Freezing cold while extended fasting - my remedies


(Karim Wassef) #5

Many of these remedies I also found my researching Raynaud’s

I moved from one meal a day (23hr fast) to 2 day, 5 day, 7 day and 12 day… it’s a process.

The cold packs were frankly the biggest impact for me.


(Kristen Ann) #6

@Ketodaisy have you ever tried compression gloves? They help a little bit with my Raynauds.


(Daisy) #7

I have them lol. I use them when they get really bad, but the day to day I’m so used to it I don’t think about it lol. I am just recovering from my chilblains again on my toes. Blah!


(Allie) #8

I just wear more clothes, drink hot water, and move around as much as possible. As long as I can move around I’m good, it’s at work when I’m stuck at my desk that makes it difficult.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

Huh. Forgive me Karim, but I’m not sure how accurate all that is. My impression was that the body is pretty good at regulating blood volume. Isn’t the water we retain when eating carbs tied with the glycogen in the muscles (seems to me I read something about this on one of the body building threads)? One thing I do know is that the way insulin increases the blood pressure is by messing somehow with nitric oxide (NO), which is the main regulator of vasodilation. So much for keto clarity—I was reading about this just last week, and do you think I can remember the details or the citation? Sheesh!

Do you have a reference I could look at? Or are you as organized about that sort of thing as I am—which is to say, not.


(Bunny) #10

Some other interesting things I like dabbling in:

image

Hormesis: exposure to cold & heat e.g. a small dose of some type of stressor to increase mitochondrial biogenesis during autophagy while fasting.

Bitter melon extract and drinking cold water, higher Omega 3’s (10:1 to omega 6 ratio) w/DHA from marine life, deep breathing synchronization (Wim Hof et al.); bitter melon extract is the best one in my opinion to induce more BAT and activate brown adipose tissue (BAT) through the spleen kinase (breathing deeper; less oxygen needed when stressor hits adrenal reciprocation; endotoxin resistance) transport cycle combined with fasting…


Dr. Ben Bikman podcast episode March 18, 2019. Energy and Mass
(Shane) #11

It was the other way around for me. I used to get very cold below the knees before I started losing weight. Compression socks for fluid retention and circulation and an electric blanket helped.
I don’t worry too much now, but we had a cold snap (21 inside and 14 outside) last night and I used the heater for a little while and electric blanket to heat up the bed. Guess I could have put on long pants and a shirt instead. I would have been much colder at my old heavy weight.
I’m 45hrs in ATM and feel good.


(Karim Wassef) #12

hmmm… I know that taking in more salt and therefore having more water in my system increased my warmth… I don’t know where the majority of water is stored - but I assumed that with lower insulin and depletion of my glycogen, that there was blood volume reduction. How much? I don’t know.

I only know the cause and effect - not sure about the “why” in between them: more salt … more water retention … more warmth … those I know.


(Bob M) #13

I don’t think any of these are true. Cold showers for me make me cold, all day. The same with cold therapy (walking outside in the cold with reduced clothing on).

I got to the point where I was getting so cold while fasting only 12 hours that I had to stop fasting for a while. I (1) ate more and (2) started taking iodine. I now no longer get that cold while fasting.

I do take in more salt, though I also took in a lot of salt when I got cold, too. So, for me, salt doesn’t seem to affect how cold I get while fasting.


(Karim Wassef) #14

They’re true based on my experience. You May experience different outcomes. We each have an n=1. I encourage everyone to share their experiences with all or any of them.

I’m about to start a sequence of 4 two week water+salt fasts back to back interrupted by 2 days of vegan eating and finished off with a week of soft dry fasting one drink a day (ODAD) “water break”. That means I dry fast all day and only have one drinking window… I’m a carnivore by nature so this is going to be tough since I’d rather not eat than be vegan. I originally wanted to do a 60 day fast but decided that I don’t have enough body fat to sustain that long of a fast and broke it up into 4 x “12 day” buckets. If I can gain a little more before I start, I may go for 2 x “26 day” fasts instead and then the ODAD dry fasting week.

I plan on using these techniques again and will share my experience. The target start is Monday March 4th.


(Karim Wassef) #15

On fasting blood volume with and without salt - 14% reduction… wow - no wonder I was freezing :cold_face:


(Windmill Tilter) #16

Have you ever had an RMR test done? I bet it would be super interesting to see the results from a test done mid-fast. It may be that given your extensive fasting experience, your metabolism is stable during feasts, but has been trained to drop faster and lower than average in response to fasting conditions.

Let’s say your feasting RMR was 2000, it’s entirely possible your fasting metabolism could drop to 1200kcal in 24hrs. @ctviggen has reported feeling cold after just 12hrs! It’s possible you guys have super responsive metabolisms after a year of feast/fast cycles.

Getting your RMR checked can be as cheap as $50 depending on where you live, but the normal range is $50-$100. If you did one feasted, and one fasted, you’d have some pretty valuable info. There are lots of places that do them.


(Karim Wassef) #17

Thanks. I’ll look for it.

My experience is that my metabolism seems more demand driven - if I go lifting every day, even fasted, my body reacts by keeping me energetic.

In fact if I feel slow or sluggish, I know it means I need to go for a brisk walk or lifting. All of a sudden, my energy roars back up.


(Windmill Tilter) #18

Groupon always comes through.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/dexafit-dallas


(Karim Wassef) #19

very nice! I’ll do it when I’m at my peak re-feed weight before the fast and then take a few tests as I progress. I’m planning on beefing up by the end of Feb.


(Karim Wassef) #20

signed up! I’m getting Dexa and RMR… going to try a CAC while I’m at it… targeting March 4th … we’ll see


(Windmill Tilter) #21

That’s awesome. Let us know how you make out!


(Karim Wassef) #22

Has anyone tried any of these techniques? Any other n=1 experiences? :slight_smile:


(Windmill Tilter) #23

I tried Niacin (B3). I took about 500mg prior to hopping a sauna for 25 mins. I could definitely feel the niacin “flush” and my face definitely took on a rosy hue. I definitely felt warmer for hours afterwards, but hard to know if that was the sauna or not. I read on the label that B3 wasn’t supposed to be taken on an empty stomach, so I stopped taking it, but I’ll try it the next time I get cold during a fast to see what happens.


(Karim Wassef) #24

I did take a cod liver oil supplement with it. It’s basically an oil pill but it still falls under my definition of fasting.