This explains very succinctly why I could fast 5 days every six weeks my first three years of keto and add lean tissue from 149 pounds LBM of lean to my top lean weight of 181 LBM pounds. according to Dexascans, which some consider to be the Gold Standard of measuring body tissues. Currently I am about 174 LBM at 230 pounds and 20% BF. Indeed, I wrote a blog post about how when I ate less calories averaged out I gained lean but when I limited calories I often dropped weight. A prominent Ketoverse people called me an “outlier” at some Keto festival I was at. I fasted this way not so much as a method of weight loss track but to repair some osteoporosis and did so successfully raising my T Score from -T1.9 in 2013 to +T 1.7 as of this year.
Clearly if I am not misrepresenting my data my N=1 confirms what that I have promoted , not just preserved, protein sparring. Without adding protein to my fasts. Besides reversing my bone density I have also improved my heart health, dropping my Agatston Score by 8.2% from 386 to 355 and improving my Ejection fraction from 45% to 60%. I do not think a heart that is losing lean tissue does that. I just don’t. My next scan is September 2 as preliminary work/data for 90 days of carnivore to help address my wife Jamie’s autoimmune issues. I am doing labs as well.
I am not opposed to a “fast” that adds fat. Currently I do that. At 230 pounds currently when I fast I only have 45 pounds of fat to work with and that equates to 1395 Kcal ( 45 x 31 = 1395) from body fat,. My average calorie load is 2800, 70% fat, 28% protein and the rest carbohydrates. If I don’t eat that much protein I stay hungry as I just cannot seem to leverage more fat to satiety, only this much protein per day works. AND with that I have a BHB between .4 to 1.0 mmol per Keto-Mojo.
I am not opposed to a fast that adds Protein in principle. In one aspect this is similar to Longo’s Fasting Mimicking Diet. If you think you need to eat because you’ll wither away otherwise, well go ahead but the science doesn’t bear this out. Of course you could be limiting other health benefits of not eating at all including a deeper level of cellular repair. That’s just a personal belief about cell repair. I did test HGH levels at 96 hours about 6 times and each time it was below baseline so I have no empirical evidence to highlight that. I do know that my insulin at 96 hours fasted is about 1.0 uIU/ml, normally 6.0. I DO leverage that insulin spike into hopefully muscle growth. I break a fast after a heavy lift at 100 plus hours and eat a Keto-Chow followed by a Ribeye to use the insulin spike as a means to pack my skeletal muscle with the goodies it wants. Seems to work. That and the glycogen combining with watwer at a 1:3 ratio I gain 7 pounds the day after I eat. My muscles swell up. Nice.
However if you want to accuse a reputable doctor whose clinic has used ADF fasting as an effective means to control Type Two Diabetes and other scourges of metabolic disease and have your admins call him a charlatan? I take issue with that. I find it a disservice to health in general and it appears to be a bit of carnival barker…don’t look over there, look here, hire us. I am glad you have looked at this BoolSheet.
That is MY OPINION only. I do not want to imply Richard thinks or feels that way.