Hi,

finally had my “anniversary”! I have been on this diet for one year now and my plan was to go to 6:1 if my blood test was what I wanted it to be. I just got the result…

Glucose – 4.3
Cholesterol – 4.5
HDL – 1.4
LDL – 2.8
Triglycerides – 0.8

This is all good news and I am pleased to see my cholesterole on a level I did not think possible in my case. My blood pressure is 115/70, BMI 21.7, fat percentage 11.5%… this is all very pleasing and I am very happy about the cardiovascular profile.

What is less good news is that my IGF1 has INCREASED from April by 25%! It is still in a healthy range but it was 121 6 months ago and is now 151… I am baffled actually. I have, besides my two fasting days, not made any change I am aware so I am at loss to explain how the value went up that much. I did add some further protein a couple of months ago as I was concerned that I did not get enough. But I still doubt that it would have such a dramatic impact. I am thinking that my body may have reacted very well initially to the diet (from an unknown level) and then got used to the diet, pushing back the IGF1 level to the original level. I have no idea really and am a bit disappointed…

However, that is still an OK level although I know that it is not really a low level (rather, it is something that does not put me in a higher risk category)and the diet really did miracles to my cholesterol and it has been a fantastic weight management tool. I will now remove the extra protein on my fast day as there should be no need for it and this may perhaps bring down my IGF1 as well to a more pleasant level. I feel sharper and leaner and my running is better than ever! So I am going to 6:1 now but am planning to be cautious about my extra feast day and in case I see the need for it, go back to 5:2. Then we will see in another year what has happened to my body 🙂

Thanks for your comments 🙂

Yes, it is important to stop and think about the fact that there is still so much to learn about this, and there are so many different parameters that come into play. I just wanted to share my story with you all as I am very pleased about the cholesterole.

I actually felt by the end of this year that it was about time to go to 6:1. I felt very “drained” after my second fast day of the week and the sleeping problems on a fast day that so many of us share started to get to me. So I think that this is really the right time for maintenance mode 🙂

So back again!

USA, I am really feeling great. The checkup I went to was all positive and all values were just great. Also my thyroid showed no signs of disturbance (I know that many people have problems with it on this diet and that soy protein may impact it, but it was perfectly good). So besides that IGF1 value that stood out from the crowd, the values were all superb really, which I am very grateful for.

I can definitely also say that sleeping is much less of a concern to me now on 6:1. I am really only two weeks into this so I need more time to conclude anything, but I have never been really good at sleeping 🙂 and it really got to me by the end of this past year. Now with only one fasting day, it is simply less of an issue for me and it is easier so far to cope with any sleeping problem once per week than if it is twice per week… which goes without saying.

I think I shared this in a previous post already, but my experience was really by the end of this year that I wanted to go to 6:1. My body wanted to. I think that I plateaued because my body had reached a level where there was no major reason to lose more weight. At some point it felt like the second fasting day really sucked the energy out of me; it was probably not what happened, but it felt as though I was carving out pieces of reserves that my body really wanted to keep “just in case”. So although I planned to give 5:2 a year, this signal strengthened this intention around the same time. I saw someone else who wondered when it is time to go to 6:1 and so I share my experience with you. However, I really think it depends on what the goal with the diet is and how much you want/have to lose of weight or reduce glucose etc. I have been lucky enough not to have any medical condition, so I have been in the fortunate situation where I could try out and give things time. My cholesterol level was always on the verge of the unhealthy so I wanted to do something about it in time and just to be able to take it off the list.

Hey USA,

Thanks for the links! I will have a look in a day or two; right now my family is asleep in the room just beside me so I need to remain silent 🙂

Just wanted to comment on what you said about preparing for the blood test… while I did try to pay attention by not boosting any values with any stupid foods, I was not in a position during the days before the blood test to be on a perfectly strict regime. So I just made sure to eat moderately of the foods available to me. I also ensured to drink plenty of water – not to dilute the blood really 🙂 but to ensure that no value shot up because of lack of water. As I mentioned my IGF1 was poor but I had no additional soy or major injections of protein that weekend. Just normal food that I would have on a typical weekend. So I think that I was all set for a “fair trial” during that blood test and I am certain that my IGF1 was not because of something stupid I did that weekend but something I had messed up for longer.

My glucose was also slightly higher than it had been in the past, but this is no concern to me. I used to be on 3.8-4.1 and now it was on 4.3 and it also was 4.7 during a blood test this summer. So I think that change is there to stay even if it is just marginally higher and no problem at all. I am just curious as to why the level has gone up a little. It can be somewhat increased glucose sensitivity or that I compensate, unwillingly, by eating more carbs on a feast day.

Hey USA,

Listening to the link in the background :). I am also sometimes visiting a Swedish LCHF site and the things mentioned in your clip are often mentioned on that site.

I will leave the IGF1 test for 1 year from now. I do not want to be consumed by this and as I have no medical condition (thankfully) I am in no hurry really. I am very interested in this kind of topics which is why I want to find out how my body responds to this and that, but I think that it would be wrong to run to the doctor every few months and at every dietary change just to see what happens when I do this or that. I was disappointed with the IGF1 but not worried – I would, however, be worried if my values continues to grow and would be even higher next year. If it is back on 120, where it was back in April, then I am sure that I have a sustainable diet.

Total cholesterol is not a good markor of the risk for heart disease. I am more interested in the quote between LDL/HDL. From what I have seen lately, the quote should not be more than 4. I would currently then be on 2, which is supposed to be good. I have even read things like if you have an LDL = 6, HDL = 1.5 your TC would be 7.5 but still be healthy. It would be better to have that quote than to have LDL = 5 and HDL = 0.8. TC would be 5.8 (plus TG) but the quote would be much higher, 6.25.

I am not scared of fat any more :).

As for the blood pressure you mention, do you do a lot of exercise? I have been fortunate to always have 110-115/70, also before I started with any dieting. I really think that it is down to regular exercise in my case. I am running around 30km a week and my resting pulse is around 50-55. Where was your weight and what is it now; has the weight loss had no impact on the TG? I mentioned somewhere that I “lost” 50% of my TG when I did 4 months of calorie restriction. Just getting rid of the fat on my belly really seemed to do the trick for me… but I know that it may be a different case for others.

BRB…

Hi,

I hope I did not express myself inappropriately with those smileys… all I meant was, with a glimpse in the eye, that I had managed to mess up my IGF1 which is very good for you whereas you still try to get the other values down, something which had worked out well for me on this diet. I guess it shows how complex this thing is and how different we all are.

As for mediterranean food, besides the fact that I am not a fish lover (which is a shame), I do eat lots of nuts, grains, olive oil, hummus, tahini, vegetables… just love the stuff and it suits my semi-vegetarian life style. So hopefully I got that part right by chance 🙂

As for the running, do not get me wrong: I am not taking things to extremes. I have 3 sessions a week which is considered moderate exercising, but I am pushing myself quite a bit during these sessions. I have also read quite many articles that elite sportsmen and -women actually are less healthy. Still, that normally does not “prevent” them from living long lives… so you are absolutely right: doing things moderately is the key to health and balance in life.

As for the fruit: some LCHF “extremists” would consider it bad for you because fruit equals carbohydrates. Now, to me that is to take things to extremes but who am I to judge. There is so much other good stuff in fruit (like fibre, vitamins and antioxidants). OK, you can get that via vegetables, one can argue but fruit is still tasty, gives lots of fluid and all in all are a good habit. So I think it is just too much when they speak about fruit as something bad. But I think it
is great with the variety of views and diets today – there is something for everyone and I respect that for some people, LCHF has done miracles. So I am glad for them!

I regret to hear about your medical background. It is great that you are trying to solve/mitigate all the problems naturally. Medication tends to fix one problem and create another… I do not know about your view, but I tend to think that medication is great as a last resort. Some people have their genes “to thank for” all their problems and nothing they do seem to help that much. And then I guess it is great that there are drugs you can take. I guess that we all have embarked on a journey where we do not know the end station as this stuff with fasting is relatively new. But I have a background where 3 of my 4 grand parents had cancer (both of my grandmothers died from it and my grandfather on my father’s side had it as well, but survived it 3 times and died for other reasons last year, 91 years old). My parents are both suffering from high blood pressure, slight overweight et al but keep them at bay with medication, whereas I think in their case it is really down to life style. But in high-tech Sweden, such reasoning is doomed to fail. There is an “overbelief” in medication and technology in my view. My two brothers are both overweight and have problems with their knees etc because of that overweight. I just do want to avoid going down that road and hope I started this prevention work in time… but am aware that if my genes are so inclined, I may well end up in the same situation a number of years from now. So sometimes I am thinking that “what if I do all this in vain?”… but then once again, I have to remind myself of how much better the quality of life is here and now when you try to look after your body. It is worth it every step of the way really.

Good luck again with your health efforts! It is admirable that you work so hard for your health and I hope and think that you will get there in the end.

Hi USA,

I will check your link shortly, before I go running, haha. Running is my way of meditation… you cannot stop me from doing it 🙂

As for fruit, that is something I read on this LCHF site I mentioned (www.kostdoktorn.se). So it was not from your clip.

There is definitely a lot more to longevity than just diet… I can just look at my grandfather, the one who died last year at the age of 91. He certainly did not live a perfect life from a diet point of view (and what I just said was an understatement) – but he was incredibly positive about life and surrounded by friends and family, and always had funny stories to share when we met. He lived life at its full to the final week of his life; he quickly recovered after his cancers earlier in his life, both physically and spiritually. I guess that conversely, the other side of this is also true: it is great to plan for the future, but you got to life your life now as well. I am trying to find that delicat balance; I have a tendency to care too much about my life 20 years from now (who knows how it will look anyway?!) and not enough about here and now. Definitely something I need to improve. I look at longevity as something meaningful only if you fill those years with something meaningful…

I have stayed away from bread, pasta, rice etc. during this week. I do have oats for breakfast. It is too early to draw any kinds of conclusions but my digestion is, should we say, a bit funny so far… guess I need to get used to it :). I am not sure I will manage this over time, but I am trying it to just to see what happens.

Hi,

Haha, I am not looking down on non-runners :). We are all different and find pleasure in different things.

What you say about balance is very true and I think it is the kind of topic you can bring up again and again and interpret in so many ways – still there is something new to consider.

I think I mentioned when you and I spoke in a different context that one of things I learnt while being on this diet is that health is not about pushing health indicators to extremes (as if we were competing against something?) but about finding a good and sustainable way to keep them all in a healthy range. Yes, there is something subjective to this of course as who knows what the recommendations will be 5 years from now, but as they say in the file you sent, cholesterol is absolutely necessary for survival and it is not that you should aim for zero cholesterol! Same goes for IGF1 – it is not about getting rid of it as it is absolutely needed for cellular life, but about keeping it “on the right side of the scale”. It is that overall picture we should strive for, not to be best in class in every subject. Another side of this is how difficult it is to find that balance. I was afraid of not getting enough protein and likely ended up boosting my IGF1 by having too much of it. Now I need to “push back gently” to find the balance again without causing another imbalance somewhere else.

I was also thinking about this cholesterol vs. fat thing today… I must say that the whole discussion is somewhat confused to me (which is probably because I do not know the topic well enough :)). It is just that when you propagate the LCHF kind of life style, I am wondering: is there anything truly new with it? Because what the problem with carbohydrates seem to boil down to is more about things like white bread, sugar and processed foods. Who ever said that these things would be good for you? Just because the recommendation for years was to avoid high fat foods, I do not see that anyone ever said that these “white carbs” are good for you. I think it is to oversimplify when someone says that the obesity problem today is down to incorrect recommendations about carbohydrates as a major source of energy for people. The problem is, in my view, mainly about the BAD kind of carbohydrates. The ability to quickly use sugar for energy may be absolutely life-saving as it enables us to quickly respond to any threat, but in our world today there are a) very few life-threatening situations of that sort and b) a surplus of this sugar that, if taken in excess, becomes harmful for us. Once again, that balance 🙂

A moderate intake of “slow carbs” should probably not be a problem for us. Still, I am testing this “low carb” thing a little to see how it impacts my stomach. I often feel very bloated and I would like to see if having less rice, potatoes, bread etc. has any impact. It may well be a “false track” but if you never try, you will never know! I really found that part of your post about Michael Mosley, where he talks about self-experimenting, very funny. Still, I tend to look at the experimenting part of this as something slightly exaggerated – we live in a world where we have almost direct access to science and medication, and can check regularly if we want to what any dietary change impacts in our bodies. So the risk is relatively limited, I think.

That Swedish doctor is called “Andreas” something. Very Swedish; he speaks Swenglish just like I do :). I occasionally visit that forum and post and also learn from the people there. I also find it a bit extreme but I am certain that there is very thorough science behind it. He is definitely on to something and I think it is great with all the debate going on today, where years of recommendations now are being questioned. That is the way it should be – we should challenge our understanding of the world from time to time! There is lots of talking about 5:2 there too and the general conclusion seems to be that it is very possible to combine 5:2 and LCHF. I guess it makes sense since on a fasting day, you really need to cut down on your carbs to manage the daily calorie goal. At least I realised how much of your energy really comes from carbs every day… and the easiest thing for me to manage the 600 calories was just to cut out the carbohydrates from some of my typical meals.

Sunday today; one more day of normal eating and then Tuesday and fasting again :). I did one meal around lunch time last time to maximise the fasting period (2 times 16-18 hours of fasting over roughly 36 hours). It is still so odd to me… as you skip one fasting day, it feels like ages in between the fasting days. It is really much less of a life style as the experience is much less intense. I do not mean anything negative with this; I just need to get used to this new regime and check the result another year or so from now…

Hello,

◐◑ well there i disagree, because i was the healthiest person in my family organic whole
grain/oat/barley brown/wild/black rice sweet potatoes veggies allot of exercise. my family hated my food/lifestyle they would call me the flower child
& i still gained weight briefly never white/◐◑

Sorry for over-simplifying and/or generalising. I am fully aware that some advice works for some and not for others, and that we all have different background. I meant this in a general way – I still believe that many diabetes cases would be avoided if people ate less sugar. That said, they do not need to do LCHF. I saw another clip today regarding LCHF and even our friend Andreas said that it is specifically the people with bad glucose or weight problems who may specifically benefit from the LCHF diet. Normal-weight people or those who do not have bad glucose could well eat some carbohydrates.

5/1/1 – I like that expression :). I do not know yet… I am trying to get a feeling for this. I kind of have to remind myself to do it now, haha. Before it was such a big part of my life and now after 6 days of eating, it feels like you start all over again somehow. But my body responds well and there is no difference in terms of hunger etc. It is really much easier to manage and sleeping is less of a problem. The calorie restriction is a piece of cake and I really enjoy it. I have not checked my weight since I started on 6:1 but I do not look bigger when I watch myself in the mirror.

USA, just for your info… I may disappear for a while soon as I am about to become a father for the second time (around Nov 20). I will still be on the diet 🙂 and if I find some time to write, I will. I will of course try to write until then but just so you know. Good luck with your fasting and keep those white coats at bay 😉

Hi USA,

thanks for your wishes and good luck at work :). I just realised that I only partially responded to what you asked. As for the family, it is just me, my girlfriend and my 4 year old daughter. The one “still in the oven” does not have any opinion yet :).

Actually, my GF also had some one week long fasting cures in the past so she was the one who started it rather than me. She is now into paleo which has really helped her, so our breakfast/dinner/supper table sometimes look a bit funny… and when I have a fasting day there is not much on it at all. She does have some comments about me drinking coffee on a fasting day etc. but I really think that it would just be too much if I could not have that. So we are both interested in the subject albeit in different ways and learn from and respect each other. Our daughter does not care at all 🙂 – which is great. She seems totally uninterested in what we eat and why but insist on having her own favourites. These are generally good habits but she may eat a lot of meat occasionally, despite us not eating too much of it. We are just not making a fuss about it; we definitely do not want her to get any prefabricated ideas about what she should or should not eat as a 4 year old child. It is great that we can be different and that she seems to be “running her own race”.

My main focus is really the fasting day. I am just trying the low-carb approach for a short while to see how my tummy reacts. So far it is positive! But I do not see myself doing this for a very long time and I am not insisting on a low-carb day once per week or so. As long as I feel fine and full after a meal with less carbs, then I am happy with it. I am for instance concerned that I will not get enough fibres and minerals on such a diet over time. So I just want to see if there appears to be a correlation with my stomach and then possibly come back to this at a later stage, or do some low-carb dieting of some sort, like a couple of times per week.