Confused and in need of guidance

Bildad said:

I have recently discovered the LCHF lifestyle and so far have lost 1.5 stones. I need to shift another 2.5 to 3.
I have read various things on here and other parts of the web about 16:8 fasting. I am unsure if you can drink during the 16 fast hours or not. I am happy since starting this new way of life not to eat breakfast which is quite a major shift in thinking for me. My mother drilled it into me as a child that you MUST always have breakfast. I find it difficult to start the day without a cup of coffee and the news. Ideally I would get up and do that at about 10.30 but the dogs wake at about 5.30 and I have to be in work for 7.30.
My question is can I have coffee and cream when I get up. (My evening meal is at about 6pm.)

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That's what worked best for me.. coffee and cream or tea with lactofree milk to start the day and never have anything solid before 1 pm usually and sometimes only one meal per day.

Bildad said:

Thank you. I struggle with cold water first thing in the morning so the ability to have coffee is a relief. I think that I will at give it a go over the next week and see if I can do it.

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I should also have said many congrats on the weight loss..!

Bildad said:

I am not sure your thanks are really warranted. I lost the weight when I was first diagnosed 6+ years ago with low fat eating but could not keep it off and now find myself on medication with the weight to shed all over again. I do feel though that this time the LCHF lifestyle is sustainable.
I am not sure why I didn't do the joined up thinking carb = glucose = high blood sugar a long time ago. I suppose we are conditioned to follow the advice proclaimed by the medical profession and he media.

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Yep it keeps us nice and ill and in thrall to the docs.. yes I'm a bit of a cynic...!

I rarely eat at all during the day. Normally only eat in the evening.

Propper meal low or no carb with Greek youghert or similar for desert.

I cannot do without my coffee though. Go through loads. As well as plenty of water.

Staying hydrated is the key as well as keeping up with dietary fat. Don't bother with anything low fat. Just remember the only real issue with high fat is it can give you the trots.

Bildad said:

I haven't eaten anything since 6pm yesterday just a cup of tea and a glass of sparkling water.

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Is that all you have drunk? I would up the water if I were you, especially in this hot weather, and make sure you have enough salt.

Lately I’ve seen more and more people advocating dry fasting. While the supposed benefits seem more intense, at this point in my life I am not up to trying it. For me, fluids are necessary. Especially my morning coffee. However, if I was fasting because I had been diagnosed with cancer, I might do the dry fasting. Maybe.

Kailee56 said:

However, if I was fasting because I had been diagnosed with cancer, I might do the dry fasting.

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How would that help with cancer? The body needs nourishment to help fight it, and very definitely to help with the effects of the treatment.

Bluetit1802 said:

How would that help with cancer? The body needs nourishment to help fight it, and very definitely to help with the effects of the treatment.

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Nutrients, especially glucose, feed the cancerous as well as the healthy cells. There is no discrimination as to which cells have access. Fasting is a way to limit which nutrients are available.

- 1st, look up Valter Longo’s Fasting Mimicing Diet, a way to try for the physiological effects of fasting without actually fasting, and the research around it.
- Much research has shown that many cancers require glucose, the basis of PET scans used for detection and diagnosis, and are not flexible enough to survive in a Ketogenic environment. Fasting amplifies ketosis.
- Fasting helps stimulate autophagy, where your body breaks down unneeded and defective cells, like cancers, to obtain nutrients
- Dry fasting, supposedly, accelerates autophagy, since defective cells are now broken down faster for their water as well as other nutrients.
- Fasting has been shown to weaken cancerous cells, so they are more susceptible to lower amounts of chemo, while providing some protection to normal cells. This results in more effective chemo with fewer side effects.

I fast and (imperfectly) eat LCHF for my diabetes, but also for autophagy. We are all different and must make our own choices. For me and my body, this seems to be the way. It might not be the best for you.

QUOTE="Bluetit1802, post: 2035350, member: 94045"]How would that help with cancer? The body needs nourishment to help fight it, and very definitely to help with the effects of the treatment.[/QUOTE]
Addendum:
If you have Amazon Prime, look up the movie, “The Science of Fasting”. It’s free for Prime members

https://smile.amazon.com/Science-Fa...ce+of+fasting&qid=1556091618&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Starting at 40:16, or the last 16 minutes, they go into Longo’s research on fasting and chemo therapy

@Kailee56

Thank you. I do know how fasting works, and I did intermittent fasting myself for some considerable time. However, having been down the cancer route with twelve months of aggressive treatment, I would no more fast during that experience than poke my eyes out. That was 6 years ago, and so far still clear and discharged. We are all different.

Bluetit1802 said:

@Kailee56

Thank you. I do know how fasting works, and I did intermittent fasting myself for some considerable time. However, having been down the cancer route with twelve months of aggressive treatment, I would no more fast during that experience than poke my eyes out. That was 6 years ago, and so far still clear and discharged. We are all different.

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Sorry if you felt I was being pushy. The movie clip was just a quick way to get a synopsis of the research. Trying to make the data easier to access.
Obviously, the approach you took worked for you. So glad you are doing well.

Kailee56 said:

Sorry if you felt I was being pushy. The movie clip was just a quick way to get a synopsis of the research. Trying to make the data easier to access.
Obviously, the approach you took worked for you. So glad you are doing well.

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Not pushy at all. Plenty of interesting details, although I don't have Prime so couldn't watch the video.

Kailee56 said:

- Fasting has been shown to weaken cancerous cells, so they are more susceptible to lower amounts of chemo, while providing some protection to normal cells. This results in more effective chemo with fewer side effects.

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I think fasting only works to a degree and there comes a point when it doesn't.
It's awful when you watch someone have no appetite at all - so when you say fasting helps weaken cancer cells - I wonder how true that is...

Just editing to add :
Perhaps it was just that the cancer was stronger in the end and not eating was certainly not making it better.

Kailee56 said:

Lately I’ve seen more and more people advocating dry fasting. While the supposed benefits seem more intense, at this point in my life I am not up to trying it. For me, fluids are necessary. Especially my morning coffee. However, if I was fasting because I had been diagnosed with cancer, I might do the dry fasting. Maybe.

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I cannot see any logic whatsoever of dry fasting and certainly not in terms of Diabetes management. My Muslim friends say that not eating is not a problem, it is the not drinking that causes discomfort.