Fast Well | Feast Well

Happy Tuesday, readers! It’s a great mystery to me how I find myself so many months into this Substack yet this is my first issue devoted to seed oils. How did this happen? Long before I was into health and even knew what intermittent fasting was, seed oils were banned from the house. Of course, they still crept in as ingredients in processed foods, but as far as allowing a good ole jug of “vegetable” oil or Crisco to cross the threshold—NOPE, not today, Satan.

Most medical professionals rely on drugs instead of diet to treat diseases such as Type 2 diabetes because they think people are too weak to change their diet and lifestyle. Perhaps a few people will refuse to change. But most people have the drive to conquer their health problems when given the proper tools. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of those people. Dr. Fung’s book The Diabetes Code is full of stories of people who fasted and cut carbs to save their health.

Happy Tuesday! It’s a wonderful day to learn about the importance of educating yourself about health, particularly when it comes to statins. After reading today’s post, I think you’ll agree that the more you know about sugar’s effects, the more motivated you’ll be to reduce it. Finally, one of my very favorite things is to share stories of people who have bravely taken their health into their own hands and found incredible healing from lifelong suffering! I never get tired of these stories.

[Please note: since this post is on a specialty topic, it did not go out to my substack subscribers, but was only posted to the web.] Interstitial cystitis (IC) is characterized by chronic bladder pain, inflammation, and frequency. There is very little helpful information about what causes it and how to treat it. Medications don't help most patients.

Happy Tuesday, health readers. We have quite a few new readers lately, so welcome newbies! We’re so glad you’re here. It’s my hope that you’ll be inspired to do something that feels a little hard at first but will benefit you in ways that may surprise you once you get going. We have an inspiring story from a woman who lost well over 100 lbs, a flow chart summarizing IF benefits, and some updated science on heart disease risk factors.

I sometimes get myself worked up into a little frenzy over food guidelines because of how they harm people. At times, people pat me on the head and say, “Simmer down there little missy; it’s just food.” But what if this overly-processed, high-sugar carbage is actually a slow poison, negatively affecting people’s brains? Dr. Palmer’s research appears to support this hypothesis for at least some people.

Here’s a common pattern I see in beginner fasters. Many people who start slow with something like 16:8 find the first week of fasting relatively easy. However, as they near the end of their first month and they are increasing their fasting a little more, they often hit a rough patch. There’s a biological reason for this. I’ve mentioned before that the liver can store between 12-24 hours worth (depending on factors such as how active you are) of temporary, easy-access glucose in the form of glycogen.

Have you ever noticed there are two of you: the one who desperately wants to lose weight to get healthy, and the one who doesn't give a rip about health and just wants to eat all the things. The one who wants to get healthy needs to learn how to trick the one who wants to eat like there's no tomorrow. This truth is why Intermittent Fasting (IF) can be so wildly successful for so many people. You get to live out both of these personalities.

Roxi went to her doctor in January of 2019 complaining of pain under her ribs. Her doctor ordered an ultrasound and found that Roxi had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition that is becoming increasingly common from increased sugar and ultra-processed food consumption. Roxi’s blood glucose level and A1c also showed that she was prediabetic.

Happy Tuesday, Fasters! I hope the ideas in today’s substack will motivate you to make positive health choices and to better understand the amazing capabilities of the body you’ve been given. Over the last few years, I’ve read several books about fasting, listened to dozens of podcast testimonials, and read myriads of Facebook posts from fasting groups. One thing that I’ve noticed is that very few people hear about fasting once and then take off running with immediate success.