Our Longevity Diet

Monday we took the old jalopy (it really is old — old enough to drink in most states) to town (Tecoman) for our weekly shopping trip. Isabel also had a doctor’s appointment.

Halfway there the red battery light came on, though the car kept running OK. Clearly, the battery was no longer charging however, so I pulled it over to the shoulder (the Cerro to Tecoman road is one of the few Mexican roads that actually has a shoulder) and looked under the hood. The belt to the alternator was broken. So we also stopped at a mechanic’s — he could sell us a used belt from a car he had there, or we could wait an hour or two while he sent someone to pick up a new belt at the auto supply — either way it would cost the same, about $10 US. We took the used one.

Our tasks all complete, we headed home. About 3/4 the way home a front tire blew. I pulled over and tried to change it. I had a spare, two 4-way tire wrenches and a jack, so it seemed simple. The car, however, would not cooperate. There were little metal caps on the wheel nuts. They were metric sized, and all the tire wrenches were not. None fit quite right — either it would almost fit, but slip when heavy pressure was applied, or it wouldn’t go over the cap. One cap came off, getting stuck inside the wrench.

I ended up putting Isabel on a bus back home, with instructions to send the local mechanic out to help change the tire. I sat on the curb for an hour, very grateful that our shopping included cold beer. A police truck drove past, but didn’t even stop to help.

Anyhow, it seemed a fairly terrible day — except for that Doctor’s visit part — the doctor confirmed our suspicions, Isabel is pregnant. So, to be fair the title of this post should really say Isabel suspends her participation in the Intermittent Fasting, for the duration of her pregnancy. We don’t recommend this diet for pregnant women or growing children.

A recent article on the TimesOnline site called ‘Is Detox Safe‘ goes from discussing detox fasting — a dangerously unhealthy practice that is not endorsed by any reputable doctors or scientists — and turns the discussion around to alternate day fasting — as if it were the same thing!

Then he/she/it confuses caloric restriction (The Longevity Diet) with detox. Apparently the author decided this whole subject wasn’t worth more than 15 minutes research effort. Then, just to be encouraging the article ends with a totally unrelated anecdote about The General Motors Diet — which is neither fasting, nor life-long caloric restriction, nor a detox diet — and the authors inability to stick with that diet. I suspect the author must be one of those people who can never lose weight, and figures to malign all dieting efforts in one fell swoop, rather than accept responsibility for their own failings. Hey — get a clue — Diets Don’t Work! The only way to lose weight permanently is to change your lifestyle.

We are approaching our six month mark on this alternate day fasting regime (I hesitate to call it a diet, since we do not restrict our calories or food choices). I have lost five kilos (11 pounds) — that is a little under two pounds per month. Since this is a lifestyle choice, not a crash diet for temporary weight-loss, I don’t expect that weight to come back. More importantly, evidence shows that this kind of lifestyle is much healthier than traditional eating schedules. And it is easy — much easier than any diet either of us have ever tried.

Scheduling is everything when making this lifestyle work. We don’t eat for part of each day. One day it is the evening, the next day it is the morning. The two non-eating periods together add up to 23 hours (just because we are too lazy to change our meal-time every other day). Then we have 25 hours when we eat whatever we want. Since the evening fast starts out right after a full meal, we aren’t very hungry that day. Then the next eight hours we are asleep, and don’t miss food at all. The next morning is the only ‘hungry’ time, and we know that about five hours after we get up it will be time to eat again, so bearing that hunger is not difficult.

Naturally, we choose healthy foods — but healthy foods taste better than lard sandwiches and McMuckers GreaseBurgers. We try to make the same healthy food choices we did before beginning the fasting schedule. We eat meat, but only have red-meat about once or twice a week, so it isn’t a big part of our everyday diet. Pork, chicken, fish and even purely vegetarian dishes ensure we get lots of variety. All the fruit and vegetables we eat, and most of the spices, are fresh. Isabel left our one can-opener in Colima on our last visit there (we will be moving there next month) and didn’t miss it until we were back about a month, when she needed to open a can of milk.

This isn’t some whacko diet that we expect to make us live forever, while purging our bodies of evil toxins. It is a healthy lifestyle that keeps us from gaining excess weight and improves our insulin sensitivity, thereby reducing some of the risk factors associated with major diseases. It’s not a panacea, just a healthier choice than our previous lifestyle.

I’ve never been big on breakfast, at least not the tradition kind anyhow. As a kid I ate cereal before going to school because Mom insisted. When on my own, I gave all that up for one bottle of Mountain Dew. I know, no nutrition, but the caffeine and sugar woke me up, got me energized for the day and usually instigated a bowel movement (i.e. ‘morning constitutional’) as well. That was my breakfast from age 20 to age 48. Surprising my only chronic illnesses are slight rosacia on the nose and gout in the toes.

Oh, it didn’t end there — 48 is the age I was when I moved to Mexico. They didn’t have Mountain Dew here then (it has been introduced since), so I switched to Coke. Coca Cola is the Mexican National Addiction. If I ever need money here I plan to open a Coca Cola store and sell for 1/2 peso less than the going rate …

It was only a couple years after my 50th birthday that I finally gave up cola breakfast and began drinking coffee. Isabel and I opened a coffee-shop here in Chapala, using the covered patio of a friend with a lovely garden-sculptures-pool view. I had drunk a little coffee in high-school, but never made it a habit. Researching the subject for the coffee-shop, I was surprised to learn that coffee has actually been found to be healthy for you — the benefits of the anti-oxidant flavinoids outweighs any negative effect the caffeine may exert.

I switched to coffee for breakfast. At first with two spoons sugar in fresh-brew, or even sweeter Mexican Café de Olla — a delicious blend of coffee and chocolate with the brown-sugar piloncillo. Gradually I’ve cut back on the sugar since beginning fasting, and now drink my coffee without any additives. The fasting regime prevents me from eating my evening snack, so I have also begun eating actual food for breakfast, but it is still light — one pancake, piece of French Toast, or maybe Banana Bread, alternated with the less-starchy yogurt and/or fruit. Breakfast is only every-other-day, so I have a light starchy breakfast a couple times per week, and a fruity breakfast the other time or two.

Over on Dr. Eades Health & Nutrition blog, the current post is called ‘Big Breakfast Bunkum’ and looks at a recently reported study of the effect of a large breakfast on dieting efforts. As the title suggests, the good Doctor is skeptical of the report, and for good reason. This is a great example of how to evaluate a research report — he focuses on what is NOT said as much as on what the study claims. And the avowed interests of the prime researcher are not ignored. If funding had been mentioned (and it wasn’t) I might add that looking at that is another clue as to potential bias. I personally do not agree with Dr. Eades low-carb diet focus, despite the fact that I love meat and was never happier than when we tried out the Atkins diet (we both gained weight), but he does talk a lot of sense. I’ll be adding a link to his blog in the blogroll here…

We have returned from our latest trip, and can report that we found it much easier to maintain our intermittent fast this time, compared to the previous short trip. We pretty much kept to the schedule except on two occasions, both of which were days we were actually on the road. The first day, we ate a little before the appointed time, because we found an attractive shady spot to stop — we brought sandwiches with us and so for convenience sake ate them about half an hour early. The second instance was the last day, when we came home again. We ate a sandwich at the bus station (we drove out, but left the car there and came back on the bus), but it wasn’t really a full meal, so when we got home we had a couple pieces of fried chicken from the freezer, even though it was three hours into our fasting period. So that fast was shortened to 20 hours instead of 23.

While we were at the cottage in Colima Isabel did the cooking, except for one day when we went to the beach and ate at a restaurant. Thus it was simple to follow our usual schedule, except for that one day at the restaurant. It was a day when we were breaking the fast with the meal, so as it worked out, we were about an hour late — so that fast lasted 24 hours instead of 23. Sitting under a palapa (thatched hut) on a tropical beach with the roaring surf and sun-glared beach made up for the extra wait. We have been fasting for three months now, so an extra hour here or an hour less there does not seem to matter much.

When we first started intermittent fasting we couldn’t wait for the clock to strike two so we could end our fasting period and begin eating. For the first week we even had a tendency to eat more than normal because we were ’so hungry.’ But soon reason prevailed, we slowed down our eating, and went back to normal portions. Now, after months of this routine, the exact time seems less important. We are hungry at 9:00 AM when we get up, but we know we will be no more hungry at 2:00 PM or 2:30 PM or 3:00 — when we eat. So the urgency has gone out of the meal which breaks the fast.

Just as a reminder to those new people joining us, our eating schedule consists of 23 hours fasting followed by 25 hours of normal eating, and is timed so that we eat our main meal at the same time (between 2:00 and 3:00 PM) every day. See the link at top right under our picture labeled ‘our diet’ for details. This is a non-calorie-restricted alternate day fasting schedule, so we eat as much during our daily eating time as we normally did before beginning the fast — yet we are losing weight. If you doubt we eat well, just take a look at the ‘april meals’ link just above ‘our diet’ and see what we had for most of April. That is typical of our eating habits since then as well.

More important than the slight and slow weight loss, is the fact that we feel better, and know we are doing good things for our future health. I am in a high-risk group for Type II Diabetes, due to my family history, age, and the fact that my extra weight is all belly-fat. I believe (based on animal studies) that this fasting schedule will help prevent my developing diabetes. It certainly has helped Isabel with her arthritis pain too. And I find I have fewer and milder head-aches, leg-cramps, colds and basic aches and pains.

This is an on-going experiment in lifestyle, so we will continue to keep you updated on our experiences. Meanwhile, to avoid repeating the same things over and over (we feel great, and it so easy!) I’ll be posting some analysis of the scientific studies being reported for fasting and calorie restriction diets, while trying to translate the scientific jargon into as basic English as possible. Stay tuned!

In the past few months two things have captured my attention, each of which is just ‘too good to be true’ — according to the old cliché. One will help me lose weight, improve my health, and live longer. The other will save the world.

Of course, the first is intermittent fasting. Years ago, I read the studies about caloric restriction, and thought wouldn’t that be great. But reducing my caloric intake by 40% was not my idea of living. I want to live as long as possible, but only if I can enjoy that long life. Then along came the study results for intermittent fasting which said, in effect — yes, you can eat normally and still have all the benefits of caloric restriction and more, just by adjusting when you eat. That, to me, seemed worth a try. And when I tried it out and found out how easy it is — and found I lost weight — and found I felt better, well, needless to say I’m hooked.

The other revelation, which goes way beyond personal interest (though there is some of that too) and sparks visions of really helping all of mankind cope with the coming disruption of global warming — is something called biochar, inspired by terra preta de los indios, a ‘new’ discovery just 2500 years old!

The terra preta are black soils in the Amazon basin where crops grow with amazing fecundity, while adjoining soils of similar composition are nearly sterile. Scientists have investigated this amazing dirt, and found that one thing distinguishes it from nearby soils that have all their nutriments leached-out by the torrential rains of that tropical climate: the terra preta soils are rich in minute particles of charcoal — dust sized particles (under 50 micrometers) that exert tremendous effects on the fertility of the land.

Now, charcoal is fairly inert in soil — it doesn’t break down much. I know, because I used to be an archaeologist, and I’ve dug up charcoal thousands of years old. But apparently charcoal has other properties, especially when ground up very fine, that make it highly beneficial to the soil. It helps retain water, improves the soil texture, harbors beneficial bacteria, and helps make existing minerals in the soil available for plant use through a chemical reaction that creates cations, a type of ion.

In essence, adding substantial amounts of powdered charcoal to soil has been shown to increase plant production by 50% to 200%. The enriched soil needs less water and less fertilizer, because biochar reduces the loss of fertilizer through run-off (helping to reduce pollution to adjacent lakes and streams). So we can feed more people using less precious water and less fertilizer, while enriching the soil and reducing pollution. Didn’t I say it sounded too good to be true?

And as if that were not enough, we come to the ’saving the world’ part. The world is heating up faster than it has in the past 200,000 years — because mankind is pumping too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. One of the major greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide. Growing plants take carbon dioxide out of the air, but when they rot or are burned, that carbon goes back into the atmosphere. Turning plants into charcoal and burying (rather than burning) that charcoal — as in biochar — takes about half of the carbon absorbed by the living plant and keeps it out of the atmosphere — for thousands of years.

Large scale biochar production could offset the carbon dioxide our industrial processes and burning of fossil fuels pumps into the air. And there is still more. Biochar is a byproduct of the production of biofuels through pyrolysis of organic material. Unlike other biofuel technologies, this does not require high-sugar plant materials, like corn, but will work with almost anything, including the old corn stalks after the corn has been harvested. The plant material is heated in the absence of oxygen, and volatile chemicals are driven off and captured, making a fuel. The left-over carbonized plant matter is biochar. So this amazingly useful material can be produced at a profit, while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

So, to bring this amazing tale back to our subject matter — intermittent fasting — you need to eat healthy foods if you expect to extend your lifespan and improve your health. And the best way to know you are getting good healthy vegetables, is to grow them yourself — even if you have to grow them in pots on the patio. And the best way to do that is to add some biochar to your potting soil or garden soil. If your local nursery doesn’t sell biochar yet, demand they start! Spreading the word on this amazing discovery is needed for it to become widespread enough to have any global effect.

I’m working on a website on the subject of biochar, where I’ll also tell you how to make your own, if you are the do-it-yourself type. I’ll post a link in the sidebar of this site when that is up and running.

Most people know this, but for those who don’t, it bears repeating. Weight loss diets don’t work. Ever.

Yes, you can lose weight with many of the diets out there — but so long as it is a temporary ‘diet’ rather than a lifestyle, the weight loss will also be temporary. You have to change your life if you want to permanently change your weight. There are two ways to do that. 1) Eat much less food (for the rest of your life!) or 2) Begin intermittent fasting, and learn to control your appetite.

Of course we think #2 is a much better option, not only because it is easier, but because it has additional health benefits beyond weight loss. Something about the intermittent fasting regime allows your body to adjust towards it’s own natural and healthy weight, with only minimal conscious intervention on your part. Learn not to eat when you are not hungry. Learn to accept hunger as a natural consequence of fasting. And learn to not overcompensate when you end your fast, and your body will take of getting rid of excess weight — slowly, and permanently.

With any weight loss diet that works at all, there is an immediate benefit when you begin dieting, then after a couple weeks or a month you reach a plateau — or worse — rebound. That is your body adjusting to the lower calorie levels in your diet. Go back to eating the way you did before the diet, and your now more-efficient body will bloat out with new-stored fat.

Intermittent fasting is not a diet, but a permanent lifestyle. The plateau may be at or near your ideal weight — if not it is likely to be only temporary, and weight-loss will continue after a few more weeks or months. You lose weight more slowly than with a weight-loss diet, but take that as a good sign that the loss will be permanent. You eat a full, satisfying meal each day, and a small meal or snack in the morning or evening, depending on the schedule. You are not deprived of calories, or certain foods, nor suffer any of the other problems associated with weight-loss diets. So it is easy to maintain intermittent fasting as a lifestyle.

Given time, this will become such a widespread and popular lifestyle choice that the neighbors won’t even think you’re weird when they hear the word ‘fasting.’ It will become the predominate method of weight control and health enhancement in years to come because it works, and it’s easy.

Over on The IF Life blog, Mike OD suggests that those living a fasting lifestyle take one ‘up’ (non-fasting) day each seven to ten days. He thinks this will signal the body that there is no danger of starvation, and help prevent the build-up of Alpha-2 receptors on fat cells — the kind that make it hard to lose that fat.

From a psychological point of view, I don’t like that idea. First, I’m not sure why it is called an ‘up’ day, but it makes it sound like the rest of the days must be ‘down.’ I know how most people think about food, and I’m sure that for all too many folks an ‘up’ day would soon translate into a reward — which, again, makes all the other days seem somehow inferior. If you stick to the arduous fast for a full week, you reward yourself with an ‘up’ day.

If that is how you feel, you will never keep up with the fasting regime for the rest of your life — which is what the goal of a good fasting lifestyle should be. There are two broad categories of intermittent fasting — those whose fast includes calorie restriction, and those who fast but make no effort at restricting calories. Some people think that fasting with calorie restriction can be a permanent lifestyle, but I doubt that will work for more than a tiny minority of people. Instead, I think a calorie restricted fasting regime is a good temporary solution to help you lose weight more rapidly than you otherwise would. Perhaps if that is your goal, you may want to build in occasional reward days to help keep the weight-loss from plateauing out.

Once you are at or near your ideal weight, however, the less rigorous — and much less difficult — calorie unrestricted fast is your best choice for a permanent lifestyle. And if you follow a schedule that suites your lifestyle, you will be eating as much as you want half of every day — as we do on our 23/25 fast — so every day is an ‘up’ day. So long as you eat a normal, healthy diet, and get a reasonable amount of exercise, fasting will help you maintain your ideal body weight, while still reaping the health benefits attributable to caloric restriction.