3min chapter

KetoFasting: The Dark Side of Fasting & Ketosis (+How To Use Cyclic Ketosis To Fix The Issues)

Ben Greenfield Life

notes

CHAPTER

Water Fasting

Before writing the book, you thought water fasting was the most powerful metabolic intervention you'd ever encountered in four decades of clinical practice. Then you changed your mind. Why? That's a great question. Because we live in the 20 first century, and we have exe massively increased exposure to these toxins that are produced chemically and industrially. And when you are water fasting for a long time, you will release and liberate these toxins. But you also need some food, specifically menoessence and proteins to fuel this process. If you don't have any, you're going to have side effects, which is what the primary so there's two prime reasons i don't recommend it.

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Transcript

Episode notes

From Dr. Joseph Mercola, my friend, multiple-time podcast guest, a guy who thinks way outside-the-box and seems to always be discovering some new cutting-edge way to enhance human health and longevity, and one of the world's foremost authorities on alternative health has just written a guide to using the principles of ketogenic eating, meal planning, and timing to treat disease, promote weight loss, and optimize health.

The new book is called "KetoFast: Rejuvenate Your Health with a Step-by-Step Guide to Timing Your Ketogenic Meals". In the book, he explores the profound health benefits that result when ketogenic living and well-planned fasting are combined. Topics include:

-How our food is making us sick and what we can do about it...

-The physiology and mechanisms of fasting, including stem cell activation...

-How the cyclical ketogenic diet--with fasting included--differs from the conventional keto diet...

-How fasting works and how safe it is for you...

-How regular one-day fasts support fat burning and detoxification while minimizing hunger and side effects...

-How to monitor your progress with lab tests...

-And much more...

During our discussion, you'll discover: -The fascinating history of fasting among different religions and cultures...8:25

Dr. Mercola's book was originally written to learn to optimize multiple day water fasting
Most religions integrate fasting into their practice (speaks to its efficacy throughout history)
It's one of the best ways to express care for your spirit, especially when combined with meditation, gratitude, solitude, etc.
Therapeutic fasting:
- Calorie restriction to activate metabolic processes to catalyze the healing process
- Fasting didn't become popular in the U.S. until the 1800's with the natural hygiene movement
- Became more popular when Herbert Shelton popularized it in 1911
TrueNorth Health Center

-Autophagy, and why Dr. Mercola thinks of a fast as a "free stem cell transplant"...16:45

Different varieties of fasting:
- Intermittent (the foundation)
  - Dr. Satchin Panda found that 90% of people don't do this (listen to my podcast with Dr. Panda)
- You need more than intermittent to get the max effect of autophagy
- Fasting mimicking diet, water diet
- Hybrid of the two, minimize the harmful effects
Autophagy:
- 3 types
  - Micro
  - Macro
  - Chaperone mediated
- You activate autophagy with the keto fast
- Dr. Mercola does not recommend a long-term water fast
- Free stem cell transplant is what happens during the regeneration phase, after the autophagy phase
- The magic happens during the refeed and strength rebuilding; similar to a growth hormone injection
- Do a 42 hour fast, in which you eat 300-500 calories 2x per week

-How fasting affects intestinal stem cell function...24:20

Extended fasting helps reduce gut permeability by stimulating brain/gut pathways
Consider fasting before other treatments or supplements for repairing the gut
- Certain supplements will inhibit autophagy: colostrum, B12
AMP-k and mTOR
- It's your friend; The higher the better
- A nutrient sensor
- Puts your body in "repair mode"
- See Saw: AMP-k up, mTOR down, vice versa

-What nutrients you need to optimize autophagy...34:08

Berberine
ECGC from green tea and European wild apples
Pomegranate peel powder
Urolithin A
Pomegranate Pulled Apart podcast from ATP Science
Dr. Mercola’s “autophagy tea” before my nightly fast to also limit mTor activation and increase autophagy:
- 1 tsp Pau d’ Arco powdered tea
- ½ tsp hydroxycitrate and garcinia (HCA/Garcinia powder)
- ½ tsp quercetin powder
- ½ tsp glycine powder
- ½ teaspoon chamomile powder
- Lakanto monkfruit sweetener to taste
You don't want to take exogenous ketones when you want to activate autophagy while fasting

-How ketones protect the brain excess hydrogen peroxide...46:00

Fats and carbs are fuel sources; broken down by enzymes
Oxygen receives electrons from the food you're digesting in the form of hydrogen (which is converted to water)
Most people are metabolically inflexible; can't burn much fat for fuel
Ketones increase Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (nADPH)

-Why Dr. Mercola changed his mind about the power of water fasting as a metabolic intervention...50:55

We in the 21st century are exposed to chemical and industrial toxins not historically known to humans
Toxins are stored in our fat
When you fast, you release these toxins
Cause unpleasant side effects and symptoms
2 phases:
- Convert fat soluble to water soluble (not a problem)
- Attach molecules to the toxin
You need frequent refeeds to fuel the process of eliminating the toxins and enhancing detox pathways
A keto fast (42 hours, 300-500 calories) 2x/week is far more powerful than an occasional multi-day water fast or even fast mimicking diet

-What Dr. Mercola views as the "dark side of fasting"...55:00

Detoxification impairment
Compliance: people just won't do it
How Dr. Mercola recommends Ben improve his own fasting strategy:
- Ben takes essential amino acids for protein during extended fasts
- Don't eat meat protein (branch chain amino acids)
- Take collagen protein
Drawbacks to long-term ketosis
- Requires significant calorie restriction
- Women can develop thyroid impairment
- You simply weren't designed to do it
- Fasting primes your body for improvement; the real magic happens in the refeeds

-What is "keto fasting," and how cyclical ketosis addresses the above issues...1:00:13

You must be metabolically flexible
- Eat in a 4-6 hour window per day for 4 weeks
Branch chain aminos: lucine, isoleucine, valine
- Eat these on the refeed, not during the keto fast
- Don't activate mTor along with autophagy
Cyclical approach:
- Keto fast 2x/week
- Every day intermittent fast
Strategies to deal with hunger or appetite cravings:
- Vast majority of metabolically flexible people won't feel hungry
- Coconut oil, MCT oil, aloe gel
- Nicotine gum and sparkling water

-How sauna use supports a fasting protocol, an ideal sauna setup, and sauna do's and don't's...1:07:45

Brian Richards' Sauna Space
Near infrared is the best
- 40% of energy from the sun is infrared
- Near infrared heats you up very quickly
- Penetrates much more of the body than far infrared
Book: Sauna Therapy for Detoxification and Healing
Compounds prior to sauna use:
- Niacin (small doses)
Use low EMF

-And much more! Resources from this episode:

-My previous episodes with Dr. Mercola:

Killing Fat Cells, Fixing Mitochondria, Growing Superfoods & More: The Official, Much-Anticipated, Mind-Blowing, Geeked-Out Podcast With Dr. Mercola
High-Fat Fudge Balls, The Best Fruits For Blood Sugar, Egg Allergies & More With “Fat For Fuel”
How To Reverse The Damage From Cell Phone Radiation, Hidden Sources Of EMF, The Best Way To Measure Your EMF Exposure & Much More

-KetoFast: Rejuvenate Your Health with a Step-by-Step Guide to Timing Your Ketogenic Meals

-Meta.org for research studies

-Ben's Switzerland healing retreat at Paracelsus

-The Complete Guide To Fasting by Jason Fung

-TrueNorth Health Center

-My interview with Dr. Satchin Panda

-SEED Probiotic blend

-ATP science

-Dr. Mercola’s “autophagy tea” before my nightly fast to also limit mTor activation and increase autophagy:

- 1 tsp Pau d’ Arco powdered tea
- ½ tsp hydroxycitrate and garcinia (HCA/Garcinia powder)
- ½ tsp quercetin powder
- ½ tsp glycine powder
- ½ teaspoon chamomile powder
- Lakanto monkfruit sweetener to taste

-Pomegranate Pulled Apart podcast from ATPScience

-HVMN Ketones

-"The Longevity Diet" by Dr. Valter Longo

-Kion Aminos

-Kettle & Fire Bone Broth

-Dr. Lawrence Wilson's book "Sauna Therapy For Detoxification & Healing"

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Do you have questions, thoughts or feedback for Dr. Mercola or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

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