I agree with your post.
Once you are adapted to a low carb diet Intermittant Fasting becomes really easy and you feel great without becoming hungry or mentally foggy. I wouldn't dream of trying IF on a high carb diet since it would be like self torture.

Cheers
GoEd

Dr. Davis,

I agree with you as far as this goes -- but I'd go a bit further.

For those (myself included) who are substantially insulin resistant, and in particular type II diabetic, even years of a low carb diet may not beat the hunger cycle, very possibly (c.f. Gary Taubes and others) because that very insulin resistance interferes with the release of stored energy, ensuring that the insulin resistant person becomes hungry again every time they've exhausted (or worse, stored!) the energy obtained from their last meal.  Feelings of muscular tiredness, lethargy, even mysterious panic -- I doubt anyone chronically obese is strangers to some or all of these.

Of course, even so, the first step is exactly as you say.  As for what comes next... I'm all ears.   Personally, I'm trying to get my physician to at least investigate possible connections between subclinical hypothyroid and insulin resistance...

Anonymous wrote: "Once you are adapted to a low carb diet Intermittent Fasting becomes really easy and you feel great without becoming hungry or mentally foggy."

Absolutely!  On a high (animal) fat diet, our metabolism is identical to a fasting metabolism, therefore there is no noticeable change in feeling, stamina, not much hunger even after a couple of days!  There isn't much need to drink water either, since fat burning produces water.   Also we typically eat only one meal a day - that is completely sufficient without any need to snack.

Stan

Very similar to my own experience.  I used to try fasting, as my very liberal friends used to tell me that it's great for "purification" and "detoxification", but I couldn't hack it.

Now I do a 36 hour "after dinner to before breakfast" fast about once a week (on random days of the week to shake things up) and the strongest symptom I have is during the afternoon and evening of the fasting day I get very mellow and relaxed.  I also feel small hunger pangs as I go to bed and that's about it.

gft chromium helps with fat metabolism

Dr. Davis,
Could you expand a bit on what you mean by the 2-hour cycle?

This is a really good article which clearly explains the concept of the hunger cycle.  From my experience if people are particularly insulin resistance then a longer lead in time of gradually reducing carbs helps the body to adjust.  Then it is possible to include a period of fasting.

Thanks

Lincoln

I have only recently started in with the low carb diet.  I was curious if there is any knock against dairy too.  Thanks!

Your article makes perfect sense, but the title is a little misleading. Clearly once an obese person has removed the 'unnatural appetite triggers' they will be able to fast as comfortably as a slender person who has eliminated those triggers. Indeed an obese person who has emiminated the triggers might be more able to fast than a slender person who has not.

Hi, Rick--

After a carbohydrate load, blood sugar (glucose) increases sharply, followed by insulin. In response to insulin, blood sugar drops precipitously, often to levels below normal. This is where all the symptoms like mental fogginess develop.

The entire cycle requires 90-120 minutes or so, depending on the foods consumed, the mix of foods and food types consumed, and individual responsiveness.

Interestingly, of all foods, wheat triggers the fastest and highest glucose peaks, even compared to table sugar (sucrose).

One thing you find when you go wheat-free (let alone low carb) is how difficult it is to buy anything for lunch that isn't wheat based. The great thing about IF is that it frees you from the endless repetition of "chicken caesar salad, please, hold the croutons and bacon bits." (Bacon bits are out because they're usually fake.) In fact, after a couple of days, you  can walk through a food court, and your only reaction is to marvel that all of these people are eating lunch, which is totally unnecessary. The other thing about IF is that it also makes it easier to say no to snacking or other mindless eating.

I just want to know how all of you take your vitamins and other pills on an empty stomach?  I would vomit them right back up!

It's not just "mental fogginess, fatigue, and insatiable hunger" that is the problem. When I was prediabetic and trying to lose weight, I had difficulty going on a diet because when I cut back on my food intake, I'd get what I now know are symptoms of hypoglycemia.

I actually enjoyed being hungry, because it told me I was eating less than I needed.

What I couldn't tolerate was "the shakes," accompanied by a feeling of panic that if I didn't eat immediately I'd die.

Because many overweight people are also prediabetic, they probably have the same symptoms of hypoglycemia, caused by "too much insulin, too late."

As a former Fatty, I can understand the difficulties some would have with Intermittent fasting. Two points:  don’t start here. I managed to control my carb carvings first with Atkins, then was able to move on to Intermittent fasting when I was ready.
Second- I don’t like that Ruth Frechman calls IF an “extreme strategy”- it just might be the healthiest Life Saver going.

PJ--

I agree wholeheartedly.

It shows how far our diets have drifted from the physiologic ideal when we have to shift away from it in steps!

Um. I weigh about 380 and I have no trouble fasting. In fact it's 9:39am here on a Tuesday and the last time I ate was Sunday around 9pm. This is not because I was doing it on purpose (though I could retroactively assign some glorious reason to it I suppose), but because I'm painting my kitchen so making food was a pain in the butt and I didn't feel like it.

However when I'm eating highcarb, going without food is horribly hard. The fact that I eat lowcarb is probably what makes it possible for me.

I agree completely with this.  If a person hasn't made the metabolic shift to fat-burning, then fasting will be painful.

Another "me too": my pattern was high BG at around 1 hour postprandial, returning to normal at two hours and dipping significantly below normal at three or more hours.

This improved markedly with carb reduction, but I still needed to snack, until I started replacing those "heart healthy" Omega 6s with saturated fat.

Getting the correct macronutrient balance *for me* lets me routinely go about six hours between eating, whatever my activity level, and those 14 hour fasts for blood tests don't have the response they used to cause.

I'm still somewhat leery of fasting for that much longer though, as the resulting hypo symptoms and ensuing BG swings as my liver overcompensates are Not Nice and I don't want to push things so far that I restart this phenomenon

Intermittent fasting is a wonderful strategy for reducing weight; gaining control over lipids, lipoproteins, and coronary plaque; regaining appreciation for food; reducing appetite. But it's not even worth trying unless you've already eliminated the unnatural appetite triggers that will booby-trap any fasting effort.

I''m fat.  I''m 245 lbs which is considered small on the morbidly obese scale, but still morbidly obese.  I have fasted a day at a time, every other day in prep for my 7 day trial.  I am starting my 7 day today.  Hopefully I don''t s**t the bed on this one.  I''m tired of being a fat ass, literally.

You may find the blog of Dr Jack Kruse useful, especially this post - http://jackkruse.com/my-leptin-prescription/. Definitely read all comments, and try to read as many of his other leptin-related posts as possible.

A doctor friend of mine was telling me about this, junkies hate it because it makes them instantly sober. Interesting that it would block the same receptors involved in wheat addiction.

Thank you for explaining/exposing this.  For years I've wondered how food addictions work, especially wheat.  That our representative government is serving profit seeking corporate interests no longer surprises me though.

Thesis + antithesis = synthesis.

Thank you for these interesting insights.  

Now I also know why I couldn't just eat one cookie - - had to continue and eat the whole box.

Now, without that first cookie, I totally don't care about them at all.

BTW, naltrexone is also used to treat alcoholism in protocol known as The Sinclair Method.  You take the naltrexone an hour before drinking and then drink normally.  The naltrexone blocks the opoid receptors in the brain and the endorphins released by the drinking find no room at the inn.  Over time, the addiction is extinguished.

I do not think I could have made up something like this! If I could I would be very rich, and maybe own a Big Pharma company or two.

BTW, awhile ago, I read about a clinical study done in the UK. It had three groups of heron addicts - one group stayed on heroin, another was given methadone, the third was given a placebo (that they were told was methadone).

Not surprisingly, the first group remained addicted to heroin, and the second group remained addicted to Methadone. The third group ALL got over their previous addiction to heroin, and with NO withdrawal symptoms, NONE, not one of them.

Some commentators pointed out that The Heroin Establishment has a very large financial interest in keeping the story alive that heroin is hard to stop.

I also know someone who was addicted to heroin. But, he realized that he was messing up his life (lost his wife, kids, etc). So, just stopped taking it - NO withdrawal issues, NONE.

I love it when you rant against the MACHINE!!!  (in a dignified manner of course)

I'm a Type 2 Diabetic, with normal blood sugar and I take -0- drugs , -0- insulin.

I follow a Very Low Carb, Gluten Free "Primal" meal plan....and I LOVE IT!

It's not clear to me how much of this is intentional, i.e., is wheat now a ubiquitous component of processed food precisely because of its addictive potential?

Regardless, wheat stands apart from all other foods for this effect on humans.

interesting!

and to think, the Ornishes, Furhmans, and Campbells of the world would have us believe that meat is addictive. Ha!

Naltrexone..really?  Do some research on this drug and you will find that used over a long period of time it will cause changes to the receptors so that we feel no euphoria ever!  Bad Bad news.

Eating wheat bread by itself is not very addicting but if sugar is thrown in the mix, you can get a nice mood lift.  This is because sugar(along with the wheat) spike insulin which drives tryptophan into the brain, where it converts to serotonin, the feel good neurotransmitter.

I may experiment.  I have some naltrexone that is about to expire.  I might give myself an injection and see if it makes me less interested in bread.  At the most I might eat two slices of whole wheat once or twice a week.  Would it work for other carbs like potatoes?

HI, Kevin--

I'm impressed that you've got naltrexone! Please let us know what becomes of the experiment.

Wheat stands apart for this effect. The only other foods that have been shown to exert a morphine-like effect are dairy products ("caseomorphin"), though the potency is many times less than that exerted by wheat.

I eliminated grains, switched to Almond milk, cut out coffee and all artificial sweeteners.

I started LDN in June and have easily lost 23 pounds, a feat almost unheard of in a Hashimoto's patient.

Just a small amount of some protein and veggies will satisfy me but so could a handful of unsalted nuts.
My appetite is no longer an issue.
I would say I don't really have an interest in food anymore.
I no longer have any blood sugar swings but those disappeared when I eliminated grains. I just feel LDN was helping in the appetite area, now your post confirms what I had been feeling.

Now that my thyroid medication has been switched ( Armour to Synthroid due to manufacturing issues) and adding Cytomel plus LDN, I feel better.

I am waiting of lab results to see where my Vit. D level is ( was at 42 aiming for 60) and to see what impact 6 months of no grains has done to my cholesterol.
I am hopeful!  And that's another thing about LDN, depression is a thing of the past.
  
My holistic MD thinks because the dosage is so small, LDN is acting in a homeopathic manner.  
Many Hashimoto's patients have to decrease the amount of hormone they take because of LDN's effect on the thyroid.  
I should know if my thyroid is happier by the end of the month. It might even be too happy.

Chet - you say wheat is not addicting. My experience is not proof but when I gave up wheat I had about 3 days of withdrawal symptoms.  I felt really terrible and I was still eating sugar and high carb foods. A few years later I gave up the sugars. Although it took a while to lose the cravings for sweets, I did not have a period of feeling ill like I did when I gave up wheat.  

Giving up wheat eliminated my depression. The tiniest amount of accidental wheat causes my mood to drop for a few days.

Wrong explanation. By antagonizing opioid receptors, naltrexone disrupts flow in reward circuit. Which we know is central to the development of addiction. Wheat or no wheat. The weight loss appears to be at least in part something else. In combination with buproprion (AKA Zyban, an effective quit smoking drug) it significantly reduces food intake (by blocking hunger signal and reducing cravings). Again, wheat or no wheat.

I'm trying to understand trade-offs.  Since quitting meat my weight hasn't changed, my blood sugar has improved, and my LDL is worse.

I took a closer look.  It's naloxone, not naltrexone.  Very rarely I see a dog that's ingested opiates.  That's why I have it but as I said, the dozen vials have reached the expiration date.

kevin

Sorry, completely off topic but did you see the article in HeartWire re reducing LDL even more.
http://www.theheart.org/article/1145175.do

Thanx For subject

ANNE
I suffer from depression and would like to know more about how giving up wheat has helped you. Do u mind emailing me? If you don't scooby43215@yahoo.com. Thanks in advance.

The diabetes guru Dr. Bernstein has written about low dose naltrexone therapy (LDN) to help diabetics lose weight.  Have you used LDN with your patients?  I understand that a low dose of naltrexone taken at night at first inhibits endorphin release and then stimulates it.  Presumably, increased endorphins eliminates the need for addictive foods and lowers inflammation.  Your thoughts?

I just need to exercise and a healthy diet for me to lose weight. .That's all

There is a Scientific American article that says negative emotions and pain-induced negative emotion are processed in the same brain areas so pain medication also relieves emotional pain.

If wheat has opiate like effects, it might explain "emotional eating".

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-pain-can-make-you-fee