces of any hard cheese
Meal 5 – 2 ounce hamburger patty
Day 2:
Meal 1 – coffee or tea with 1/4 cup heavy cream
Meal 2 – 1 ounce chicken, 1 teaspoon mayonnaise, 1/2 avocado
Meal 3 – 1-1/2 ounces cream cheese, 1 tablespoon nut butter
Meal 4 – 2 ounce hamburger patty
Meal 5 – 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped into a mousse with sugar free syrup for flavoring
Day 3:
Meal 1 – coffee or tea with 1/4 cup heavy cream
Meal 2 – 1 ounce sausage, 1 egg cooked in the grease
Meal 3 – 2 ounces of any hard cheese
Meal 4 – 2 ounces chicken, topped with 1 slice bacon
Meal 5 – 1 ounce walnuts
Day 4:
Meal 1 – coffee or tea with 1/4 cup heavy cream
Meal 2 – 2 hard-boiled eggs dipped in 1-1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
Meal 3 – 2 ounces of any hard cheese
Meal 4 – 2 ounce hamburger patty
Meal 5 – 2 ounces cream cheese mixed with sugar free syrup for flavoring
Day 5:
Meal 1 – coffee or tea with 1/4 cup heavy cream
Meal 2 – 1 ounce sausage, 1 egg cooked in the grease
Meal 3 – 1 ounce macadamia nuts
Meal 4 – 1 hard-boiled egg, 1 teaspoon mayo, 1/2 avocado
Meal 5 – sugar-free gelatin topped with 1/4 cup heavy cream
On Day 6 and 7, you move into a traditional induction type of diet:
Days 6 and 7:
- Limit protein to 4 to 6 ounces per meal
- 2 to 3 cups salad per day with full-fat dressing
- 1 cup of steamed non-starchy vegetables per day
- up to 20 carbohydrates
As you can see from the above sample menus, this is not a lot of food and the foods that are allowed are almost all fats until you get to days 6 and 7.
Final Thoughts
If you are successful in following the fat fast program, even a move in this direction — lower protein and higher fat — might be enough to get the pounds coming off again.
You don’t have to go this drastic.
Many have found success using 1200 calories divided into 4 meals.
You might also be able to create your own fat fasting meal plan that is less restrictive and still get the results you’re seeking after: optimal ketosis.
However, for better results, make sure you get at least 1000-calories and follow your meal plan strictly.
This is because if you follow a low-calorie diet for an extended period, it can affect your metabolism, as well as impact your nutritional profile.
Metabolism slows to compensate for a very low calorie intake, so you’ll want to keep this in mind if you opt to repeat the fast over the course of your weight-loss phase.
The fat fast can seriously impact the amount of calories you’ll be able to eat on maintenance and maintain those losses.
However, for those who cannot lose weight on keto diet in any other way, the fat fast can be extremely beneficial.