I'm hoping he follows Diet Doctor's approach, keeping the older stuff free to attract new followers and improve the health of those who cannot afford to subscribe.

When Dr Fung introduced this new membership, I took it as an additional service where they could serve more people, at less cost than the long distance program. The blog stays as is...Or I hope so because the cancer series is great. I don’t know if he is 100% right, he isn’t an oncologist, but it makes sense to me so far. Brenda Zorn already does "communal fasts" on a forum related to IDM for no cost, PM me if interested and don’t know where to find her. I have been drinking the KetoAide recipe for electrolyte replacement, which has the mildest touch of flavor from magnesium citrate to cover the salt taste. Drinking 48 oz gives a fixed amount of sodium potassium and magnesium.

This is a good system: a certain level free, people who need more can get books, courses, or memberships.

What or where is that, please.

KetoAide is a calorie free electrolyte water
24 oz filtered water(or tap water)
1/4 teaspoon Morton’s Lite Salt
1/2 Tablespoon magnesium citrate
Mix well. [I shake up in two sports bottles] Refrigerate for best taste.
Magnesium citrate is sold at most drug stores in three flavors, lemon lime, grape, and cherry. Sweetened with saccharin. It adds a slight flavor to the Ketoaide. It is inexpensive at $1 per 10 oz bottle. [emphasis on slight flavor...don't expect soda ]
Use Lite Salt because it contains sodium AND potassium. Priced low at $2 per 11 oz. You could also buy “No Salt” which is all potassium, and add your own salt. Lite Salt and No Salt are sold at most large grocers.

Each bottle of KetoAide provides
290 mg sodium
350 mg potassium
75 mg magnesium

The Zorn fast recommends two of these bottles...but that depends on your need for electrolytes...but do not over-consume potassium, e.g. dont take potassium supplements plus this. Magnesium citrate is a laxative, but this is a small amount, it has had no effect on me. I like to drink water cold and have always kept some sports bottles in the fridge ready to drink. This adds some electrolytes without going overboard.

This is very timely. thanks Janet. Hope I can find a litesalt or no salt equivalent here or in South Africa.

I don't know if using LiteSalt has any magic over supplementing with salt, potassium and magnesium tablets. For me it is more an easier way to remember to take them. It is related to Dr. Fung's new membership option in that communal fasts are found elsewhere.

Yes, I understand, I am just on the verge of really engaging with IF, and I have been struggling with the combinations of the salts, I think your recipe looked manageable. Indeed, anything to SIMPLIFY!!

To provide fair and balanced reporting on Fasting Dr Phinney and Volek have written a new extended post on how much protein one needs on a NK diet, and what happens if you fast/starvation for a length of time. Dr Phinney has been researching the effects of ketosis for decades...his views on protein hold a lot of weight for me. Net down, he has added a number of metabolic protein processes that would suffer from fasting. No change in his views, but more reasons why he doesn’t support extended fasting.

Second, this week I got back some fantastic blood work...including dropping my HbA1c to 5.1 from 5.8-5.9 past two years. I wake up 4-5 am and since finding Dr Fung in 2014, would often fast to noon or eat OMD. Doing so would keep BG high 90s to 110s until I ate. These past six months most days I would make breakfast, and BG would drop after eating. I could get around this timing by eating breakfast and lunch, but that just does not work socially, wanting to eat dinner with family. So by not fasting, BG is in a normal range for more hours in the day, and I believe that is why the perfect HbA1c. I understand the hormones that do keep BG higher until some food is eaten https://blog.virtahealth.com/dawn-phenomenon/ so I could also choose to ignore it, but was pleased to see it return to a normal reading this year. My cholesterol numbers barely moved from last year, even with more dietary fat for 3 days before blood draw. The 100 HDL yet again, and a 29 Trig this year (down from 32, but minor move)

Great results Janet. Breakfast is my biggest meal of the day. I usually eat lunch early to mid afternoon and that's it. Lately I've lowered my fat intake a bit and upped my protein intake. It works for me, my last HbA1C was also 5.1 I've decided not to join the fasting bandwagon. I don't know who's right and who's wrong. I just know what works for me, what pattern of eating leaves me feeling satisfied and seems to promote my health. It sounds like you have figured out what works for you, psychologically, socially, and physically. Good work!

Jean

WTG on that stellar A1c, Janet! It looks like your 'dawn phenomenon' issue was really affecting your results and fasting seemed to compound that problem. My A1c has crept up the past 2 years, but I think that my issue was more from increased carb intake. My BG numbers were not as good overall when I was eating 40 to 50 net carbs. I'm back to eating "deep keto" again and I'm now seeing FBG results in the 70's & 80's -- which is what I was getting when I scored best (5.1) on my A1c.

I tried OMAD last summer on work days. It wasn't hard to do; however, it really didn't work for me, but for different reasons. I was getting all of my carbs in one sitting and I was eating more carbs than I had ever done on this WOE. Bad combination. I started finding myself snacking again later in the evenings and on the weekends. Plus, eating all my food at once resulted in big plate of food. On an OMAD day that was fine, but I tended to repeat those portion sizes on the weekends when I was eating 2 or 3 meals in a day. I found OMAD tougher to do on the weekends. I just couldn't make it happen.

So I sort of gave up on OMAD last August. In fact I didn't do much fasting for the next several months. Eating breakfast and dinner on weekdays worked better for me and I do 3 meals a day on weekends with smaller portion sizes.

Though I do think that IFs (12, 18, & 24 hours) played a roll in resolving my IR, simply not eating between meals helped, too. I think that a 12 hour fast w/o snacking between meals is sufficiently healthy.

All that said I have been experimenting with short term EFs again lately. They do work for me for weight loss. With my oversized leg muscles, I actually don't mind the idea that I might be losing some lean muscle. I'm doing some upper body weight lifting again and I do believe that the GH boost from fasting is helping. I'd like to shrink my muscles below the belt and increase them above the belt. We will see if this strategy works.

Another component of the EFs that I am interested in is autophagy. The true benefits of boosting the autophagy process have little supporting data, but the idea seems sound to me. Living in my poor metabolic state for so many years I would think that there is lots of sub-standard material in my body that I should try to have recycled. Will periodic states of increased autophagy be beneficial to me? IDK. I guess that my point is that there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to fasting. EFs do tend to mess up my routine somewhat and I don't really enjoy doing them. But my gut feeling is that there is some benefit to it, so for now I plan on keeping them in my toolbox for my WOE.

Bravo!!! These are great results and a testimony to how you've adjusted your eating approach over time. It gives us confidence and some inspiration when we receive positive feedback that researching, playing with our nutrition and being tested periodically for feedback on the eating decisions we make is very beneficial.

I'm still learning about fasting and am not doing EFs as much as I did 18 months ago. I would like to understand more about autophagy and to identify at what time during an IF autophagy has its optimum effect. I, too, believe periodic controlled autophagy to be very beneficial.

I did a couple of weeks of 36 hour fasts that seemed helpful.

I certainly don't know what way of eating would be optimal for me. I do know that I have to keep my net carbs under 20 gms and avoid a whole number of foods that upset my gut, so I do all that. I've come to the conclusion that I simply don't want to be continuing to tinker with things. I'm satisfied with what I am doing now. It keeps my weight steady and my blood sugars normal. I usually have an 8-10 hour eating window. Would the occasional longer fast be of additional benefit to my my health and/or longevity, maybe but I figure what I am doing is good enough. I suspect I am just tired of thinking about this all the time.

Jean