Episode 007: A Quick Introduction to Ketosis and Intermittent Fasting

LCHF Family

LCHF Family 007: A Quick Introduction to Ketosis and Intermittent Fasting Released: July 27, 2017 Today, Adam is back as co-host to offer a brief overview of ketosis and intermittent fasting. The purpose of this episode is just to define the terms for you, our listeners. Ketosis is a way of eating that allows for approximately 5% of your food intake to come from carbohydrates (about 20 grams or less), 20% from protein, and the rest from fat. It causes your body to draw mainly from the fat you eat and have stored on your body for its energy. Rather than burning glucose, your body will burn ketones. Intermittent Fasting is restricting all food intake to a limited amount of time in your day. This gives your body time to burn through the available glucose in your blood and then begin to access stored fat. (That is a very simplified explanation. See the links below for more information.) For some, this simply means they have breakfast at 8, dinner at 6, and lunch somewhere in between, and allow for no snacking outside of those times. This is called a 14/10 eating window. Many people will shorten that window by skipping breakfast and have an 18/6 eating window. Some will compress it even further. Other forms of intermittent fasting involve going for longer-term fasts in which you consume no more than 300 calories in a day for 4 or more days. These fasts have been very beneficial to people who have a great deal of fat to lose or who are diabetic or prediabetic. However, longer-term fasting should only be done under the supervision of a doctor who will monitor your progress and make sure your electrolytes and other markers are within the realm of safety. If you are thinking about trying either, please take the time to learn more so you know what to expect. Here are some helpful links to get you started: If you are interested in ketosis, Brian Williamson--the Ketovangelist--is a great resource. Check out his website to find general information about ketosis and listen to his podcast where he interviews experts about ketogenic diets. Or, take a look at his 28-day quick-start book. DietDoctor.com is another great resource. You can find a 2-week meal plan to give ketosis a try as well as a recipe database that you can search according to whether you are interested in reduced carb or low-carb meals. (We use recipes from this site all the time in our LCHF Family!) He also had a great deal of general information about ketosis, LCHF, intermittent fasting, diabetes, the history of our food culture, and more. We told you about Dr. Jason Fung, a nephrologist and advocate for intermittent fasting. He wrote The Obesity Code, as well as an IF guide for beginners on DietDoctor.com. He also has a podcast you can find in the podcatcher of your choice if you search for him by name. A special welcome to those of you who found us thanks to our shout-out on the Tom Woods Show! Many thanks to Lee Rosevere at Free Music Archive for the music we use in the podcast! Be sure to subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or your podcatcher of choice so new episodes arrive automatically. For more support, like and follow the community on Facebook, and check out our website! Assume any links in the show notes that go to business sites are affiliate links. Purchasing things you find at those links helps us pay for hosting fees and equipment for the podcast. You can see a list of our partners on the Support the Show page.