Though this complex subject does not pertain to obesity or metabolic health, it is often asked about, so I will briefly discuss it here in a very simplified way.
The body only exists in two states, the fed state or the fasted state. Very different biological systems are triggered during these two states. If the body is receiving new “building” materials through feeding, it stops or slows down the “clearing” of old materials, (e.g.: damaged cell organelles, unused proteins). This process reverses during fasting and the body ramps up the clearing of these old materials. Clearing of these old cellular materials is called autophagy.
Autophagy is induced by a broad range of stressors, of which fasting is only one. When we sleep, we are in a fasted state and autophagy kicks in. This happens every night. Autophagy also occurs during exercise. If the body did not have a way of cleaning out damaged and dead cells, it would not be able to rebuild itself, so we are always in some state of autophagy. The difference in the effectiveness of autophagy is not whether it occurs or not, but how long it can be sustained. We evolved to endure periods of short fasting, so the body works best when it is allowed these fasting periods and therefore adequate periods of autophagy. The body becomes unhealthy when it is chronically limited in these periods of being able to “clean” itself. If you are eating for most of the day, you are not allowing the body to have adequate periods of autophagy.
There is a debate as to how long the process of autophagy should last in order to be effective, since there are also different types of autophagy. Though we know the time frame that triggers autophagy in mice, it is still unknown how it translates to humans. But, the consensus is that a 16–18 hour fast is enough time to get the benefits of being in autophagy. Too much autophagy is just as bad as too little, and much more has to be learned before definitive, concrete advice can be given about this topic.
2. Should you keep MTOR (Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin) down-regulated all of the time?
Just like autophagy, this is another topic that has been hijacked, oversimplified and taken out of context, by the low carbohydrate community, in order to advance their own agenda. The people who have been studying these subjects, their entire life, should be mortified at how their topics of research are now being thrown around the internet and incorrectly applied to all kinds of stupidity. Again, MTOR and autophagy are irrelevant to improving your metabolism. These topics belong to studies of longevity, in a clinical and research setting, not weight loss.
MTOR is a nutrient sensor and it is not just activated by protein exclusively. It is more sensitive to protein, than other macronutrients, but other macronutrients activate it as well. MTOR needs to be activated in all of us, since it cannot be suppressed forever. Without MTOR, you would not be able to rebuild your body. The human body is not static. It is in a constant state of breakdown and repair. Though excessive unregulated growth is not a good thing, for an adult, targeted regulated growth, certainly is.
The only thing you need to know about MTOR, is that just like insulin, it should occur in pulses. There are times when MTOR should be activated and other times that it should not, so that the body remains in homeostasis. This pulse activation is done through intermittent fasting.
MTOR and autophagy are usually talked about in the context of cancer. Cancer is a very complicated, multifactorial disease and its start all and end all is not MTOR and/or autophagy. If you are seeking to implement a healthier lifestyle and diet to enhance your cancer treatment, please discuss and research all of your options with a cancer specialist and not some "low carb" doctor or guru on the internet. I do not recommend, suggest nor condone decisions about cancer treatment to be based on some armchair "oncologists" interpretation and misguided ideas of what causes it. Only a cancer specialist, that has been researching and studying cancer extensively, can correctly interpret the nuances that can make all of the difference in its treatment.
The internet is a great resource for becoming knowledgeable of new studies, research and therapies, but implementation of them requires the consultation of an expert. Do not ever make decisions on how to treat a disease, as serious as cancer, on your own.
3. Do I need to feed my gut microbiome in order to be healthy?
Everyone's microbiome is as diverse as their fingerprints and it’s not static, but constantly changing. Science hasn't even begun to identify all of the influences that the human microbiome has on the body and its different systems. So, as far as metabolic syndrome is concerned, which is what we deal with on this blog, a lot more has to be known about this subject before definitive advice can be given on it. You can put metabolic syndrome in remission, without having a single iota of knowledge about the microbiome, so there is no need to get caught up on such a complex subject that so little is known about. What we do know, as of now, is that the bacteria in your gut is responsible for several nutrient conversions, which are necessary for overall health.
If you eat the right foods, the human body develops and protects its own unique microbiome. This is where the importance of animal products comes in. Your gut is only as healthy as your stomach. The key to a healthy microbiome begins in the proper digestion and breakdown of food in the stomach. You must keep your hydrochloric digestive system healthy by preventing it from becoming a fermentation vat, through the consumption of copious amounts of plant material. Fermentation disrupts your stomach's PH. If food is entering your small intestine unbroken, because of low stomach acid, and covered to bacteria that's not supposed to be there, because it was produced in the stomach through fermentation, you will develop problems. This is not to mention all of the indigestible plant proteins and ruffage, entering the small intestine, which does nothing but inflame and irritate the gut wall. Reduce the intake of plants in order to have a healthier digestive system.
The different types of fats found in animal products will feed and preserve your gut flora. The elimination of foods that disrupt and cause imbalances in the microbiome, like sugar, grains and excess fiber, will allow the body to protect and maintain a healthy microbiome.
4. Am I eating to satiety if I eat all of my carefully measured food portions?
Eating to satiety doesn't mean eating your food in restricted sized plates or measuring your food using the palm of your hand. Remember the old mantra of "never eat more than the size of your fist"? A lot of good that's done. The average fast food hamburger would fit that criteria and so would a candy bar.
Satiety is eating until your stomach expands and you don't leave the table hungry. You should be eating at meal times only. Once that meal time is over, you're done. You will not be able to eat again, until your next meal time. Make sure the food you choose does not interfere in proper blood glucose regulation. Do not eat any macronutrient in isolation, as this will disrupt satiety signals.
Do not save food "for later", unless it's for your next meal time. Do not depend on a "snack" to make up for not eating enough during meal times. All of those practices effect blood glucose homeostasis which in turn disrupts insulin function. You want to eat enough, so that you are able to stop eating for an adequate period of time afterwards and your blood glucose does not take a hit.
5. Should I eat at my meal times, even if I am not hungry?
If you are not hungry during your meal times, don't eat. Wait and eat on your next meal time. If you become hungry during your fasting time, because you didn't eat during your meal time, don't eat. Wait and eat on your next meal time. If you are only doing 12-18 hour daily fasts, this shouldn't be a problem.
With time you will become more aware of your body's circadian rhythms, when it comes to hunger, and this will no longer be a common occurrence. You will also have more predictable hunger times, as you accustom your body to eating at meal times only and you never eat erratically.
6. Isn't it the reduction of calories, in low carbohydrate diets, that makes them work?
On this blog we do not describe "energy balance" through the scope of counting calories. Rather, we focus on blood glucose regulation because it is the only metric that has consistently been linked to obesity in all the obesity research done thus far. This has been regardless of calories or diet followed, though both of these affect blood glucose in specific ways.
Low carbohydrate diets profoundly effect blood glucose regulation because they prevent more glucose from coming in through diet. This is turn helps regulate insulin better and prevents/reduces insulin resistance. Regulating insulin is vital for metabolic health because unregulated insulin causes blood glucose to drop too low during fasting and insulin becomes over expressed in the fat mass as the body builds resistance to it.
Humans are terrible at balancing energy themselves, but a healthy metabolism is great at it. When metabolism is working as it should, you will have predictable and normal periods of satiety and hunger. The body will not excessively store fat and it will burn enough fat to maintain a healthy weight.
How many calories consumed are irrelevant. What really matters is how many calories our bodies are allowed to burn. That allowance only occurs by lowering insulin expression so that leptin works as it should. You will only be able to sustain a caloric deficit, on your plate, if you make up for it with calories from body fat.
How many calories consumed are irrelevant. What really matters is how many calories our bodies are allowed to burn. That allowance only occurs by lowering insulin expression so that leptin works as it should. You will only be able to sustain a caloric deficit, on your plate, if you make up for it with calories from body fat.
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