A major key to a long and healthy life: fasting or a ketogenic diet

[RunningDeer]

People often experience some discomfort when making a major dietary change. Symptoms such as fatigue, digestive changes, cravings, or disrupted sleep can occur as the body adapts to a new eating pattern.

One reason some people choose a sardine fast is to maintain a consistent protein intake while reducing carbohydrate consumption. Lower carbohydrate intake can reduce blood glucose fluctuations. For some, inflammation may aggravate symptoms related to chronic pain, arthritis, or previous injuries. And over time, chronic low-grade inflammation may contribute to aching joints, stiffness, and the gradual breakdown of tissue.

My experience is that most of the symptoms I associate with inflammation have nearly disappeared. This past weekend, I had a slice of my nephew's graduation cake. Within hours, my lower back pain returned and lingered for almost two days. While this doesn't prove the cake was the cause, the timing was noticeable enough that I'll be paying attention to how I feel after the Father's Day gathering in a couple of weeks. I plan to test it out.

People who follow ketogenic, carnivore, or other very-low-carbohydrate diets generally experience smaller post-meal increases in blood glucose and insulin than those eating higher-carbohydrate diets. Lower insulin levels may promote the release and use of stored body fat, including visceral fat around the abdomen.

It bears repeating that insulin resistance and impaired glucose tolerance develop through a complex interaction of genetics, body composition, diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors such as chronic stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep quality and sleep duration.

Lastly as I mentioned earlier in the thread, there are alternatives to a sardine fast. Other protein choices include mackerel, beef, chicken, and eggs. I don't feel the need to do a sardine fast very often because I typically eat twice a day within a five- to six-hour window. That means I spend roughly 18 hours each day in a fasted state. This eating pattern reduces the frequency of blood glucose and insulin elevations compared with eating throughout the day.

[Kamikaze]

I only managed 36hours for the first period before I was too tempted to eat some ice cream and chocolates.
Had some food today. But gonna try again from now. I think I can manage quite the bit if I just don't give in to temptations with some goodies.

I didn't feel hungry at all and had no negative effect in those 36hours. I think I can mange that week with ease.
No more goodies are in the house now. So 36hours and then now a week to look forward to.

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Kamikaze (here)
I only managed 36hours for the first period before I was too tempted to eat some ice cream and chocolates.
Had some food today. But gonna try again from now. I think I can manage quite the bit if I just don't give in to temptations with some goodies.

I didn't feel hungry at all and had no negative effect in those 36hours. I think I can mange that week with ease.
No more goodies are in the house now. So 36hours and then now a week to look forward to.

Rah-rah, Kamikaze! Here's to successfully reaching your goal. Whether the journey is short or long, the real success is the decision to try, to experiment or simply to see what you're capable of.

[RunningDeer]

High insulin levels suppress autophagy is partly true. Insulin is one of several signals that tend to reduce autophagy, the cellular process that breaks down and recycles damaged components. Nutrient abundance generally suppresses autophagy, while nutrient deprivation tends to increase it.

(Updated post.)

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Nutrient abundance generally suppresses autophagy

Oh dear ... I must have an abundance of ancient cells in me .

[RunningDeer]

Posted by ThePythonicCow (here)

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
Nutrient abundance generally suppresses autophagy

Oh dear ... I must have an abundance of ancient cells in me .

Speaking of abundance of ancient cells initially, I added this post but reduced to a few sentences because Dr. Anthony Chaffee makes some strong claims.

You Can Get Autophagy Without Fasting (42 seconds)

• Anthony Chaffee MD
• 550K subscribers

Dr. Anthony Chaffee: "High insulin levels, suppress autophagy. It’s not fasting. It's not not eating. It's not eating carbohydrates and having low insulin.

So if you don't eat carbohydrates and you're going be going through autophagy all the time. Your body is constantly going to be recycling out these organelles, these mitochondria. And that's what they've shown in studies with Ketogenic diet. It's like a carnivore diet that after 3-4 months you have four times the number of mitochondria and they are four times as effective.

And now there are two professors of psychiatry from Harvard who independently come to the conclusion that ketogenic carnivore diets are the best medical treatment for mental health issues, such as major depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar, ADHD, schizophrenia, and even autism."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=iZdHACFN2X4

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by RunningDeer (here)
It's not eating carbohydrates and having low insulin.

That's my single biggest diet change of the last couple decades. If I had continued to feed myself the high carb diet that I consumed in my younger years because I thought it would "fuel my brain", I'm pretty sure I'd either be dead or a no longer functioning victim of Alzheimer's by now.

[RunningDeer]

As mentioned earlier, I stopped taking creatine because of an itchy tingle under my skin. (crawling ants) I tried creatine again for a couple of days beginning with a 3g twice a day with meals but I still had a histamine reaction. Fortunately, my daily intake of creatine is high due to my diet. And no more itching and no more bloated feeling.

This video came up in my feed this morning. For those short of time, I ran the transcript through AI with the instruction to summarize in three paragraphs.

Why I Don't Take Creatine (Doctor Explains) (11 minutes)

• Anthony Chaffee MD
• June 19, 2026
• 551K subscribers

Creatine is one of the most studied supplements in the world, but most people misunderstand how it works. Here’s what the research says about strength, water retention, brain health, and whether you even need it.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AVwqKpa2kwg

The speaker, a doctor, explains that although creatine has scientific support for certain benefits, he personally chooses not to take it. He acknowledges that it can modestly improve strength and may offer neurological benefits, especially in older adults. Research also suggests it could help with recovery from brain injuries like concussions, likely because the brain has a high demand for creatine during stress or injury.

He argues that creatine’s muscle-building effects are often overstated. While it may slightly increase strength, he says studies do not consistently show meaningful increases in actual muscle growth, and some of the “gains” may be due to water retention rather than new muscle tissue. He also notes that most research is based on typical doses around 5 grams per day, with little clear evidence about the benefits or safety of much higher doses.

Finally, he suggests that many people may benefit more from improving their overall diet than supplementing creatine. Since creatine is mainly found in meat, he believes modern low-meat diets may lead to lower intake, and that meat also provides other important nutrients for brain and body health. He adds that he personally gets enough creatine from his high meat consumption, sees little performance benefit from supplementation, and is concerned about potential supplement contamination unless products are carefully tested.

[RunningDeer]

Cancer Scientist: This Common Daily Diet May Be Feeding Cancer!

• The Diary Of A CEO
• 18.4M subscribers
• July 16, 2026

1,700 Americans will die from cancer today. 70 every single hour. Professor Thomas Seyfried says it doesn't have to be this way, and that mainstream oncology has been wrong about cancer for 100 years.

Thomas Seyfried, PhD, is a professor of biology at Boston College and one of the world's leading researchers on the metabolic origins of cancer. He is author of the book 'Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer' and co-developer of the Glucose Ketone Index (GKI) and the “press-pulse” therapeutic strategy.

He explains:

• Why he believes cancer is a mitochondrial metabolic disease, not a genetic one
• Why cancer cells can't survive without two fuels and the strategy his team uses to starve tumors
• How a ketogenic diet could lower your GKI and make chemo and immunotherapy work better
• The environmental drivers quietly damaging your mitochondria
• How his team is keeping glioblastoma patients alive for years, and why almost no patient is ever told this option exists

00:00:00 Intro
00:02:42 The New Discovery About Cancer
00:03:43 What Role Do Mitochondria Play in Cancer?
00:06:22 How Damaged Mitochondria Cause Cancer
00:08:12 ATP & Fermentation: How Your Cells Make Energy
00:15:00 The Oncogenic Paradox Finally Explained
00:20:19 Ghost Mitochondria: Cancer Under the Microscope
00:25:19 Glucose & Glutamine: The Fuels That Feed Cancer
00:26:32 Why Do Children & Babies Get Cancer?
00:29:25 Why Wealthy Countries Have More Cancer
00:32:55 Is Cancer Genetic?
00:37:58 The Prescription: The Glucose Ketone Index
00:40:23 How Stress & Poor Sleep Fuel Cancer
00:44:54 What's Inside the Confidential Envelope?
00:45:58 The Patient Who Inspired the Discovery
00:50:25 Measuring Your Glucose Ketone Index Live
00:53:01 The 'Red Zone' Could Cause Cancer
00:58:02 The Man Who Survived Glioblastoma for 10 Years
00:58:55 Using the Keto Diet to Supercharge Chemo
01:07:32 The Experiment That Could Prove Cancer Isn't Genetic
01:08:30 1,700 Cancer Deaths a Day: Seyfried's Warning
01:13:41 Seyfried's Plan to End the Cancer Epidemic
01:16:25 What Foods You Should Actually Eat
01:21:58 Fasting Protocols & Hitting 'The Wall'
01:26:48 Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & Cancer
01:28:30 Microplastics & 'Forever Chemicals'
01:30:47 How Cancer Spreads: Metastasis Explained
01:37:27 The #1 Actionable Takeaway
01:39:45 Energy, Hope & Final Words

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kBm8Ho-_RXM

[Kamikaze]

My second fast lasted a whole 60 hours before I had a snack.

lets see if I can do more when I try again.
The temptations of snacks is too much even if I don't feel hungry or anything. Routine sets in and you just go and eat something.

[Harmony]

Posted by Kamikaze (here)
My second fast lasted a whole 60 hours before I had a snack.

lets see if I can do more when I try again.
The temptations of snacks is too much even if I don't feel hungry or anything. Routine sets in and you just go and eat something.

How are you feeling Kamikaze? Do you have more energy or feel different? Congratulations for your fasting effort!

[RunningDeer]

Posted by Kamikaze (here)
My second fast lasted a whole 60 hours before I had a snack.

lets see if I can do more when I try again.
The temptations of snacks is too much even if I don't feel hungry or anything. Routine sets in and you just go and eat something.

Two thumbs up, Kamikaze.

If I want to stay on course, I'll have a tablespoon or two of butter to help me stay fasted. Butter (fat) digests and absorbs slowly.

Is that a 100% clean fast? No. I've found that being flexible works a lot better for me. I'm in this for the long game.

My current thinking is that a short-term calorie deficit encourages the body to use stored fat while minimizing muscle loss. At the end of the day, it isn't just losing weight. My main goal is preserving muscle and building strength.

[Kamikaze]

Posted by Harmony (here)

Posted by Kamikaze (here)
My second fast lasted a whole 60 hours before I had a snack.

lets see if I can do more when I try again.
The temptations of snacks is too much even if I don't feel hungry or anything. Routine sets in and you just go and eat something.

How are you feeling Kamikaze? Do you have more energy or feel different? Congratulations for your fasting effort!

I feel completely fine and had no issues. Just the occasional temptation to go eat something at times.
The daily routine for eating gets in the way when you try to fast, you just have this urge to take a bite of something at the usual times when you normally eat.

[grapevine]

How To Activate Your Body to Eat Its Own Diseases

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=DXCNSIzaUPQ

22:11
Given recent information over the past few months, like taking olive oil during a fast, or even a few sardines, fasting has now had an update. Here's Ben Azadi with the latest fasting information:

Timeline given by YT User @TheRawDose:

1. Autophagy is a natural process in your body that cleans up broken parts and recycles them to build healthier cells (0:00-2:20).

2. Research shows that eating a meal does not instantly stop this cleaning process in humans, which contradicts older ideas from mouse studies (2:27-4:50).

3. High intensity exercise is one of the most effective ways to turn on autophagy, even if you are not fasting (5:16-7:07).

4. You do not need to fast for a long time to get these benefits, as short bursts of hard work can trigger the same system (7:08-8:20).

5. Adding fresh, high quality extra virgin olive oil to your diet can support the pathways that manage cellular health (8:23-11:00).

6. A six month study found that people who practiced specific intermittent fasting habits held their cellular cleanup levels better than those who did nothing (12:28-13:35).

7. Natural compounds like spermidine found in foods such as wheat germ and legumes are linked to better health outcomes (14:10-15:25).

8. Urolithin A, which comes from fruits like pomegranates, helps your immune cells work like they are younger (15:26-16:51).

9. Drinking high quality black coffee may also help activate these repair systems because of the healthy compounds inside (16:52-17:29).

10. Building and keeping muscle is very important for aging well, so using creatine to support your strength is a helpful habit (17:30-19:28).

[Casey Claar]

I just want to link this ( KETO ) thread to my Metabolic Disease thread for my -and other people's- future reference. I will do the same over there, as the ketogenic diet became a large part of the process of reversing metabolic disease ( and insulin resistance ) within myself and I plan to speak on this more. The ( KETO ) thread we are presently in is now very long ... 12 pages ... I have not yet read it in full but I hope some of you who have posted here of your own ketogenic process will post on this ( or even link to where you have have already spoken of this ) in the thread I have linked.

Is there anyone here who is still on a ketogenic diet? Or
Did you start and then stop? (and why?)

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Casey Claar (here)
Is there anyone here who is still on a ketogenic diet?

I certainly am ... I doubt that will change.

If I hadn't figured out that routinely feeding a body lots more carbs than its routine physical activity can quickly burn is unhealthy, then I'd likely be dead already, whether of cancer, cardio-vascular disease, Alzheimer's, or side effects of big pharma's meds, is not clear. I tried at least early stages of all these, and kept refining my diet, and my health care, slowly learning, then suddenly enacting, step by step, the various changes that my body needed to remain healthy.

I now have zero concern that any of those "popular" ailments are a risk for me. Not happening. Big Pharma and Big Med are now absent from my life. and Big Ag is now marginal. I am my doctor, and food, fine mineralized and energized water, chlorine dioxide, methylene blue, and the best cow's milk available are my medicine.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Casey Claar (here)

Is there anyone here who is still on a ketogenic diet? Or
Did you start and then stop? (and why?)

I'm on a permanent high-protein-and-fat, low-carb diet, for sure. I have some quite lengthy intervals where I go 100% keto, but I know when to stop when I start fantasizing about salad, papaya, or baked sweet potatoes. (Not a joke! I listen to my body very carefully all the time.)

Sometimes it tells me it needs some carbs — but that might be connected with my mountain hiking, which does need quite a lot of energy sometimes. And of course that situation may not apply at all to most people.

Earlier on this thread I reported my experiments with the so-called BBBE (Beef, Butter, Bacon and Eggs) diet, and also the Sardine diet. I abandoned both after a couple of days. (Never again! )

I've written on this thread many times now that

1. Everyone is different, so beware of 'fixed rules' or copying another person; and
2. Because we're all different, learn to listen very carefully to everything your body's trying to tell you.

[grapevine]

Hi Casey

I watch what I eat very carefully and followed Dr Eric Berg's Keto Diet, which advocates eating vegetables along with proteins. Rice, Pasta, Potatoes I eat very sparingly now although sweet potatoes have benefits

. Unlike Bill, I enjoyed the sardine regime, but then the brand I ate was skinless and boneless and also shared with my cats . Many people support the carnivore (keto) diet but I don't eat red meat, just chicken and fish since trying the keto (semi-keto really), although given what I'm reading lately about animal husbandry I'm rethinking the protein element.

In the past year I've steadily recovered from two major health setbacks which have changed me completely and I can no longer tolerate dairy. Given natural aging and the quality of food today, the road back has been slower than I would have liked but I add supplements (D3/K2, Benfotiamine, Magnesium Glycinate, Turmeric and recently added NAC) for a month and then take a week off. It takes a long time to see the benefits of some of them.

Good luck with the regime Casey and I look forward to reading your updates

[RunningDeer]

NEW Study: 20 Common Foods Causing Silent Inflammation [EAT THIS Instead]

• The Primal Podcast
• October 24, 2026

A new 2026 study found 89% of avocado oil products tested weren't real avocado oil. Scientist Dr Anthony Jay explains the "healthy" foods quietly feeding inflammation, and what to eat instead.

Head to boncharge.com and use code THEPRIMAL for 15% off.

Dr Anthony Jay is a scientist with a PhD in biochemistry who trained at Boston University Medical School and worked at Mayo Clinic. I sat down with him to talk about what really causes inflammation, the insulin test to ask your doctor for, the food he says can age you 5 to 10 years, and why high cholesterol isn't the problem you've been told.

Dr Jay:

• New book: Sugar Beat: How Sugar, Not Cholesterol, Destroys Your Arteries
• 2026 avocado oil study
• UC Davis avocado oil study

0:00 Intro
1:02 What Really Causes Inflammation
10:16 The Insulin Blood Test You Should Ask For
13:24 What's Actually In Your Avocado Oil
27:47 Why The Omega-6 To Omega-3 Ratio Matters
33:50 The Food That Ages You Ten Years
42:51 Why Alzheimer's Was Almost Unheard Of
55:59 The Sweet Foods Sold As Healthy
1:07:56 What High Cholesterol Means
1:12:50 The Oreo Cookie Cholesterol Study
1:19:28 Lp(a) And The New Cholesterol Drugs
1:27:07 How To Lower Inflammation Starting Today

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ueP8U68hZZM