So what type of foods irritate me when I'm not consuming kefir?
Sadly...Just about everything.At the moment I have been 2 and 1/2 weeks without any kefir at all. If I was smart, I would have mailed some to my family before I went to visit them for 2 weeks. If I was even smarter, I would have eaten REAL foods while I was on vacation...But it's vacation. :)
So why am I writing 3 seemingly pointless blog posts on Celiac Disease without my usual scientific literature to go along with them?
Because I can't believe how poor my digestive system works without fermented foods. As I have mentioned in a previous post, about 10 years ago I had a doctor experimenting on me when I came down with walking ammonia in college. When it finally got unbearable, they put my on amoxicillin for 30 days straight at a very high dose as I spent the majority of the month laying in bed. Some Christmas break...
Getting to the point...
I still can't get over the fact that I have been able to eat anything the past 8 months without thinking twice about it giving me blurry vision, or a headache. Side effects I had gotten so used to that I had forgotten how to smile. Before I got on Kefir, I thought I would have to live like a caveman the rest of my life and deal with not ever being able to eat out anywhere or enjoy a piece of pizza or dinner with friends.
So the reason for this long rant...
I have not been able to eat much of anything lately and I'm starving! I even tried to have a veggie shake earlier and some eggs and nothing is staying down like it should. My stomach is a mess without this stuff. If you are dealing with any of the unpleasant side effects associated with food allergies, or have lost your stomach flora from antibiotics, please try this stuff!
Once my first batch is ready after being in the fridge for 2 weeks, (While I was gone), you can bet that this stuff isn't leaving my side again! I cant imagine not having this stuff around and have no idea how I would be able to deal with a regular life without it. Please!, if you are suffering from gluten allergies, please give this stuff a try! I cant stress it enough. Do a little research on lactose intolerance if you have it and start with a little kefir and you should be able to digest it without a problem. Because it consumes all of the milk sugars and digests everything for you, so your body doesn't have to do much of anything at all.
Ok my rant is over...Next I will try to do a few posts on traveling with kefir.
I have done so while in a vehicle on an extended trip, but not yet by plane...
But I will keep you all updated on how to travel with this stuff for future reference!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Celiac Disease And Kefir - Part 2
So you take a store bough pro-biotic and don't care if it doesn't ever let you eat anything without having a bad reaction?
That's wonderful!...And I am glad you have found a "solution" to your problem. How many living probiotics do you really think are in those dried out powdered pills anyways...And do you really think they can breed and grow inside of your body? If you do, no need to read on. Sometimes ignorance is bliss...And maybe for you mind over matter is actually doing something.
For those of you who might question the active live cultures present in the pills you pop in an effort to get rid of the digestive pain...your in luck. Without going into the details of how limiting store bought probiotics are, I will simply jump ahead to another possible deterrent from using them.
Store bought probiotics...Are...Store Bought!
Which means, they are controlled and cost money...over...and...over...and...over again
Don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that there are entrepreneurs out there that can team up with scientists to help people with digestive problems created by other entrepreneurs and big businesses who have teamed up before them to scientifically engineer foods that gave us the digestive problems in the first place.
Here is what I am saying though. NO STORE BOUGHT PROBIOTIC CAN COMPARE TO KEFIR.
And real Kefir is illegal to sell in the grocery store, because the government has a law that limits the number of different active cultures allowed in a given food or beverage. It also cant ever be patented, as its impossible to recreated outside of using someone elses kefir grains to start a culture with. IMPOSSIBLE, which means Kefir in the grocery store...Isn't Keifr. Trust me, as I cant drink it without an allergic reaction.
So why would you want to save your expensive probiotics for your vacation time and drink only kefir while at home?
Well if for no other reason...Do it to save money!
Every time you take a store bought probiotic, you pay for that pill. And for what you are getting, you pay dearly for that pill.
With Kefir, you buy it once and it lasts a lifetime, then you pass it on to your kids, and so on and so forth.
All you need to buy is milk!...Or if you prefer water kefir...Some cane sugar in bulk.
And thats it!
That's wonderful!...And I am glad you have found a "solution" to your problem. How many living probiotics do you really think are in those dried out powdered pills anyways...And do you really think they can breed and grow inside of your body? If you do, no need to read on. Sometimes ignorance is bliss...And maybe for you mind over matter is actually doing something.
For those of you who might question the active live cultures present in the pills you pop in an effort to get rid of the digestive pain...your in luck. Without going into the details of how limiting store bought probiotics are, I will simply jump ahead to another possible deterrent from using them.
Store bought probiotics...Are...Store Bought!
Which means, they are controlled and cost money...over...and...over...and...over again
Don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful that there are entrepreneurs out there that can team up with scientists to help people with digestive problems created by other entrepreneurs and big businesses who have teamed up before them to scientifically engineer foods that gave us the digestive problems in the first place.
Here is what I am saying though. NO STORE BOUGHT PROBIOTIC CAN COMPARE TO KEFIR.
And real Kefir is illegal to sell in the grocery store, because the government has a law that limits the number of different active cultures allowed in a given food or beverage. It also cant ever be patented, as its impossible to recreated outside of using someone elses kefir grains to start a culture with. IMPOSSIBLE, which means Kefir in the grocery store...Isn't Keifr. Trust me, as I cant drink it without an allergic reaction.
So why would you want to save your expensive probiotics for your vacation time and drink only kefir while at home?
Well if for no other reason...Do it to save money!
Every time you take a store bought probiotic, you pay for that pill. And for what you are getting, you pay dearly for that pill.
With Kefir, you buy it once and it lasts a lifetime, then you pass it on to your kids, and so on and so forth.
All you need to buy is milk!...Or if you prefer water kefir...Some cane sugar in bulk.
And thats it!
Celiac Disease And Kefir - Part 1
Celiac Disease (Nontropical sprue; Gluten intolerance; Gluten-sensitive enteropathy)Celiac disease is a condition that damages the lining of the small intestine and prevents it from absorbing parts of food that are important for staying healthy. The damage is due to a reaction to eating gluten, which is found in wheat, barley, rye, and possibly oats.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001280/
Not With Kefir :)
Ok, I'm not going to bore you with a long drawn out detailed description of the debilitating side effects associated with this wonderful disease...If you have it or anything close to it...I'm sure you know.
Here's what I am going to offer you though...A way out.
If you have taken any time to read through any of my extremely boring litany of bacterium definitions or any of the numerous descriptions on how kefir can help various ailments, you may be getting the point that there is actually something to this wonderfully rubbery substance.
Here's the deal...
If you consume kefir and I'm talking about REAL KEFIR, not the fake sugar filled shit they try and sell you at the grocery store, you can fix more digestive issues than you could ever imagine.
Don't believe me?...
Here's what used to happen to me before I found kefir.
Before I found kefir, I suffered severe chronic inflammation that for several years I attributed to a bad car accident. In reality, the accident simply made the inflammation so bad that I couldn't ignore it anymore. I lived on Ibuprofen and suffered through migraines for years.
About 2 years ago, I dropped 25 lbs and wasn't able to eat even a bite of pizza without developing blurry vision, confusion, dizziness, massive headaches and extreme fatigue. I would have to go lay down as I couldn't keep my eyes open. The symptoms would come on quickly and always the same. Within 20 minutes of eating something containing gluten or some form of high fructose corn syrup, I was done for.
I went on a gluten free diet for about 8 months, eating mostly ketogenic. In other words, I lived on a healthy version of the Atkins, you know...real meat. (Not the crap they sell at the grocery store), but real home grown or hunted meats and organs meats. I also consumed copious amount of fat for the majority of my calories. I lived on coconut oil, butter, cheese, olive oil and fish oil.
The pain was gone...
For the first time I realized that I may be just like the rest of my brothers and sisters...Gluten intolerant. But on this diet, I found it almost impossible to eat anything I didn't make myself or keep any real weight on. I would have dinner at someones house and think their homemade salad and dressing must be fine to consume...Only 20 minutes later to find out that there was corn syrup and sugar in the dressing...
Finally I discovered kefir...
And Yes, That obnoxiously large blue font was to stress the importance of that short blurb...And here's why...I recently forgot I have a gluten allergy at all. In fact, I so forgot that I had any type of food allergy that during a 2 week Holiday vacation, I ate like an animal. I ate anything and everything containing gluten, high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. And guess what ha...For a full 10 days of gluttony...I was in heaven. And I felt great to boot!
It wasn't until the 11th day without consuming any kefir and living off foods I should never have touched in the first place, that the once forgotten reactions came back. So for the last several days, I have had to again limit everything I ate to gluten free and read labels to make sure that wasn't any fake corn syrup. Somehow I seemed to still consume it and I have suffered through the pains waiting to get back home.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Start Fasting (Choose A Method)
So hopefully by now, you are aware of the amazing benefits associated with periodic fasting. Today well take a quick look at various ways to go about your fasts that will work for any ones schedule. Why will it work for any ones schedule? Simple, there aren't any rules!
To make things simple for you though and to give you some basic ground rules from which to build your fasting regime from, lets begin with a foundation. In order to have a stable method for either losing weight, maintaining a healthy weight, teaching your cells to become efficient protein users or simply extending your life span, you MUST have a general guide as a foundation.
Even if your foundation is to be sporadic with your fasting, plan how long you will fast for within a given period of time and then you can be sporadic and fast whenever you feel like it. If you don't at least block out a time (Say once every 3 months) for a week long for or even a 3 day fast, it may never get done.
So here's the foundation that I use. Feel free to use this for yourself, or modify it all you want to.
Here goes...
There are 52 weeks in a year. There are 4 seasons in a year. This is simple math, so no need to reinvent the wheel here. Lets start with dividing 52 by 4. This will give us 13.
We take this 13 week period and call it a block. We will complete 4 blocks in a year. If as I mentioned above you like to be sporadic with fasting, you now have 4 - 13 week blocks in which to "randomly" fast a given number of days.
Here's a better idea...Or should I say several.
Lets start with a schedule for BUSY BODIES. Those working long hours and potentially with high stress and or high physical labour jobs. These people cant afford to fast more than 60 days a year and if your always working, you cant afford not to eat for more than say 24-36 hours per week or it may interfere with your work performance.
This fasting method is for you:
52 Days of Fasting (Best for underweight, skinny people with busy, stressful, physical labor jobs)
Tips: You don't have to fast the same day every week. Allow yourself to be free with this fasting method, but make sure you do it once every single week! A trick is to start a fast at say 3pm on one day and break it at 3pm the following day. If you try to do 12pm-12pm, you may end up fasting 36 or more hours.
Week 1 - 24 hour fast
Week 2 - 24 hour fast
Week 3 - 24 hour fast
Week 4 - 24 hour fast
Week 5 - 24 hour fast
Week 6 - 24 hour fast
Week 7 - 24 hour fast
Week 8 - 24 hour fast
Week 9 - 24 hour fast
Week 10 - 24 hour fast
Week 11 - 24 hour fast
Week 12 - 24 hour fast
Week 13 - 24 hour fast
56 Days of Fasting (Best for losing weight with busy, stressful jobs excluding physical laborers)
Week 1 - 48 hour fast
Week 2 - 0 hour fast
Week 3 - 48 hour fast
Week 4 - 0 hour fast
Week 5 - 48 hour fast
Week 6 - 0 hour fast
Week 7 - 48 hour fast
Week 8 - 0 hour fast
Week 9 - 48 hour fast
Week 10 - 0 hour fast
Week 11 - 48 hour fast
Week 12 - 0 hour fast
Week 13 - 48 hour fast
66 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, caution if you're daily life involves hard physical labor. This method is best with people with less physically active daily lives)
Week 1 - 36 hour fast
Week 2 - 24 hour fast
Week 3 - 36 hour fast
Week 4 - 24 hour fast
Week 5 - 36 hour fast
Week 6 - 24 hour fast
Week 7 - 36 hour fast
Week 8 - 24 hour fast
Week 9 - 36 hour fast
Week 10 - 24 hour fast
Week 11 - 36 hour fast
Week 12 - 24 hour fast
Week 13 - 36 hour fast
68 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, this plan starts every 13 week block with a 7 day green juice fast / water fast (3-4 days juice) (3-4 days water) or all juice. This plan will drastically improve your health if overweight. You will lose a lot of weight with this method. This method is easier for persons without extremely physically active daily lives as rest will be needed for longer fasts)
Week 1 - 168 hour fast (7 day fast - use green juices with water for this, minimal root and fruit plants)
Week 2 - 0 hour fast
Week 3 - 48 hour fast
Week 4 - 0 hour fast
Week 5 - 48 hour fast
Week 6 - 0 hour fast
Week 7 - 48 hour fast
Week 8 - 0 hour fast
Week 9 - 48 hour fast
Week 10 - 0 hour fast
Week 11 - 48 hour fast
Week 12 - 0 hour fast
Week 13 - 0 hour fast
78 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, this plan is more manageable than previous one and allows for continuous weekly fasts of small 36 hour increments. Best way to start one of these fasts is to fast from say 12am Friday morning to 12pm Saturday. Or any other variation. Those persons with earlier bedtimes may wish to have last meal at 6pm Friday night and resume eating at 6am Sunday morning. You pick the days you fast.)
Week 1 - 36 hour fast
Week 2 - 36 hour fast
Week 3 - 36 hour fast
Week 4 - 36 hour fast
Week 5 - 36 hour fast
Week 6 - 36 hour fast
Week 7 - 36 hour fast
Week 8 - 36 hour fast
Week 9 - 36 hour fast
Week 10 - 36 hour fast
Week 11 - 36 hour fast
Week 12 - 36 hour fast
Week 13 - 36 hour fast
To make things simple for you though and to give you some basic ground rules from which to build your fasting regime from, lets begin with a foundation. In order to have a stable method for either losing weight, maintaining a healthy weight, teaching your cells to become efficient protein users or simply extending your life span, you MUST have a general guide as a foundation.
Even if your foundation is to be sporadic with your fasting, plan how long you will fast for within a given period of time and then you can be sporadic and fast whenever you feel like it. If you don't at least block out a time (Say once every 3 months) for a week long for or even a 3 day fast, it may never get done.
So here's the foundation that I use. Feel free to use this for yourself, or modify it all you want to.
Here goes...
There are 52 weeks in a year. There are 4 seasons in a year. This is simple math, so no need to reinvent the wheel here. Lets start with dividing 52 by 4. This will give us 13.
We take this 13 week period and call it a block. We will complete 4 blocks in a year. If as I mentioned above you like to be sporadic with fasting, you now have 4 - 13 week blocks in which to "randomly" fast a given number of days.
Here's a better idea...Or should I say several.
Lets start with a schedule for BUSY BODIES. Those working long hours and potentially with high stress and or high physical labour jobs. These people cant afford to fast more than 60 days a year and if your always working, you cant afford not to eat for more than say 24-36 hours per week or it may interfere with your work performance.
This fasting method is for you:
52 Days of Fasting (Best for underweight, skinny people with busy, stressful, physical labor jobs)
Tips: You don't have to fast the same day every week. Allow yourself to be free with this fasting method, but make sure you do it once every single week! A trick is to start a fast at say 3pm on one day and break it at 3pm the following day. If you try to do 12pm-12pm, you may end up fasting 36 or more hours.
Week 1 - 24 hour fast
Week 2 - 24 hour fast
Week 3 - 24 hour fast
Week 4 - 24 hour fast
Week 5 - 24 hour fast
Week 6 - 24 hour fast
Week 7 - 24 hour fast
Week 8 - 24 hour fast
Week 9 - 24 hour fast
Week 10 - 24 hour fast
Week 11 - 24 hour fast
Week 12 - 24 hour fast
Week 13 - 24 hour fast
56 Days of Fasting (Best for losing weight with busy, stressful jobs excluding physical laborers)
Week 1 - 48 hour fast
Week 2 - 0 hour fast
Week 3 - 48 hour fast
Week 4 - 0 hour fast
Week 5 - 48 hour fast
Week 6 - 0 hour fast
Week 7 - 48 hour fast
Week 8 - 0 hour fast
Week 9 - 48 hour fast
Week 10 - 0 hour fast
Week 11 - 48 hour fast
Week 12 - 0 hour fast
Week 13 - 48 hour fast
66 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, caution if you're daily life involves hard physical labor. This method is best with people with less physically active daily lives)
Week 1 - 36 hour fast
Week 2 - 24 hour fast
Week 3 - 36 hour fast
Week 4 - 24 hour fast
Week 5 - 36 hour fast
Week 6 - 24 hour fast
Week 7 - 36 hour fast
Week 8 - 24 hour fast
Week 9 - 36 hour fast
Week 10 - 24 hour fast
Week 11 - 36 hour fast
Week 12 - 24 hour fast
Week 13 - 36 hour fast
68 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, this plan starts every 13 week block with a 7 day green juice fast / water fast (3-4 days juice) (3-4 days water) or all juice. This plan will drastically improve your health if overweight. You will lose a lot of weight with this method. This method is easier for persons without extremely physically active daily lives as rest will be needed for longer fasts)
Week 1 - 168 hour fast (7 day fast - use green juices with water for this, minimal root and fruit plants)
Week 2 - 0 hour fast
Week 3 - 48 hour fast
Week 4 - 0 hour fast
Week 5 - 48 hour fast
Week 6 - 0 hour fast
Week 7 - 48 hour fast
Week 8 - 0 hour fast
Week 9 - 48 hour fast
Week 10 - 0 hour fast
Week 11 - 48 hour fast
Week 12 - 0 hour fast
Week 13 - 0 hour fast
78 Days of Fasting (Best for overweight persons serious about improving their health, this plan is more manageable than previous one and allows for continuous weekly fasts of small 36 hour increments. Best way to start one of these fasts is to fast from say 12am Friday morning to 12pm Saturday. Or any other variation. Those persons with earlier bedtimes may wish to have last meal at 6pm Friday night and resume eating at 6am Sunday morning. You pick the days you fast.)
Week 1 - 36 hour fast
Week 2 - 36 hour fast
Week 3 - 36 hour fast
Week 4 - 36 hour fast
Week 5 - 36 hour fast
Week 6 - 36 hour fast
Week 7 - 36 hour fast
Week 8 - 36 hour fast
Week 9 - 36 hour fast
Week 10 - 36 hour fast
Week 11 - 36 hour fast
Week 12 - 36 hour fast
Week 13 - 36 hour fast
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Fasting For Longer Life (The Protein Connection)
For a long time now, scientists have seen the positive effects associated with fasting. Most importantly in this discussion is the purpose of fasting to extend ones life. Knowing that fasting causes the body to go into autolysis, we see how many of the benefits associated with cleaning old debree from the system work. As the body runs out of outside sources of nutrition, it goes inward to meet its needs. In doing this, it switches from a primarily glucose or sugar burning metabolism to a ketogenic or fat burning machine. While this happens, the brain and red blood cells still need glucose, so some muscle tissue is temporarily lost. Old and deformed muscle tissues are consumed at a rate that slows down each day. A pure water fast will require much rest to avoid excessive muscle depletion.
Recent research show that protein restriction may be far more effective than calorie restriction in prolonging the lives of humans. Many studies show that restricting calories prolongs the lives of yeast, worms, spiders, flies, insects, rats and probably monkeys. Humans who severely restrict calories have long-life characteristics, such as low cholesterol and blood pressure and hearts that are more than 15 years younger than those of other North Americans their age (Experimental Gerontology, August 2007).
Remember though, that in this particular post, we aren't solely concerned with entering autolysis. Instead, we want to take a look at your body's IGF-1 levels. When worms, flies and mice are put on calorie restricted diets, we see a drop in their IGF-1 levels (Insulin Like Growth Factor). This means that they are going to live longer as a result of their calorie restriction. The more IGF-1 you have in your system, the more DNA damage you will have with genetic mutations, thus leading to various cancers and diseases and a shorter overall life span from damaged DNA being reproduced over and over.
We know now from studying humans in who have been calorie restrictive with their diets, that their IGF-1 levels don't appear to drop like they do in other test subjects. This is what prompted a theory that perhaps a specific food item is causing these levels to remain the same in humans, but not in the test subjects. To figure this out, there had to be a major difference in diet on off days. What was this difference? Protein intake...
However, most of the test group of humans who restrict calories do not have a drop in a hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) that appears necessary for living a long time. High blood levels of IGF-1 are associated with premature aging and diseases of aging such as diabetes and cancer. IGF-1 levels are lower than normal in worms, flies and mice on restricted-calorie diets, but not in humans. This week a report shows that IGF-1 shortens life by increasing cell DNA genetic damage, and causes cancer by blocking apoptosis that causes cancer cells to kill themselves before they destroy their host (Science Translational Medicine, February 16, 2011).
Luigi Fontana, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St Louis, noticed that most calorie-restricting humans eat high levels of protein, about 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight/day. This is more than the US government-recommended intake of 0.8 g/kg/day, and even higher than the 1.2 g/kg/day that the average American eats. Dr. Fontana asked humans on calorie restricted diets to reduce their intake of protein to 0.95 g/kg/day. After just three weeks of reduced protein intake, their IGF-1 levels dropped markedly (Aging Cell, September, 2008).
Vegans tend to have the lowest levels of IGF-1 in comparison to meat eaters. This is a problem, as I am a big meat eater. I raise my own chickens and love venison. I also love a lot of high protein snacks like cheeses and drink a lot of milk. Does this mean that I have to give these things up in order to have very low IGF-1 levels? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't recommend it at all, as these items play an important part in overall health. You need protein in order to survive. If you were to only consume to types of foods and life a long healthy life, they would need to be Fat and Protein, in that order. Carbs are the only food item we never need to consume. Your body can convert protein into glucose at about a 58% efficiency rate if it needs to.
So knowing that it's OK to eat meat (Although organic should be all you eat), as humans thrived on meat and fat all through history, we simply want to know how much of it should we eat to achieve an IGF-1 lowering effect similar to vegans. Here's how...
Among the calorie-restricting humans, vegans have lower levels of IGF-1 than meat-eaters (Rejuvenation Research, February 2007). Strict vegans also have significantly lower IGF-1 levels than people who restrict just calories, even if they are heavier and have more body fat. Strict vegans take in about 10 percent of their calories from protein, whereas those on calorie restriction tended to get 24 percent of calories from protein. Other data show that diets lower in protein might protect against some cancers. So restricting protein may be more important than restricting calories.
If fruit flies and rodents are fed special diets that restrict protein, they can eat as many calories as they want and still live longer (Nature, December 2009). This suggests that as long as you are not overweight, you may not need to restrict calories. Instead, restrict only protein which is far easier to do.
Furthermore, you can probably eat all the fruits and vegetables you want and not restrict calories as long as you restrict protein. That's very good news because it is far easier to restrict protein than it is to restrict all foods. The only way that you can restrict calories and still remain healthy is to eat a diet based on vegetables. It now appears that you extend your life far more by reducing protein that you would by restricting just calories.
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine022011.html
So what does this mean? It means that on your "Fasting Days", where you may have a busy lifestyle and are not able to take your body into a real autolysis fast through water only, DON'T EAT PROTEIN. It's that simple. So, if you are going to do a 3 day fast and have a hard job where you need to still be very physical, try consuming mostly vegetables with some fruit if needed and all the fat you want. Coconut and olive oil are great. Also anything that's been grass fed, like organic grass fed beef tallow. Remember that Rabbit Starvation happened when travelers eat high protein low fat foods (Rabbit, small birds ect.) By doing the opposite and not eating any protein, you will benefit by having lower IGF-1 levels and a longer life because of it.
So to conclude, on regular days, try to keep your overall protein levels below 25% of total calories and preferably in the 1-15% range. Then on your protein fasting days, eat all the veggies and fat you want but don't consume any protein if possible.
If you still like the full benefits associated with fasting and not just protein fasting, then you can try juice fasting where you consume slowly small amounts of juices (Limit root vegetables...carrots, beets ect.) as they are relatively high in sugar, throughout the day. If you don't want to completely wipe out your calories, then remember to add olive oil to your juices before drinking them and to consume coconut oil in small amounts during the day. Melt in water and drink, or mix with your favorite foods.
However...
According to THIS SITE a different conclusion can be drawn. The conclusion is that based on the dietary guidelines used in the studies and the absence of real whole foods provided throughout, suggest that little to no conclusions can be drawn in relation to how it might effect humans as the diet is comprised of all highly processed manufactured sugars ect.
Secondly, the studies don't demonstrate how the diet would effect someone who wasn't on it from birth. What about someone starting it in mid to late life? Are there any benefits then? We simply don't know...
Keeping your protein intake too low can result in the following:
Recent research show that protein restriction may be far more effective than calorie restriction in prolonging the lives of humans. Many studies show that restricting calories prolongs the lives of yeast, worms, spiders, flies, insects, rats and probably monkeys. Humans who severely restrict calories have long-life characteristics, such as low cholesterol and blood pressure and hearts that are more than 15 years younger than those of other North Americans their age (Experimental Gerontology, August 2007).
Remember though, that in this particular post, we aren't solely concerned with entering autolysis. Instead, we want to take a look at your body's IGF-1 levels. When worms, flies and mice are put on calorie restricted diets, we see a drop in their IGF-1 levels (Insulin Like Growth Factor). This means that they are going to live longer as a result of their calorie restriction. The more IGF-1 you have in your system, the more DNA damage you will have with genetic mutations, thus leading to various cancers and diseases and a shorter overall life span from damaged DNA being reproduced over and over.
We know now from studying humans in who have been calorie restrictive with their diets, that their IGF-1 levels don't appear to drop like they do in other test subjects. This is what prompted a theory that perhaps a specific food item is causing these levels to remain the same in humans, but not in the test subjects. To figure this out, there had to be a major difference in diet on off days. What was this difference? Protein intake...
However, most of the test group of humans who restrict calories do not have a drop in a hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) that appears necessary for living a long time. High blood levels of IGF-1 are associated with premature aging and diseases of aging such as diabetes and cancer. IGF-1 levels are lower than normal in worms, flies and mice on restricted-calorie diets, but not in humans. This week a report shows that IGF-1 shortens life by increasing cell DNA genetic damage, and causes cancer by blocking apoptosis that causes cancer cells to kill themselves before they destroy their host (Science Translational Medicine, February 16, 2011).
Luigi Fontana, a professor of medicine at Washington University in St Louis, noticed that most calorie-restricting humans eat high levels of protein, about 1.7 grams per kilogram of body weight/day. This is more than the US government-recommended intake of 0.8 g/kg/day, and even higher than the 1.2 g/kg/day that the average American eats. Dr. Fontana asked humans on calorie restricted diets to reduce their intake of protein to 0.95 g/kg/day. After just three weeks of reduced protein intake, their IGF-1 levels dropped markedly (Aging Cell, September, 2008).
Vegans tend to have the lowest levels of IGF-1 in comparison to meat eaters. This is a problem, as I am a big meat eater. I raise my own chickens and love venison. I also love a lot of high protein snacks like cheeses and drink a lot of milk. Does this mean that I have to give these things up in order to have very low IGF-1 levels? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't recommend it at all, as these items play an important part in overall health. You need protein in order to survive. If you were to only consume to types of foods and life a long healthy life, they would need to be Fat and Protein, in that order. Carbs are the only food item we never need to consume. Your body can convert protein into glucose at about a 58% efficiency rate if it needs to.
So knowing that it's OK to eat meat (Although organic should be all you eat), as humans thrived on meat and fat all through history, we simply want to know how much of it should we eat to achieve an IGF-1 lowering effect similar to vegans. Here's how...
Among the calorie-restricting humans, vegans have lower levels of IGF-1 than meat-eaters (Rejuvenation Research, February 2007). Strict vegans also have significantly lower IGF-1 levels than people who restrict just calories, even if they are heavier and have more body fat. Strict vegans take in about 10 percent of their calories from protein, whereas those on calorie restriction tended to get 24 percent of calories from protein. Other data show that diets lower in protein might protect against some cancers. So restricting protein may be more important than restricting calories.
If fruit flies and rodents are fed special diets that restrict protein, they can eat as many calories as they want and still live longer (Nature, December 2009). This suggests that as long as you are not overweight, you may not need to restrict calories. Instead, restrict only protein which is far easier to do.
Furthermore, you can probably eat all the fruits and vegetables you want and not restrict calories as long as you restrict protein. That's very good news because it is far easier to restrict protein than it is to restrict all foods. The only way that you can restrict calories and still remain healthy is to eat a diet based on vegetables. It now appears that you extend your life far more by reducing protein that you would by restricting just calories.
http://www.drmirkin.com/public/ezine022011.html
So what does this mean? It means that on your "Fasting Days", where you may have a busy lifestyle and are not able to take your body into a real autolysis fast through water only, DON'T EAT PROTEIN. It's that simple. So, if you are going to do a 3 day fast and have a hard job where you need to still be very physical, try consuming mostly vegetables with some fruit if needed and all the fat you want. Coconut and olive oil are great. Also anything that's been grass fed, like organic grass fed beef tallow. Remember that Rabbit Starvation happened when travelers eat high protein low fat foods (Rabbit, small birds ect.) By doing the opposite and not eating any protein, you will benefit by having lower IGF-1 levels and a longer life because of it.
So to conclude, on regular days, try to keep your overall protein levels below 25% of total calories and preferably in the 1-15% range. Then on your protein fasting days, eat all the veggies and fat you want but don't consume any protein if possible.
If you still like the full benefits associated with fasting and not just protein fasting, then you can try juice fasting where you consume slowly small amounts of juices (Limit root vegetables...carrots, beets ect.) as they are relatively high in sugar, throughout the day. If you don't want to completely wipe out your calories, then remember to add olive oil to your juices before drinking them and to consume coconut oil in small amounts during the day. Melt in water and drink, or mix with your favorite foods.
However...
According to THIS SITE a different conclusion can be drawn. The conclusion is that based on the dietary guidelines used in the studies and the absence of real whole foods provided throughout, suggest that little to no conclusions can be drawn in relation to how it might effect humans as the diet is comprised of all highly processed manufactured sugars ect.
Secondly, the studies don't demonstrate how the diet would effect someone who wasn't on it from birth. What about someone starting it in mid to late life? Are there any benefits then? We simply don't know...
Keeping your protein intake too low can result in the following:
Friday, April 1, 2011
Kefir Time
Evening
I for one have found a time of day that I find to be the best for kefir consumption. For me, that time is in the evening and just before bed. Why? Well I really didnt intend for it to be that way, it just sort of happened. Here's why...The first time I consumed a full cup of kefir I found myself extremely tired shortly after. It was at a time that I had a very late and erratic sleeping schedule. I felt a strong urge to brush my teeth and take a nap. I found myself in a very deep and restful sleep within 30 minutes after consumption. I hadn't felt that relaxed in a while. I had the most vivid dreams as well.
A few more instances of drinking kefir too early in the day made me rethink when I consumed it. I found myself more relaxed and easily drifted away from reality after drinking more than 6 oz at a time. I also like to be in a relaxed state when I consume kefir, so that my digestive system is calm and ready to accommodate the new company.
I finally purchased a 1/2 gallon air lock fermentation jar. After I let my kefir ferment for a day or two with the grains, I pour the kefir into the air lock jar and add either nutmeg or Cinnamon. After consuming about half of the batch from the previous day, the new kefir as added as well and mixed together. This is more the traditional manner of consumption, allowing for additional fermentation to take place. It has a better taste and is more effervescent. It's very relaxing and seems to put me into a deep sleep, so unless I have the day off, the kefir is my late night indulgence.
WARNING...If your like me and like an effervescent kefir, be careful drinking large amounts of liquid whey followed by strong curd without diluting it in some milk first. It can be pretty rough on your throat afterward if you drink too much. I made this mistake recently while on vacation. I had too much kefir and didnt want to waste it, it fermented for a long time. I tried to drink it all, about 4-6 glasses. I got through all of the liquid whey and most of the curd. The 4-5 Ph level can be rough. Best to mix it with some milk. Also, don't drink that much kefir at one time, and especially after coming off of a water fast. Don't do it!
In fact, I wouldn't drink kefir right after a water fast unless it's diluted with something like milk. Your digestive system has been off, so take it easy. I am beginning to really appreciate "juice fasting" much more now as it's healthier for you and allows you to still live a normal life while doing it. You don't need as much rest nor recovery period.
Off Days
The exception
As I stated earlier, on Non-Work days, when you don't have to worry about being overly relaxed, or on work days when you want to relax, any time of day is perfect for kefir. I usually start every day with a little water and 16 oz of tea. I prefer to drink white tea most days but will also do various green or even infusions some days to avoid the caffeine. I only drink loose leaf unless I don't have access to my teavanna tea maker. When I brew my tea, I brew each batch 5 times. This allows for 2-4 days of tea from one batch. My morning starts like this...Some water, then 16 oz of freshly brewed tea (some days I will have 32 oz). My tea is brewed in the following time intervals (5min, 7min, 9min, 11min, 15min).
On off days, when I will be around the house I consume kefir next. You should never mix any dairy products with real tea as it binds the beneficial active ingredients rendering them useless to the body. Instead, if you must add something to your tea, use a little citrus (lemon, lime, orange). This is especially important if you need iron, as it prevents the tea from leaching iron from your body. So...Once the tea has been consumed and some time has passed, I will have about 6 oz of fermented kefir.
I shake the air locked fermentation jar that the kefir and nutmeg/cinnamon has been in to thoroughly mix and pour into a cup. I then add either a dash or two or nutmeg or additional cinnamon rotating every two days. Then I am usually working on my computer for a while and sip on the 6 oz of kefir for about 30+ minutes or until it is gone. So for my morning so far, I have some some plain water, 2-4 cups of fresh white tea (Preferred) and about 6 oz of kefir. The kefir I consume is usually 2-3 days old and slightly effervescent at this point.
A good method to creating a highly nutritious kefir is to do the following.
1-Start with 2 cups of milk every day (this will be added to your kefir grains)
2-Every day you will take half of the secondary fermented kefir under airlock and remove it from the jar (To be consumed sometime during the day)
3-After removing half of the kefir, the newest batch it strained from the grains and mixed with a specified root, flower, herb ect. to undergo secondary fermentation
4-Each day, you consume 2 cups, leaving 1 cup of 48 hour kefir to be mixed with 2 cups of fresh 24 hour kefir
Do this at least 5 days a week. I recommend abstaining from kefir 1-2 days per week. On fasting days, completely avoid kefir. On days when kefir isn't consumed, limit the amount of milk added, or refrigerate if on a longer juice fast until you are finished. After the fast has been properly broken, you may slowly consume small quantities of the kefir (Now fermented from 2-7 days). Don't overdo any one sitting of it. Drink only 2-4 oz at a time. Slowly your body will readjust and be happy to receive the live bacteria after taking a nice break from digestion.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Fasting (Add 40-50 Healthy Years To Your Lifespan)
The name of this fasting and caloric restriction article certainly caught my eye when I first saw it too. Its based on numerous studies that take advantage of caloric restriction and periodic fasting to alter how the body works. The study concludes that out of the two options (CR) or periodic fasting, that fasting is the better option.
Here's why:
Fasting gives the body a complete break
CR demands continuous low calorie eating days without a definitive break
Pleasures of eating - while fasting hunger disappears and you eat normal on non fasting days
CR - your always under eating and always craving food without having a complete break from it (Torture?)
psychological effects during fasting allow for a clearer mind and appetite disappears without food
CR can cause you to become moody and always hungry
Fasting can fit well into a religious calendar and can be used for spiritual benefits as well
Fasting saves time, if you are fasting for 70-100 days per year, you only have to cook, eat, clean and shop 265-295 days out of the year vs 365 days.
CR - your eating everyday and skipping days may increase the hunger and binging with no time off from cooking, cleaning up dishes and grocery shopping.
Here is the plan they recommend:
Option 1
1500Kcal / Day with Moderate fasting (1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal Diet (24 Hours Fasting) - Normal eating 6 days, fasting for 1 day (Tue or Fri)
Week 4 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 72
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
Based on this information and previous studies I have discussed, I would make the following changes to the weekly fasting days as follows:
Option 2
(1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting) Once during week
Week 4 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 72
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
Option 3 (My preferred)
In this plan, I allowed 1 week of normal eating all 7 days followed by a week with a 2 day fast. This plan sounds like the best to me so far, as you are allowed 2 completely normal weeks of eating prior to the 7 day fast at the beginning of each cycle. This plan may be more suitable for those under weight or those wishing to increase muscle mass, while teaching the body to self regulate and rebuild damaged or old tissues on a regular basis.
(1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting) Once during week
Week 4 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 68
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
Here's why:
Fasting gives the body a complete break
CR demands continuous low calorie eating days without a definitive break
Pleasures of eating - while fasting hunger disappears and you eat normal on non fasting days
CR - your always under eating and always craving food without having a complete break from it (Torture?)
psychological effects during fasting allow for a clearer mind and appetite disappears without food
CR can cause you to become moody and always hungry
Fasting can fit well into a religious calendar and can be used for spiritual benefits as well
Fasting saves time, if you are fasting for 70-100 days per year, you only have to cook, eat, clean and shop 265-295 days out of the year vs 365 days.
CR - your eating everyday and skipping days may increase the hunger and binging with no time off from cooking, cleaning up dishes and grocery shopping.
Here is the plan they recommend:
Option 1
1500Kcal / Day with Moderate fasting (1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal Diet (24 Hours Fasting) - Normal eating 6 days, fasting for 1 day (Tue or Fri)
Week 4 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (24 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 72
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
Based on this information and previous studies I have discussed, I would make the following changes to the weekly fasting days as follows:
Option 2
(1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting) Once during week
Week 4 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (44 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 72
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
Option 3 (My preferred)
In this plan, I allowed 1 week of normal eating all 7 days followed by a week with a 2 day fast. This plan sounds like the best to me so far, as you are allowed 2 completely normal weeks of eating prior to the 7 day fast at the beginning of each cycle. This plan may be more suitable for those under weight or those wishing to increase muscle mass, while teaching the body to self regulate and rebuild damaged or old tissues on a regular basis.
(1 year plan)
Week 1 - Fasting Week (168 Hours Fasting)
Week 2 - Recovery Week (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 3 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting) Once during week
Week 4 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 5 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 6 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 7 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 8 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 9 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 10 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 11 - Normal (48 Hours Fasting)
Week 12 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
Week 13 - Normal (0 Hours Fasting)
This 13 week plan is then repeated over and over (4 cycles in a year)
Total Fasting Days - 68
RECOVERY WEEK (for 1500 kcal/day plan). After the 7 day total fast the recovery period ("recovery week") will also be 7 days. On the first day after the end of the fast (the 8th day after the start of the fast) you should take 200 kcal; on the 2nd day 300 kcal; on the 3rd day 400; on the 4th, 600; on the 5th, 900; on the 6th, 1200; and on the 7th day 1600 kcal. So during these 7 "recovery days" your total intake will be 5200 kcal.
http://www.anti-aging-guide.com/30fasting.php
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