Celery Allergy?!?

Day 76, Feast Day #41

I obviously have been trying to eat more vegetables while alternate day fasting so I consume enough essential nutrients and stay full on the fiber and water on my fast days. I normally eat these veggies in a soup, salad, or sauteed. I found myself snacking on a couple plain stalks of celery, since I managed to forget to take salad dressing to work a couple days ago, when I noticed my mouth was going numb and my throat started to swell. Uh, do I have my first known food allergy?

This was not my first time eating celery or eating celery raw. In fact, I have eaten celery regularly since I started eating peanut butter on celery in elementary school. I have also eaten celery many times since I started ADF. Celery is even in my low-calorie tuna salad recipe.That is why I find this development/sudden realization really strange.

I didn't find any peer-reviewed research on why celery is giving me an oral analgesic effect. However, a Google search for this phenomenon assures me I am not the only person to experience this. There are many theories floating around on the Internet, mostly on online forums and on Yahoo! Answers (not reliable in the search for the truth), about why this happens. I have seen the eugenol in celery as a theory (I cannot verify that celery does contain this or in what amount) and other chemical reasonings. I don't believe this theory because the website most people cite as proof that celery contains the anesthetic eugenol, does not actually list celery as a notable source of the chemical in the section on eugenol. There is a reason dentists use clove oil for its eugenol. I have had eugenol used on me for a temporary filling, and the dental mixture smells and tastes like cloves. So, basically a lot of the information on the Internet about celery and this numbing sensation is less useful and less entertaining than the celery song:

From Weebl's Stuff

My theory is that I experienced oral allergy syndrome (OAS) or Pollen-Food Allergy. OAS is a common allergic reaction caused by certain uncooked produce and nuts that develops in adults that also suffer tree and weed allergic adults (I belong to this category of adults). A cross-reaction between pollen allergens and certain foods can cause allergic reactions. Celery is known to react with alder, birch, and mugwort pollens. Not only are red alders a common tree in the Pacific Northwest, there is one on my normal route to my bus stop. I also have had terrible allergies this year, which I have complained about previously on this blog. I haven't had this problem with celery before, but I also try to take an allergy medication daily. I might have forgot to take my allergy medication that day, but I honestly don't remember. 

So, I am pretty sure I have developed a new food allergy as an adult in addition to becoming lactose intolerant. My mother, the doctor, also thinks I had the symptoms of an allergic reaction, not a run in with eugenol. Getting old sucks.

Mom's In Town

Day 69, Feast Day #36

Nine days and no progress on the the scale. I was expecting another plateau, but that doesn't make it any less irritating. The good news is that despite breaking my fast with half of a frozen pizza, I did not gain anything back. Zach had a rough day at work and was feeling mopey and tired, so I picked up a frozen pizza to cheer him up, along with some necessary supplies for when my mother comes to stay at our apartment for the next few days (aka a large bottle of white wine and whole milk for her coffee). I know it is not good to emotionally eat or encourage that type of eating, but in my defense Zach was hungry, we had a lot of chores to do to prepare for my mom's arrival, and it did cheer him up a lot more than some Swiss chard would have.

I may end up with an extra feast day or two this weekend with my mom being in town for my brother's college graduation. We'll see how things go. She normally only eats one meal a day (dinner) aside from coffee and likes to take an hour long walk daily, so maybe I will just roll with her one meal schedule and try to walk with her after Friday. I guess my mom is an intermittent faster already. I used to be unable to understand how she could go so many hours without eating. Now I understand that the body adapts to a one meal schedule like anything else.

I am a big fan of National Public Radio and pretty much all public media operations. While I am off doing family stuff for the weekend, I recommend reading this interesting NPR article that was posted today on how anthropological research is pointing toward diet as the source of obesity, not lack of exercise. Exercise is still good for you, so don't think this justifies being a coach potato.

"Are You Crazy?" and Other FAQ I Get About Me Fasting

Day 62, Fast Day #30

Alternate day fasting and other forms of intermittent fasting (IF) like 5:2 have only recently become more popular as diets in the last few years due to new research on IF, new books, and increased media coverage. The earliest published research I could find on alternate day fasting is from 1988, in which scientists studied the renal functions of elderly rats that were fed every other day. (Spoiler: The old rats on ADF had better eye health.) Since them, there has been more relevant research on human subjects.

I have been alternate day fasting for nearly 9 weeks at this point and am used to fielding a variety of reactions and questions from the people I tell about my current unorthodox eating pattern. Some typical responses I get from my peers are along the lines of:

Question #1: "Are you serious?" or "Are you crazy?"

Question #2: "Why don't you just eat less every day?"

Question #3: "There is no way I could do that." or "How do you have the willpower to eat 500 calories in a day?"

Question #4: "Don't you just binge after you fast?"

Question #5: "So, how long are you on this diet?"

Question #6: "Can you do that long-term?" or "There is no way you can sustain that long-term, right?"

Question #7: "There is no way that can be healthy for you." or "Isn't that going to hurt your metabolism?"

There is no such thing as a stupid question, right? However, it is very stupid to not ask questions or try to get them answered. I can answer most of these questions without getting into a lengthy science discussion:

Answer #1: I am serious and I am fairly positive that I am not crazy in the clinical sense.

Answer #2: Because I feel deprived when I try to eat less every day and I give up. The daily calorie restriction is endless and depressing. It is like I committed a fat crime and was sentenced to a lifetime of never getting to drink real beer, eat ice cream, or indulge in dessert again. With alternate day fasting, my dieting mental prison sentence is only every other day. The end is always in sight and it makes you really appreciate feast days and look forward to the next day. Alternate day fasting is a good weight loss method for people like me that can't commit to daily calorie restriction.

Answer #3: I just quit talking about, false promising myself, and generally just thinking about trying to lose weight. In the spur of the moment I decided to actually do something about the 40 lbs (18 kg) or so of extra weight on my body with Zach after watching Eat, Fast, Live Longer. I am an incredibly stubborn human being, so when my mind is set, that is what I am doing. My willpower is perhaps just my stubbornness. 

The thought of continuing life being overweight and my eating habits contributing to my own physical and mental demise is also a motivator. So some anxiety and fear is a part of my willpower. Me being overweight forever and getting weight-related diseases later in life is not inevitable. Anyone that is overweight is able to solve their own weight problem with a little willpower and by acting on known weight loss solutions instead of maintaining the status quo. Obviously the status quo lifestyle is the problem.

Answer #4: Define "binge." I don't eat everything in sight on my feast days. Sure, I have my beer and chocolate chip pancakes moments, But, I don't think my feast day eating even remotely resembles the binge-eating I have seen on Dr. Phil episodes about eating disorders.

I do want to eat most of the food around me, especially the pretzel M&Ms. I don't need the food around me. I now ask myself, "Do I need to eat that? Am I hungry? Or do I just want to eat that for taste/to cure boredom/because other people are eating it?" The answer is usually that I don't need the food and I just have mouthlust.

Answer #5: Until I decide not to do it? My body has adjusted to this eating pattern, so it's not that difficult anymore. If I ever get to be under a healthy weight (hahahahaha, right) then I would obviously stop. I would also stop if I got pregnant. For humanity's sake I hope that doesn't happen for a few years or more (yes I am knocking on wood while typing this). I also would go on a lighter maintenance plan of 5:2 or 6:1 if I hit my goal weight/a healthy weight. I will also be stopping when I get married to Zach in late August temporarily. I am not going to be on any sort of diet on my wedding day or my honeymoon. My family will create more than enough stress for me during this period of time that fasting would be an overload.

Answer #6: I have read the forum posts of people that have been alternate day fasting for 6 years or so, so I think it is possible to stick to this diet long-term. Plus, people restrict their calories daily long-term and do just fine.

Answer #7: I am cooking up a research-laden post on the metabolism question. Something for you to look forward to.

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.

Week 8 Summary

Day 56, Fast Day #27

I got back on the scale today and turns out that I lost another pound, for a total of 18 lbs lost during the last couple of months. Alternate day fasting seems to be working well for me, as I am losing an average of 2.25 lbs per week at this point and not regaining the weight back. I am still making progress, which makes it easier to stay in this revolving door of calorie restriction. Below is a graph showing my progress:

Remember, I did not have a scale when starting this experiment and my initial weight is from March 30th, when I had last hopped on the scale at my future in-laws house. I started ADF on April 6th and bought a scale on April 14th, so the initial 9 lbs of weight loss was very likely more gradual than it appears. After that initial measurement, the weight loss has been a spurt, an 18-day plateau where I snuck in extra feast days for birthdays and social events, and now weight loss again. It will be interesting to see when and if I plateau again.

Calories
Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories
Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories
Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories
Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories
Week 5: 1,829 kcal or 96% of baseline calories
Week 6: 1,531 kcal or 81% of baseline calories
Week 7: 1,954 kcal or 103% of baseline calories
Week 8: 1,196 kcal or 63% of baseline calories

While ADFing: 1,720 kcal or 91% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,881 kcal or 152% of baseline calories
All Fast Days*: 473 kcal or 25% of baseline calories

For reference
Week 1: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
Week 2: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 3: 3 fast days*, 4 feast days
Week 4: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 5: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 6: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
Week 7: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 8: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
*Includes faux-fast day that was my mama's birthday dinner.

With my average caloric intake being just shy of 1,200 kcal/day, it is no wonder that I dropped a total of 4 lbs this week. My average calories/day each week seesaws as the number of fast vs. feast days rotates. This week was an all-time low because I practiced much better self-control regards to food and drink. My up days averaged 2,142 kcal this week, which is 113% of my baseline eating (close to what Krista Varady, who researches ADF and diet interventions at the University of Illinois, found in her research) and is 39% less than my overall average feast day caloric intake. I am proud of myself for not letting myself overindulge this week, despite pausing slightly every time I walk by the giant 40 oz. open bag of pretzel M&Ms at my workplace.

Bags of pretzel M&Ms might as well be classified as biological weapons at the 40 oz. mark. Delicious, salty, sweet, and crunchy weapons of body mass destruction.

Week 7 Summary

Day 51, Feast Day #27

I woke up this morning to good news from the scale. I have lost another 2 lbs, for a total of 16 lbs lost. I also started taking waist and hip measurements this month, and I have lost a half inch from both my waist and my hips. So now I am averaging a little over a 2 pound loss per week. My clothes are beginning to feel looser and friends are starting to notice the change. Here are the numbers:

Calories
Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories
Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories
Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories
Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories
Week 5: 1,829 kcal or 96% of baseline calories
Week 6: 1,531 kcal or 81% of baseline calories
Week 7: 1,954 kcal or 103% of baseline calories

While ADFing: 1,795 kcal or 95% of baseline calories
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,966 kcal or 156% of baseline calories
All Fast Days*: 471 kcal or 25% of baseline calories

For reference
Week 1: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
Week 2: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 3: 3 fast days*, 4 feast days
Week 4: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 5: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 6: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
Week 7: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
*Includes faux-fast day that was my mama's birthday dinner.

So I ,obviously like collecting data and using it to evaluate my behavior. I am kind of a numbers junkie in general. I use SaveUp as a free tool to track the money I use to pay down debt and save money. The thing with SaveUp, is you get rewarded in credits for the money you save or pay debts with and you can use credits to enter into raffles for prizes, lotteries, or play other luck-based games. After a little over a year of using SaveUp, I finally won a raffle for a $100 Whole Foods gift card. I don't normally shop at Whole Foods, but $100 of free groceries is awesome. 

I took this gift card as an opportunity to try some non-grain flours and meals and non-corn oils so Zach and I can work on eating less processed and refined corn and wheat products and start eating more primal food, in addition to the produce and meat we'd normally have on our grocery list. Tonight we enjoyed some bison sirloin steaks with mashed red potatoes (without milk) and sauteed asparagus from our grocery trip. Yum! Bison steak is great because it is leaner than regular steak. My 7 oz. steak was only ~210 calories with 47 grams of  protein and 35% of the DRV of iron. In comparison, the same size and cut of steak from a cow has ~368 calories, 44 gram of protein, and 18% of the DRV of iron.

While at Whole Foods, I also bought GT's grape chia kombucha on the recommendation of a friend, since my first kombucha experience was unpleasant. I basically had taken a swig of a friend's kombucha on a hot, humid day not knowing what I was putting in my mouth. All I could taste was a funky, fungal flavor---not refreshing like I had expected from refrigerated tea on a hot day. 

Kombucha is a fermented tea made with fungus that is becoming increasingly popular as a "living" food (there is bacteria and yeast in it). I doubt kombucha is becoming popular because of its vinegary and yeasty taste. However, the glucuronic acid in kombucha may reduce one's risk of cancer, which seems like a good trade off. Luckily, one can find kombucha in flavors, since I am too much of a wuss for the unflavored stuff.

This grape chia flavor kombucha tasted a lot better than the non-flavored kombucha I had previously, although there is more sugar from the flavoring. I like the chia seeds in there because it reminded me of drinking bubble tea. I think the mistake I made with kombucha this time was drinking it on nearly an empty stomach at the end of a fast day. My stomach was making all kinds of strange noises and I think it triggered my heartburn from the acidity. I will try to drink the rest of it on a full stomach and see if that is less cruel to my stomach. Otherwise, I may have to scrap kombucha.

Fast(ing) Food - Idiot-Proof Brussels Sprouts

Day 41, Feast Day #22

Brussels sprouts have been demonized in popular culture as the vegetable arch nemesis of children. Yes, Brussels sprouts may be frightening to some because they are slightly bitter, green vegetables. My mother won't even get near a Brussels sprout due to her preconceived notion that Brussels sprouts are yucky. This is why I never tried them until I was halfway through college. Like their larger cabbage cousin, Brussels sprouts can also become stinky, soggy, and pretty gross if boiled and overcooked. I have learned that Brussels sprouts can taste awesome, are easy to cook, and like cabbage, are low in calories.

I also did some research and Brussels sprouts are really good for you. Not only do they have a lot of vitamin A, C, K, and potassium, they also are in a family of plants that is linked to lowering your risk of cancer (along with broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage) by protecting your DNA. Uh, I would love to skip cancer, so bring on the the Brassica veggies!

Basic recipe, plus I added in some dried cranberries.

Idiot-Proof Brussels Sprouts (Yield 4 servings) ~205 kcal/serving

• 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts ~420 kcal
• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil  ~360 kcal
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar  ~40 kcal
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut ends of Brussels sprouts and prune off any gross leaves. Cut sprouts in half.

Put sprout halves on a baking sheet. drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over sprouts. Mix up sprouts with hands until evenly coated. Sprinkle on salt and pepper.

Bake Brussels sprouts for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned.

I added in a 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (~98 kcal) to the batch I ate today and yesterday. These sprouts also taste good when baked with eggplant (~20 kcal/cup) or sun-dried tomatoes too (~70 kcal/half cup).

ADF Side Effect - You Keep Going, and Going, and Going...

Day 36, Fast Day #17

I am alive and still alternate day fasting. I have lacked the energy and focus to finish a blog post over the last few days due to a rough week of spring allergies. The uncharacteristically nice weather here in Seattle has seemingly caused every single plant in the region to blast the air with its pollen. Because all of these plants are trying to reproduce with my sinus cavity, I have been feeling like the living dead (minus the hunger for human flesh and brains). Sitting down and blogging with a fuzzy brain, runny nose, and ear and nose congestion has yielded about three partially-completed posts.

(If for some reason urination freaks you out, I recommend skipping the rest of this post.)

I am neither pregnant (yay) nor suffering from a urinary tract problem (yay), so I assume the recent increase in my peeing frequency is from alternate day fasting. Luckily, I spend a lot less time cooking and eating on this diet, freeing up my time to search for toilets.

It appears that a normal, healthy person urinates 6-8 times a day on average. I have been more in the 8-12 times a day range. I doubt I have a reduced-capacity bladder despite getting some flak about having a woman's "microbladder" in reference to me needing a pitstop at least once every road trip in the past. In fact, women and men's bladders are approximately the same size. It is the bladder positioning due to special lady organs that irritates a woman's bladder more often and creates the urge to urinate. Hence, the line for the women's restroom.

Whether I am fasting or feasting, I am likely thirsty. As a result, I have been drinking large amounts of water and herbal tea. It is obvious why I am peeing a lot. Consuming lots of water and water-filled foods is a common trick often used by dieters because water makes you feel full for zero calories. Research shows that increased water consumption may be an independent factor in women's weight loss as well. I too have been using water as a food substitute to wait out hunger pains on my fast days so I feel volume in my stomach without the calories.


One of the non-beverage ways I have been absorbing all of this water volume is through the produce I am eating. On my fast days, I have been packing in fruits and veggies for their volume and nutrition. Below are some of the fruits and veggies, with their respective water content, that I have been eating on fast days for reference:

Apple, 84% water, ~72 kcal (medium fruit)
Blueberries, 85% water, ~41 kcal (per 1/2 cup)
Carrots, 87% water, ~30 kcal (large carrot)
Orange, 87% water, ~65 kcal (medium fruit)
Broccoli, 91% water, ~30 kcal (1 cup)
Peppers, 92% water, ~60 kcal (1 bell pepper)
Spinach, 92% water, ~7 kcal (1 cup)
Strawberries, 92% water, ~46 kcal (1 cup)
Watermelon, 92% water, ~46 kcal, (1 cup)
Tomatoes, 94% water, ~35 kcal (medium fruit)
Celery, 95% water, ~9 kcal (long stalk)
Cucumber, 96% water, ~45 kcal (medium fruit)

In fact, if I ate every single thing on this list in these portions, that would be about 486 calories total and within the fast day calorie goal. Mind you, I probably wouldn't eat this list alone on a fast day because that would be 62 grams of sugar (which is over twice what is recommended per day) and there is not enough iron or protein. However, these foods are still great for getting in vitamins, phytochemicals, and fiber.

On a different water-related tangent, I will call to your attention that the encouragement to drink a ton of water for health somewhat revolves around myth. The common advice to "drink 8 glasses of water a day to avoid dehydration"  lacks hard evidence. You do need to drink enough fluids to replace what you lose daily (again, basic math like calorie intake and outtake for weight management). But a lot of the water we consume comes from the food we eat. The water consumption an individual requires is based on a lot of factors including the climate they live in, their size, and their lifestyle. As long as you can pee, it is very rare that too much water will be a problem for you. Just make sure you have enough electrolytes.

I also have yet to find the study that is often referred to in blog posts and articles (which all have broken links, when there is an attempt at a citation or source at all) claiming that the human sense of thirst is very weak and is often confused with hunger, resulting in 37% of people mistaking thirst for hunger in "studies." Perhaps I am searching for the wrong keywords? Or perhaps 37% of the people in this mysteriously unsearchable "clinical study" are just idiots and cannot differentiate their own bodily needs. Either way, 37% is not a majority, so I am not sure how this line of reasoning about our sense of thirst has been turned into such thriving urban legend. The study I did find in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that hunger is not related to thirst at all. My conclusion is to just drink water when you are thirsty. You will likely be aware of when you are thirsty.

Week 4 Summary

Day 30, Fast Day #14

Fasting today felt great after putting my body (especially my liver) through a bit of hard labor this weekend. I found I was not very hungry today and craving mostly fresh, raw produce after  eating a bunch of grilled meats, pastries, and fried foods over the last couple of days. I had a ton of energy today, got a lot of sleep, and was enjoying the great and unusual summer-like weather we have been having in Seattle.

Zach and I added in an additional feast day this past week because friends visited us from out of town and there was lots of celebrating with friends to be had. I weighed myself again this morning and I am still holding steady at 13 lbs lost in total despite two consecutive days of going out, day drinking, night drinking, and eating lots of rich foods.

Calories
Week 1: 1,437 kcal or 76% of baseline calories
Week 2: 1,938 kcal or 102% of baseline calories
Week 3: 1,680 kcal or 89% of baseline calories
Week 4: 2,196 kcal or 116% of baseline calories
,
While ADFing: 1,856 kcal or 98% of baseline
Baseline Days: 1,896 kcal

All Feast Days: 2,952 kcal or 156% of baseline
All Fast Days*: 498 kcal or 26% of baseline

For reference
Week 1: 4 fast days, 3 feast days
Week 2: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
Week 3: 3 fast days*, 4 feast days
Week 4: 3 fast days, 4 feast days
*Includes faux-fast day that was my mama's birthday dinner.

It was the most calorie-heavy week since starting alternate day fasting. I ate well over the calories during my baseline days. How did I manage to consume so many more calories than the previous few weeks? One word: Alcohol. Between Friday and Saturday, the consecutive feast days, I consumed about 39% of my calories within just 29% of the week. On Friday, 41% of my entire day's calories where in alcoholic beverages and on Saturday, 33% of my day's calories were in alcoholic beverages. Don't worry, this is NOT my typical drinking behavior and the booze was not all consumed within the same window of time.

What I find most interesting about looking at my numbers from the last month is that my total calorie consumption, as of now, is not significantly less than my baseline calorie consumption. However, I still am down the 13 lbs of weight. 

It is possible the baseline calorie consumption I am using for myself is lower than the number of calories I actually ate on average in the past, since I only tracked two days worth of eating prior to Zach declaring the third day a fast day. (Again, this is not a scientific experiment I am doing, this is just me trying to figure out how intermittent fasting effects my body). My level of physical activity has not changed, so I doubt that is a factor. If my average calorie intake was much higher than my baseline, it is possible my calories are more reduced than I know and this is why I have not regained the weight this week.

The only noticeable nutritional difference that I know of between my eating now and 4 weeks ago, is that my sugar consumption (but not total carbohydrates) is 42% lower. I am not eating much less in overall calories or carbs, so I don't think the lower amount of sugar is a factor in preventing my overeating. However, there is research that suggests that blood sugar levels and glycemic response are related to fat storage. One theory could be that I am not storing fat in the same way because of the large reduction of in sugar in my diet. I have also been eating foods lower on the glycemic index since starting ADF, and therefore explains how I am eating carbs, but not as many of the simple sugar ones. I figured all of those Marie Osmond infommericals selling Nutrisystem was all gimmick, but perhaps there is science behind eating lower on the glycemic index to lose weight.

My only other theory is that the pattern in which I am eating on it's own is changing how I metabolize food. That I will explore this theory on another night, since it is past my bedtime.

Fasting Away Heartburn

Day 27, Fast Day #13

Ever since I turned 22, it seems like I have been at war with my GI tract. I am not sure if this was due to some gene switching on or off, or if years of stomach abuse caught up with me in college. Perhaps it might be a long-term effect of eating the 15% butterfat University of Maryland ice cream. (For me, the Fear the Turtle flavor is a spiritual experience, so if you ever are in Maryland, make the trip to eat at the dairy's ice cream.) Either way, it has not been a fun war and I lose to my gut most of the time.

Where my freshman 15 (lbs) came from, but probably not where all of my tummy troubles come from. Genetics is more likely, especially in the case of my lactose-intolerance.

One of continuous digestive wars that is being waged in my body is an acid attack. I have regularly experienced heartburn and acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD) in some combination for almost a year. I blame the stress of wedding planning. 

Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that a lot of the foods I love to eat are commonly labeled as "heartburn triggers." All the yummy spicy, garlicky, oniony, citrusy, minty, fatty, and chocolatey ones I love are labeled "triggers." Plus I drink caffeine and alcohol, also supposedly heartburn triggers. However, what I have learned from researching heartburn for this blog post is that the first-line recommendations for acid reflux might be the result of medical practice being trigger happy.

Contrary to what one would think after reading through lists of foods and drinks to avoid if you have heartburn (like this one), there isn't an large or overwhelming body of evidence showing that quitting these foods or drinks will help with GERD even if they influence stomach pH (according to this meta-analysis of common heartburn first-line recommendations). Basically everything I was told or have read about heartburn is based on little or no evidence.

This doesn't really surprise me, since I have tried removing all those yummy foods and drinks by going on a BRAT diet to try to solve my heartburn. Removing "trigger foods" did NOT help me at all. I am sure there are many people that benefit from not eating heartburn trigger foods for one reason or another. I also know there are foods I know make my heartburn worse. The thing is, I don't have causal heartburn. My heartburn is already there whether I ate or not.

So, I still had acid indigestion without any trigger foods while on a BRAT diet and would still wake up early in the morning because of horrible stomach pain. I tried the usual antacids, OTC medications, and herbal remedies (peppermint and papaya) to deal with my sour stomach. Using omeprazole daily for a bit was my only relief from the stabby, debilitating heartburn pain at my worst point early last December. If I skipped a day, I was in trouble. No I did not have an ulcer---this was really bad heartburn.

The good news is my heartburn has improved since I started alternate day fasting and I have not needed to take any daily heartburn medication since. I still chew some Tums as a source of calcium with a meal, if I am lacking it that day, but no omeprazole and only ranitidine on occasion. The heartburn hasn't gone away completely, but it is so much better than it was. I have heard from other intermittent fasters that their heartburn worsened from fasting though, so fasting doesn't seem like a universal miracle treatment for heartburn or acid reflux.

I haven't found any specific research published on alternate day fasting (or just fasting) and its effect on acid indigestion, however, I have two theories on why ADF is helping with my stomach acid issues:

Research shows that at least in an overweight population (which can describe me right now), weight loss is an independent factor in reducing acid indigestion. My Body Mass Index (I am not claiming BMI is the most accurate method of determining healthy weight, I am using it as a unit of measurement) has dropped about 2.2 points in the last 27 days, including the additional pound I lost yesterday for 13 total pounds lost. Perhaps even just losing this amount of weight from ADF has pleased my stomach acid gremlins.

My second theory is that I am producing less stomach acid because I am eating smaller meals and eating less often ("shrinking my stomach" or at least its capacity). In the same meta-analysis where Kaltenbach looks at the body of research around first-line heartburn remedies, she emphasizes that acid exposure increased with volume of food, whether it is has high or low fat content. Controlling my food portions and being conscious of servings sizes due to starting ADF may also be helping with my heartburn problems.

Even though I am not entirely sure why my heartburn has lessened or if it related to intermittent fasting, I am happy about it. On that note I hope everyone has a great weekend and if you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, like I will be, have fun!

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.

Water Weight: A Dieter's Foe

Day 13, Fast Day #7

I stepped on the scale yesterday and saw another 2 lbs lost for a total loss of 9 lbs in less than two weeks.

Frankly, I would be a fool to think that while on this diet that I am just dripping pure fat off my body like a meatloaf in a hot oven. So how much of the weight I am losing is just water weight?

Based on my current diet so far, here has been what I am eating on average feast and fast days as a reference:

Carbs: 333 grams (feast), 64 grams (fast), 130 grams (USDA DRV) - I clearly love bread

Fat: 86 grams (feast),7 grams (fast), undetermined USDA DRV

Protein: 91 grams (feast), 31 grams (fast), 46 grams (USDA DRV)

Well, complex carbohydrates bond well with water. So it makes sense on my down days where I am fasting, that the water in my body has less to bond to by way of carbs, and therefore I lose the water. I have clearly had plenty of carbohydrates to bond to on feast days and prior to dieting.

My sodium intake on an average fast day is 2,272 mg while my feast day is a very naughty 4,367 mg. The USDA recommends no more than 2,300 mg a day for my age and sex, so I should work on that. We know sodium retains water in the body. So, it makes sense that when I am consuming less sodium on my fast days, I must also have the ability to drop more water weight.

A study by M. Yang was sort of useful in answering my question. (Mind you, his study is with obese men and the low-carb ketogenic diet he uses is more like the Atkins diet, so not perfect for me.) In his study participants on a ketogenic diet, of the weight loss subjects experienced (by weight): 60-69% water weight loss and 15-36% fat loss (depending on which study you look at). My point is, the rapid initial weight loss seems to be mostly water.

Luckily it looks like the lower carb diets in a longer period do end up "accelerating" fat loss and maintaining muscle mass after the initial water weight loss, as noted in this summary of papers on the topic. So hopefully I level off on the number of pounds soon and start burning off more fat.

ADF Side Effect - Super Human Smell

Day 9, Fast Day #5

A side effect of alternate day fasting I have noticed that is both a blessing and a curse is increased olfactory perception.

At first I thought that I was imagining my sense of smell being better because I was hungry and Zach hasn't noticed any differences in his sense of smell. Turns out olfactory perception and sense of taste have been studied in people who are fasting. Increases in the palatability of food and odor identification was seen in females in the study and an overall change in odor threshold in all participants. Another study shows that hungry people are also more aware of non-food odors than non-hungry people.

My super smell power on fast days is a noticeable and tempting reminder of hunger, especially when walking by restaurants and smelling the microwaved lunches of co-workers. I can also smell the trash needing to be taken out before I enter my own apartment. Yuck.

On the brighter side of my fast day heightened sense of smell, the actual taste of the food I eat is awesome. Since most of our perception of taste comes from smell, my super smell makes the fast day meal taste better than it would normally. Prior to ADF, I needed a dip, dressing, or sauce to have an interest in eating most raw vegetables. But when I am having my fast day meal, vegetables like broccoli and celery seem magically sweeter and delicious on their own. Carrots become like orange candy. No hummus or ranch dressing required.

It is time to end this blog entry before I make myself even more hungry than I am!

ADF Side Effect - Headache

Day 6, Feast Day #3

Much like on my second feast day, I woke up to a headache this morning. Super fun. On Tuesday, my second feast day, the headache lasted all day, despite taking some ibuprofen in the afternoon. When I do get a headache, it is typically from caffeine withdrawal or eye strain and is cured with caffeine or sleep respectively. I may be fasting every other day, but I am not giving up my daily morning cup of coffee, so it likely isn't caffeine withdrawal. I am thinking it is related to ADF.

Zach did an internet search and found forums where other people starting an ADF diet also experienced headaches. I seemed to draw the short stick, since Zach isn't experiencing this symptom at all. There are some theories floating around about why these headaches are happening, namely: dehydration, not eating, and sugar or carbohydrate withdrawal.

I do not think this is related to dehydration at all. I have been drinking copious amounts of water and herbal tea on fast days to stave off hunger. Yesterday I consumed: a 10 oz cup of mild roast coffee, a 10 oz cup of strawberry pomegranate tea, two 10 oz cups of ginger tea, a 16 oz cup of rooibos tea followed by a 10 oz cup of rooibos tea, two 12 oz cups of mint tea, and four 12 oz cups of water. That is 138 US ounces or the equivalent of over 4 liters and over one US gallon. That is a lot of liquid, and doesn't include the fluids in all the vegetables and the bowl of soup I had for lunch. Clear pee = hydrated.

Now, not eating seems like a much more likely reason for the headaches. The Mayo Clinic lists "skipping meals" as a cause for headaches. Additionally the Physician's Desk Reference cites skipping meals or not eating for an extended period as a trigger for both migraine and tension headaches. 

Previous to starting ADF, I was used to not only eating three meals a day, but lots of small snacks during my day. Moving to one small meal a day has been a big habit shift for me. From what I have read from other people experiencing this problem, the headaches often go away after a couple weeks or can be remedied with splitting the day's calorie allotment between two meals instead of the one. I may need to try two tiny meals in hopes of skipping my fasting hangover if this doesn't stop on its own. However, consuming multiple meals will cut the time I am actually going without food and might not give me all the benefits I am seeking from intermittent fasting.

As for sugar withdrawal, that could certainly be an explanation too. I have been keeping a food diary on MyFitnessPal.com and with their mobile app and it calculated that for my height & weight I should ingest about 34 grams of sugar a day. Now for the harsh reality: my approximate average sugar intake on my last two fast days was 33 grams. In comparison, on my last two feast days I ingested a disgusting 126 grams of sugar on average. Yes, I ate some sweets during my feast, including chocolate chip pancakes and beer for a meal. My two baseline days of calorie counting were at an average of 115 grams of sugar per day too. Holy diabetes, Batman! I knew I had a sweet tooth, but that is just kind of gross.To give you a better picture, 126 grams of sugar is over 30 sugar cubes.

In research done with rats, scientists have also found that rats show signs similar to opioid-dependence when their sugary diet is suddenly limited, suggesting there is such a thing as sugar addiction in rats. However, there is also newer research showing that there is no scientific support that the sugar dependency seen in animal models occurs in human trials. This study clearly hasn't made its way into the wikipedia article on this. 

So the jury is out on whether these headaches are from not eating for awhile, from sugar cravings, or something else. Hopefully it goes away soon. Either way, I should probably make an effort to not eat as much sugar since my insides might just be rivers of cornsyrup from years of not tracking my sugar intake and my apparent mouthlust for sucrose.

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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