Week 15 Summary (& America's Fried Food)

Day 107, Fast Day #46

I had a really epic feast day between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I broke my fast at the Bite of Seattle, which is a weekend event at Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is) celebrating local restaurants, standard greasy American county fair-type foods, music, and canine athletic events. My heart is still beating despite the heaps of trans fat that are flowing in my veins.

For all of my readers outside of the USA, the stereotype is true that most Americans will just about eat anything they can deep-fry. Typical deep-fried foods in the American diet include "French" fries (aka frites/chips) or any type of cut, sliced, diced, or shredded potatoes, fried chicken, whole fried-turkey, fried shrimp, chimichangas (deep-fried burritos), Americanized Chinese food entrees (sweet and sour pork, General Tso's chicken, orange chicken, etc.), corn dogs (battered and deep-fried hot dogs on sticks), jalapeno poppers, egg rolls, fried dough covered in sugar (doughnuts, elephant ears, etc.), onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. The repertoire of American fried food creations goes well beyond this. Some venture into eating deep-fried pickles, fried macaroni and cheese, chicken fried steak, fried tofu, fried green beans, fried clams, fried mushrooms, chicken-fried bacon, fried cheese curds, and deep-fried ice cream. 

But the American love of deep-fried junk food goes beyond the normal American diner, Tex-Mex joint, and Chinese American restaurant. Deep frying is basically a culinary art best expressed at our state and county fairs, which are full of carnival rides and games, livestock competitions, and food that can send you into a diabetic coma. Some "fair foods" are deep-fried butter, deep-fried Twinkies, fried Oreos, fried ravioli stuffed with beer, fried batter flavored with soda syrup or Kool-Aid drink mix, deep-fried candy bars and jelly beans, deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and more. You can understand why some of us Yankees are irritated that Mexico has taken our title of the most obese country in the world. India also better not get too comfortable with its #1 rank for the largest population with diabetes either. We are coming for your title! U-S-A!

I myself enjoy eating novelty deep-fried food on occasion (I do not eat like this normally  because I feel like this is an opportunity I may only have in America, where it is easy and legal to obtain calorie dense, nutrient poor, sugar coated balls of fat and more sugar on sticks, which are likely fried in the oil of GMO corn. In the past I have eaten some exotic deep-fried dishes like fried alligator, Rocky Mountain Oysters (calf testicles that are battered and deep-fried), and fried frog legs. Yes, I ate testicles and they taste and have the mouthfeel of fried mushrooms. On Friday, I scratched off deep-fried lasagna and a deep-fried peanut butter cup sandwich from my bucket list of fried foods.

America is the land of freedom to fry and eat whatever you want, expect sassafras oil, unpasteurized cheese that is aged less than 60 days, and haggis. Photo from the Telegraph.

I am glad that alternate day fasting does not interfere with my bucket list of American fried foods (which may cause many in my country to kick the bucket early). I am also glad that I have managed not to gain any weight after my deep-fried calorie extravaganza on Friday. This past week I lost a total of 2 lbs. I think this is likely due to stopping the antibiotics that had me gaining and retaining weight. My total loss is now 23 lbs (10.4 kg) over 15 weeks. This averages to 1.5 lbs lost per week (or 0.7 kg per week). Again, this is not accompanied by changes in exercise or the cessation of any habits or substances.

Calories
Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories (-3,213 kcal/week)
Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories (+294 kcal/week)
Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,512 kcal/week)
Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories (+2,100 kcal/week)
Week 5: 1,829 kcal or 96% of baseline calories (-469 kcal/week)
Week 6: 1,531 kcal or 81% of baseline calories (-2,555 kcal/week)
Week 7: 1,954 kcal or 103% of baseline calories (+406 kcal/week)
Week 8: 1,196 kcal or 63% of baseline calories (-4,900 kcal/week)
Week 9: 1,638 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,806 kcal/week)
Week 10: 1,637 kcal or 86% of baseline calories (-1,813 kcal/week)
Week 11: 1,681 kcal or 89% of baseline calories (-1,505 kcal/week)
Week 12*: 2,108 kcal or 111% of baseline calories (+1,484 kcal/week)
Week 13*: 2,649 kcal or 140% of baseline calories (+5,271 kcal/week)
Week 14: 1,882 kcal or 99% of baseline calories (-98 kcal/week)
Week 15: 1,280 kcal or 68% of baseline calories (-4,312 kcal/week)

While ADFing: 1,776 kcal or 94% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,830 kcal or 149% of baseline calories
All Fast Days: 450 kcal or 24% of baseline calories

For reference
Week 1: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 2: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 3: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 1 fast day
Week 4: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 5: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 6: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 7: 4 feast days, 3 fast days,
Week 8: 3 feast days, 4 fast days
Week 9: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 10: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 11: 4 feast days, 3 fast days
Week 12: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*
Week 13: 5 feast days, 2 fast days*
Week 14: 4 feast days, 1 medium day, 2 fast days
Week 15: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
*Includes days during my bachelorette party weekend.

What a difference a 4:3 week makes to my numbers compared to a 3:4 or 5:2 week. In case the deep-fried peanut butter cup sandwich or deep-fried lasagna didn't tip you off, I have also not been successful in keeping wheat products out of my mouth. It is a new day, so I will try once more to not eat wheat.

Stop Blaming Fat

Day 60, Fast Day #29

My mother used to tell me, with the best intentions, that "only fat makes you fat."

Keep in mind that my mother has a legitimate Ivy League degree in medicine and a Master's degree in food science. As a result, I did not have much reason to question her views on health and nutrition when I was growing up or to think that things other than fat made you gain weight. However, a lot of research has been done in nutrition since my mom was last in school and I have learned to critically question everything I hear and read (especially when it comes from my mother).

When my mom went to medical school, fat was the enemy in the war against America's rising weight and weight-related health problems. Since the 1970s, the US government has been campaigning against high-fat foods (foods over 30% fat) in an effort to improve the health of Americans. Because fat has been villainized, the food industry aggressively markets "low-fat" and "fat-free" foods as healthier food choices. It is estimated that low-fat food labels may be a factor in the overeating of junk food by 65% of people who are overweight. "Low-fat" and "fat-free" does not translate into healthier, nutritious, or low-calorie. A lot of foods marketed as lower fat, reduced fat, or fat-free contain added flavoring agents like extra sugar and salt and only a slight-reduction in calories. Check the nutrition label carefully before going with a low-fat version of a food.

Scientists have figured out that fat is not the only thing that makes you fat. We now know that insulin decreases the breakdown of fat (lipolysis) and triggers the storage of fat. When we eat foods that have a high glycemic response (they trigger a rapid increase in blood sugar in the body), the human body produces insulin to remove excess glucose (sugar) from blood. Your body removes excess glucose with insulin because excess glucose is toxic. So, those sugary low-fat and fat-free options at the grocery stores can still make you gain weight by slowing down your body's ability to break down fat. Not only that, but the extra sugar overtime can lead to insulin-resistance, which can cause diabetes. Some commons foods that rate high on the glycemic index are low-fat, including: white bread, bagels, white rice, Russet potatoes, popcorn, pretzels, and a variety of cereals.

Given what we now know about insulin's role in fat storage, it is no longer fair to crusade against fat as public enemy #1, especially since America has gotten increasingly overweight over the years despite the propaganda against high-fat foods. I am not advocating eating a ton of high fat junk food by any means. I am simply advocating for an updated science-based approach to improving public health and curbing obesity. Plus, avocados are about 80-90% fat. Anyone that hates on avocados is clearly out of their mind because avocados have an array of health benefits and taste incredible.

Haters gon' hate. Fatty and healthy avocados.

Fasting as Detox: Debunked

Day 24, Feast Day #13

One of the most common claims made about the benefits of fasting (whether it be dry fasting, water fasting, juice fasting, etc.) is that the process releases "toxins" stored in your body so your body can dispose of them. This process is usually called "detox" by the marketers of various detox systems including: food, drinks, supplements, herbs, cookbooks, saunas, foot pads (that turn color when exposed to any type of moisture), various spa products, enemas (even ones involving coffee), and more. Most of these detox systems make claims not evaluated by any safety or health regulatory institution.

There is a lot of dubious information about health in the media and on the internet in general, not just about fasting as a form of detox. Most of these unsubstantiated claims are based on pseudoscience and are meant to either get you to spend your money, join something (and then probably spend your money on something), or scare you (and use your fear to get you to spend your money on something, sometimes instead of something else you spent your money on previously). 

Lucky for marketers, humans can be incredibly gullible when it comes to accepting bad or false health science. A well-known example is when there was widespread panic in the US in 2011 about apple juice because TV personality and celebrity Dr. Oz (who apparently does not practice the scientific method) claimed apple juice contained unsafe levels of arsenic. This was based on misleading data he had a lab run for him (total arsenic which includes harmless organic arsenic instead of only harmful inorganic arsenic). The FDA and many other scientists and doctors called him out for his misleading and false claims. Yet, there are still people that cite Dr. Oz in their belief that apple juice could kill them because it is a cocktail of poison containing dangerous levels of pesticides from China. Perhaps some of these people are the same ones doing coffee enemas for health.

These are some claims I have run into about fasting as a form of detox:

"Fasting also allows for the body's enzyme system to focus on detoxifying and breaking down toxins in the body quickly and efficiently without the job of heavy food digestion. During fasts, toxins are being circulated in the body in order for our organs to de-arm them." - Chicago Tribune (Health)

"And this is what the body will do during a fast. It will take advantage of that time and energy to do some housecleaning. The overloaded, overworked system, unable to properly handle all the toxins, has been storing any excesses in the tissues where they can be dealt with later. This is one of the great health benefits of fasting in that it offers this opportunity to play "catch up". - All About Fasting

"Juice fasting provides many of the benefits of water fasting without most of these problems. A gentle, controlled juice fast doesn’t create a healing crisis, releasing toxins into the bloodstream more slowly and at a rate your body can handle more comfortably" - Raw Food Life

What on Earth are these claims based off of? What credible research shows a correlation between fasting and detoxification of the human body? Well the short answer to these questions is that there is currently no scientific basis for these claims. 

The only account I have even seen referenced (on the unreliable WebMD) about anyone measuring a decline in body toxins through fasting turns out to be an incorrect reference about Jack Goldstein used by the psychological researcher Chris Strychacz. I looked at the text of Jack Goldstein's book Triumph Over Disease by Fasting And Natural Diet, and there is no mention of him accurately measuring his toxic output in tongue scrapings (or anything else) and certainly no mention of him reducing DDT in his body (or other toxins) from his body while fasting. Goldstein does mention a foul-smelling coating on his tongue and bad breath during his fast. I am 100% positive this is caused by acetones created during ketosis. Goldstein was scraping his tongue to get the nasty, smelly coating off. He wasn't measuring anything. He chalks everything up to his body leaching out toxins, which there is no proof of.

Your kidneys and liver are your body's 24/7 detox system. Take care of those organs if you want to filter out your body's toxins, Fasting could theoretically help some people with reducing risk factors of liver disease and kidney disease if fasting indeed reduces insulin sensitivity (which has been seen in mice). It can also help people maintain a healthy weight, since being overweight is a risk factor for diabetes. Diabetes can really mess up your kidney and liver. Liver disease and diabetes led to my grandfather being on dialysis when his kidneys gave out,

My opinion is that if fasting makes you feel better and you are able to safely do it, then good for you. However, until proven otherwise, I wouldn't get your hopes up about fasting being the key to "detox." There is nothing wrong with enjoying a fruit and veggie smoothie just because they are yummy and have lots of good nutrients, however.

Why on Earth Am I Fasting?

It is Day 5 of my alternate day fasting (ADF) diet today, my third "fast day" and also the day I realized, I might want to blog about this experiment.

"Why the hell are you fasting?!?" you ask. Let me explain before you decide I have totally lost my mind.

I first learned about ADF from watching Dr. Michael Mosley's show called "Eat, Fast, and Live Longer" when it aired on PBS last week. It is a fascinating show that starts with a 101 year-old badass running a marathon in London. That man is by all rights impressive for both living to age 101 and running a freaking marathon. This guy restricts his calories all the time and doesn't practice ADF, but it certainly caught my attention. The show explores calorie restriction and different methods of calorie restriction as a key component in reducing one's risk of all kinds of diseases related to aging, including: heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Mosley explores and tries out overall calorie restriction, three-night four-day fasting (every few months), and ADF.

ADF is exactly what it sounds like: you fast every other day. It isn't a hardcore no calorie at all fast, but instead a 75-80% reduction of your daily recommended value calorie intake (a "fast day") followed by a day where you eat whatever you want (a "feast day"). The researcher in Mosley's program notes that even on feast days, people in the study only averaged about 125% of their DRV of calories on feast days, so you are still eating less calories than two days of eating 100% of your DRV or more. For my purposes I am allowing 400-500 calories on my fast days and Zach is doing 500-600 calories.

Now, I am not stupid. I figure most of the benefits from fasting would be due to losing weight. Weight loss in general isn't exactly hard math either. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you do this long enough, you become overweight and put yourself at a higher risk for diseases related to being overweight. My progression up the pant sizes over the years and beers tells me this is truth.

So why fast and not just cut calories everyday like a normal person with weight loss goals? Well, Dr. Mosley highlights the work of scientists studying ADF and this pattern of eating has been shown to do more than just help test subjects lose weight through the usual everyday calorie restriction. ADF triggers burning of fat and decreases the amount of IGF-1 (Insulin-like growth factor 1) in your body. Lowering IGF is showing promise as a mechanism to slow down age-related disease, Alzheimer's, and cancer. Zach and I read some of the published research, like this paper, which does a good job of summing up what is going on in terms of the ADF research world.

The Zach and Lauren family histories include pretty much every age-related disease out there. Zach in particular is worried about Alzheimer's disease because he saw multiple grandparents lose their marbles over time and experienced how hard that is for a family. So it was really Zach, not me, that was fired up to try alternate day fasting ourselves. Me, on the other hand, I really like to eat and was more hesitant. However, if ADF does work, extra years down the road with a cognitively functioning Zach sounds great. Even if it doesn't stop me from developing high cholesterol, I could stand to lose some weight in the short-term. So, that is why I am hungry right now and had my one 400 calorie meal for lunch today.

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