Been a while since I’ve been around FUD, too busy with life. This is kind of a rabbit hole, so please bear with me.
So after listening to a podcast or two, I made a couple rather drastic changes in my diet, on a trial basis: 1) omit dairy and 2) do 16/8 intermittent fasting without a change in calorie intake. The intent of both is to reduce inflammation and hopefully increase general wellness. I’m reasonably healthy but have had high LDL, 110-130ish for years, as well as elevated TSH and other autoimmune ish stuff
The IF schedule for me includes fasting from 7 pm to 11 am ish the following day. Eating about 50% carb, 30 fat, 20 protein.
I’m on mdi with novo and Levemir 2x daily, with a cgm to track BGs.
So far, I’ve been managing per usual, except maybe a bit more insulin sensitive.
The most interesting effect is that my Dawn Phenomenon has dropped off almost completely. Previously, I’d see a spike starting at 3 or 4 am, which would require 2-3 units to cover immediately upon waking. If I sleep in, it gets worse. Today, I didn’t take any bolus in the AM, just my morning Levemir. I woke at 85 BG, and it peaked around 100 a few hours later.
I’m not sure if my health has improved beyond BG management. My most recent 7 day average BG is about 20 pts lower than typical for me…99 vs 120ish…
Ahh yes. I did read that, and forgot about it! I’m sure it was rattling around in my brain.
The thing is, in normal circumstances, I’d be finished eating by 7 pm anyway, so no change there. The only difference is, breakfast is delayed 6 hours or so. Maybe my liver is in hoarding mode, not willing to spare any precious reserves of glycogen?
Can someone explain the reason for intermittent fasting?
I know that it might make BG management easier, because you are only worried about doing insulin dosing for 8 hours in the day, rather than 12-16.
But are there other reasons?
I have read studies that said eating frequent but smaller meals is better for weight loss. (Not sure if that is the “current” thinking, as they seem to change what they believe to be true every few years! )
The idea behind frequent meals is (or maybe “was”), that is keeps your appetite in-check and also increases your metabolism. Your body does not feel like it needs to store as much fat because it is always being fed.
So the idea behind frequent smaller meals at least sounds like it makes sense.
What is the idea behind the intermittent fasting?
(I don’t have a personal attachment with regard to any diet, just curious what the belief is for the intermittent fasting.)
The issue I have with intermittent fasting is I need to be real careful with carbs when breaking the the fast. My BS just goes nuts with the initial hit of carbs. So need to be sure I have plenty of protein and limit carbs.
No idea what the real push is behind it. I’m not needing to lose weight, I’m down to about 164 from an all time high of about 200, currently about 10lbs under high school weight, at 6 ft tall.
An MD podcast talking about benefits of fasting (in general) got me to try it. I realize it may well be a fad, but if it keeps my BGs this good, I may stay on it for a long time.
I noted that about carb sensitivity during that first meal as well, seems like it takes more insulin. I eat about 250 to 300g per day though, oddly my spikes haven’t been as high, etc. Maybe that’s a dairy effect… First meal of the day used to be 100g regular rolled oatmeal and a pint of whole or 2% milk, also maybe 20g whey protein. I would experience a long peak often 160-180, usually needing more boluses.
Today, first meal was oatmeal, banana, peanut butter, 2 boiled eggs, and an apple. 114g CHO, 904 calories. Peaked around 110 BG.
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