Low Carb Doctors

There is now less than one week to go until ‘Low Carb International All Stars’ an online conference featuring an amazing line up of speakers.

Streamed across 3 times zones over 24 hours, there will be 3 separate live Q+A sessions, one for each time zone.

Streaming begins on Saturday 20th June.

Buy Tickets (USD) for Low Carb International All Stars - Online Conference at You Tube stream, Sat 20 June 2020 Buy tickets for Low Carb International All Stars - Online Conference at You Tube stream, Sat 20 June 2020 - Join an 'All Star' cast for this worldwide online Low Carb Conference. Presenters include Professor Timothy Noakes, Professor Robert Lustig, Dr David Unwin, Ivor Cummins, Professor Ben Bikman,...

Here is the latest video from Dr Paul Mason, a great summary of the science behind low carb eating:

Dr. Paul Mason - 'Evidence based keto: How to lose weight and reverse diabetes' Dr Paul Mason obtained his medical degree with honours from the University of Sydney, and also holds degrees in Physiotherapy and Occupational Health. He is ...

I have had a few questions about ketone levels and exercise.
Some people find that their workouts are not as good a few days into the fast. This makes sense as you have depleted your liver glycogen and are producing ketones for energy. Your muscles should still have a decent store of glycogen to use. Moderate intensity exercise is probably easier to cope with than trying to lift heavy weights at this stage. If you were fat adapted before the fast this may not apply to you.

Don't try to chase high ketone levels (if you are testing). At this stage you will be burning your ketones for fuel so your levels may not be high as you might be using them up. Some people do go quite high though.

Your insulin levels will be very low and your blood sugar level should have plateaued at a nice low level (Mine are running at about 3.1 on my continuous glucose monitor).

Keep up your salts and fluids and no heroics. If you are not feeling well end the fast. If you're feeling good we would love to have you keep going with us.

Thank you for the messages from those who have ended their fast - well done for a great achievement. Without being sexist it seems that the girls have had a tougher time than the boys overall. There are multiple reasons for this of course and everyone should be proud of what they have achieved and hopefully it will make the next time easier.

For those of you still with us the worst is almost certainly over.
Interestingly this time was actually much easier than September with only minor hunger pangs which settled quickly with cold water. The 2nd day was by far the hardest last time.
After some mild exercise tonight my blood sugar went from 3.7 (where it had been pretty much all day) to 4.7. My ketones are running at 1.3. Will be interesting to see what happens in the morning.
Overall feeling strong and looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Feel free to share your experiences and numbers if you are testing too.

So by now your insulin levels should be dropping nicely.

This is a good thing and one of the goals of the fast. As the insulin drops the kidneys excrete (wee out) more sodium. Be careful not to get into the cycle of just drinking more water because you are thirsty because if you just pass this water as well it will continue to deplete your sodium levels. You might start to feel dizzy or lightheaded and possibly have postural blood pressure issues (one possible measure of this is your pulse rate not going back to normal within 30 seconds of going from a lying to a standing position). Headaches, dry eyes and muscle cramps are common too.

The solution is to take in salt with the water. Aim for 2.5-3 teaspoons per 24hr period. You can get salt from bone broth/bullion etc as well.For most people more salt is not a problem but too little can be.

My dinner time hunger pangs went with a glass of cold water. I'm going to try for an early night tonight, hope you all get a good sleep.

For those of you joining us in the fast I hope you are feeling well. I would not normally have eaten yet today so for me things are as per my usual day. Lunch time is approaching so I have just had a full glass of ice cold water to help avoid any hunger pangs I might be feeling. I am keeping busy and have arranged to work through lunch time today (actually this happens most days anyway) . Also writing this post... At this stage salt and electrolyte abnormalities should not be an issue but will become so later. I will be making sure I get through my 2-3 teaspoons of rock salt and enough water to not be thirsty. This helps avoid any symptoms of dehydration like dizziness, dry eyes, feeling light headed etc. Remember don't fast if you're feeling unwell and one other condition to be aware of is gout which can be flared by fasting in some circumstances.

Hunger: Most of us tend to feel hungry about 4 to 6 hours after a meal (some people are adapted to one or two meals a day of course) - does that mean we will feel 4 times more hungry if we fast? Of course not. Remember that hunger starts in your mind! It is not a reflection of the amount of food in your stomach. The smell of your favourite food may make you feel hungry even if it is not long since your last meal. Also despite not having eaten for 12 hours many people are not that hungry at breakfast time. When you are hungry you can overcome the feeling of hunger by distracting yourself. This can be tough if you're preparing a meal for the kids of course. Maybe put a note on the fridge reminding yourself why you're doing this. Now you definitely will feel hungry when you're fasting but the hunger tends to come in waves. If you can ride out the hunger pangs they do go away. This also helps you learn when you're truly hungry and when you are just eating out of habit. Often drinking an ice cold glass of water helps the hunger pangs pass and those drinking coffee will also find that this helps. The same applies to drinking bone broth despite the lack of calories in any of these drinks. The first 2 days of the fast are usually the most difficult. Day 1 is usually OK because it's new and different but day 2 can be tough - stay strong, once you get past dinner time on day 2 things get easier (that was the group's experience last time) and then stay pretty steady from then on. The people that went beyond 3 days said there was little difference on day 4 or 5 to day 3 with regards to hunger. Sometimes just acknowledging that you're hungry is enough to help you move on, that's the great thing about doing this is in a group - use the rest of the group for moral support, but also only go as far as you are prepared to, it's not a contest, it's a personal journey.

Hi All, those of you joining us on the fast I hope you are having plenty of fat with your dinner. Ideally moderate protein as well. Stay away from the carbs and fructose for the next couple of days if you can as they make you hungry. Don’t forget your magnesium and salt. Try to get a good nights sleep. Let me know if there are any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. I’ll send a little test through which you can repeat each day to test your thinking ability. For those testing ketones, 8pm is ideal and if you don’t mind sore fingers then when you wake up too. I’m excited to be starting Sunday night.

Getting ready for next week:
If you are planning to reduce or cut out your coffee then starting to cut back now will help.

Autophagy: this is still a somewhat poorly understood area but protein may inhibit this. Bone broth containing protein will make the fast easier but may also delay or inhibit autophagy. It breaks the boredom from a water only fast but may interfere with some of the health benefits.

Salt: make sure you have plenty available and some magnesium supplements (tablet or bath salts).

Starting to reduce your carbs if you aren’t already low carb will help reduce cravings and make fasting easier.