Transcript for:
Fasting Lecture by Cynthia

if it were just about calories every person  listening who's ever been weight loss resistant   wouldn't have been weight loss resistant there's a  time to fast there's a time not to fast because if   it were just that easy all of us could drop weight  Cynthia th low a tedex speaker and fasting expert   the bestselling author of intermittent fasting  transformation and the creator of the everyday   Wellness podcast fasting and in of itself can help  with blood pressure management lipid management   the health of our gut microbiome Parkinson's or  Alzheimer's Alzheimer's really is a variation of   diabetes of the brain mitophagy autophagy this  can be life shifting I actually came to fasting   and realize like I feel so mentally clear now  I recognize what true and trinic hunger feels   like I have less bloating my bow movements are  more regular I'm sleeping better fasting has   a season and a reason I did not intermittent  fast for probably four to 5 months after that   hospitalization when someone says to me I do omad  and they're a woman or they have a 20-hour fast   with a 4our feeding window the first thing I ask  them is how much protein are you eating every day   do not White Knuckle fasting if it's not working  for you it might be there's a certain time in your   life or maybe it's where you are in your cycle or  there's too much stress now people will argue till   the cows come home Stevia doesn't impact my blood  glucose well I bet you it impacts your insulin   they're now adding sugar to Salt so that people  want more of it we want to clean fast we don't   want to fudge it let's talk about what breaks a  fast so you mentioned coffee why does that break a fast see Cynthia welcome thank you it's such a  pleasure to connect with you I've spent over a   100 hours researching fasting and there is  so much different information out there and   that's why I'm so excited to speak to you Cynthia  a fasting expert with over 10 years of experience   and you wrote the book about fasting and how to  get results in just 45 days and there's different   types of fasting there's prolong fasting time  restricted eating there's autophagy fasting   intermittent fasting and all of those different  types of fasts are going to to get you different   results so before we get into the results and the  different types of fasting it's very important to   understand the mechanism of fasting what it does  in the body so my first question Cynthia what is   the biggest thing that fasting does in the body  oh gosh there's so many I I think on a very basic   level it's helping people understand that we  have this reduction in inflammation we lead   hedonistic Lifestyles we largely Ultra process  food um a lot of the things that we do we don't   sleep enough we don't manage our stress and  so the consequence of that is that we can be   dealing with chronic inflammation it can show  up as weight loss resistance it can show up as   pain or inflammation and so on a very basic level  when we're eating less frequently we are helping   to reduce the burden on our bodies and can help  uh help with reducing inflammation I also think   about the neurocognitive benefits you know things  like lowering our risk for developing Parkinson's   or Alzheimer's and for anyone that's listening  Alzheimer's really is a A variation of diabetes   of the brain and so helping people understand how  critically important it is to make sure that we   have healthy and optimized glucose and insulin  levels in the body I think many people may not   even be aware of something called autophagy this  waste and recycling process that goes on in our   bodies and it goes on in largely in an unfed  state so when we are eating we are in a state   where we are storing Cal cies in many instances  when we are not eating we are in a state where   we are potentially you know going in and using  stored energy for fuel now people will argue when   autophagy really starts to upregulate itself  and so I remind people that even if you fast   for 16 hours you're still conferring benefits  but we know typically the longer the fast the   more autophagy and helping people understand that  those disease disordered cells organel that could   have the potential to go on and create disease  our body does a beautiful job of Packaging ing   them up and getting rid of them and after the age  of 40 most of us have slow dhagy which is why we   deal with chronic disease States I also think  about improved biophysical markers so fasting   in and of itself can help with blood pressure  management it can help with lipid management   it can help with the health of our gut microbiome  which I know is a really hot topic for many of us   right now and then just on a on a very basic level  the concept of mental Clarity understanding that   when we are eating less frequently we are a able  to actually break down stored fatty acids um we   have the potential to produce ketones one imp  particular called beta hydroxy beate diffuses   across the blood brain barrier so I think many  people are surprised that when they start fasting   and they've been doing it long enough they're like  wow I really feel great like when I do interviews   like this I like to do them fasted because I  have so much more mental Clarity it's not that I   normally fall asleep after eating but for me it's  that mental sharpness and mental aptitude which is   really really important but those are some of the  basic things that I think about with a traditional   you know shortened time frame in which you are  not eating so helping people understand that   you will not starve that your body really does  know and all of us even thin people have enough   stored energy that their body can tap into but in  our traditional modern-day Lifestyles we've been   condition conditioned to overeat to over consume  to eat too frequently and we've in in a in a   sense we have mucked up our body's ability to use  different types of fuel substrates or different   types of fuels to fuel our body so fasting will  help us get back to that alignment of being able   to use stored energy both carbohydrates and fats  as fuel sources and for a lot of individuals this   can be life shifting especially individuals that  are primarily carbohydrate burners they're people   that get hangry if they're not eating every two  to three hours or they have energy slumps as some   examples or they become weight loss resistant  is really speaking to the fact that we are not   properly fueling our bodies I wanted to zoom  in in terms of the hormonal changes that happen   and the first one is insulin how fasting affects  insulin how does that happen yeah so insulin is   this hormone that tends to get a bad WP uh largely  because there are so many of us that are insulin   resistant or metabolically unhealthy insulin is a  hormone that will be impacted by what we choose to   eat so obviously fat is have the most negligible  impact on blood sugar as well as insulin secretion   then protein and then carbohydrates probably not  surprisingly so helping people understand that   insulin one of many insulin one of many byproducts  of insulin is that insulin is a helps with a lock   and key mechanism depending on what we eat our  body is constantly looking for homeostasis it   is constantly looking to maintain an appropriate  range of blood glucose so blood sugar and you know   after we eat our body is looking to move blood  glucose into the cell so moving it intracellularly   and Insulin one of insulin's roles is to help  our bodies do this but what can happen over   time is that if our body is constantly flooded  with very high blood sugar levels and I would   represent that is a blood sugar level of 140  is damaging the endothelium it is damaging the   lining of our blood vessels our retina retinal um  vessels our kid vessels um becomes problematic so   that that very narrow index of where we want to  see our blood glucose levels when it over time   if we are constantly overeating carbohydrates  eating ultr processed foods there's a lot of   really significant research on Ultra processed  foods as an example but over time we can wear   out those insulin receptors and so it makes it  harder and harder for our body to regulate moving   blood glucose or moving glucose into cells moving  it intracellularly and then it's it's almost like   someone's knocking on a door and insulins you  know that cannot hear you know the knock can't   move the glucose into the cell and over time we  start developing insulin resistance ultimately   hyper insulinemia which is hugely problematic  and is really at the basis of most if not all   chronic disease States so when I'm thinking  about insulin and helping people understand   it's important for us to eat it's important for  us to be conscientious about what we're eating but   it's also helping people understand that when our  insulin levels are high we are not able to access   storage F it's when our insulin levels are low  which is like in between meals that's what should   happen while we're sleeping that is what should  happen or in a fasted State this is when our body   has the ability to tap into fat stores to use as  energy and that's an important distinction so as   an example I routinely draw fasting insulin  levels on my patients and I encourage anyone   who's watching this to ask for your physician  nurse practition ition position's assistant to   get a fasting insulin check several times a year  I probably check mine three or four times a year   you want that range at least here in the United  States between two to 5 milligrams per deciliter   I cannot tell you how many women I've worked with  who have fasting insulin levels that are 20 25   30 and they can't figure out why they can't lose  weight because their blood glucose may look fine   their A1C which is a marker of 90 days of blood  glucose control looks okay but the is oftentimes   very much the first sign of insulin resistance is  that fasting insulin is high and if your fasting   insulin is high you are not going to be able to  lose weight and there's many reasons why this can   happen but that's the big takeaway about insulin  that I think is so important for your listeners   to understand so it's not that insulin is bad  elevated insulin is bad all the time and that   that's what fasting does along with having a  good diet it lowers your insulin so you have   these periods of not eating so that you can your  insulin can can come down your glucose can come   down very interestingly you did mention the um  testing your fasting insulin and I know that you   did an interview with Dr kenberry so he was saying  that you should test your fasting insulin levels   way before testing glucose and that is a precursor  towards knowing if you're pre-diabetic that is so   important it is very important and sometimes if  you look at the research it's suggesting that   that fasting insulin can start to disregulated  5 to 10 years prior your glucose being abnormal   so to give you an example a fasting glucose in  the 90s is not benign like let's be very clear   I think it was Robert lustig who taught me that a  fasting glucose in the 90 to 99 range you have a   30% likelihood of developing diabetes this is fast  this is not after eating a meal but helping people   understand that we have this very narrow range and  unfortunately and I say this with great respect   and reverence you know as a licensed healthc care  provider how many of us have watched our patients   become diabetic before our eyes and we're not  looking for the elephant in the room so I would   100% agree I always say fasting insulin is one of  the first Labs I do with my patients and clients   and for everyone that's listening it's usually  very inexpensive here in the United States you   can go to own your Labs or direct Labs I have  no affiliation with either you can easily and   inexpensively get that number and if it's not  within that two to 5 milligrams per deciliter   there are things you can do to change that that's  the important message is it's not if it's high   there's nothing you can do you absolutely can  lifestyle is medicine and certainly if you are   working with someone that draws that already  kudos to you I think it sometimes I think the   average is that um medical research takes about 20  years to trickle down into clinical practice but   if your physician or NP or PA is not ordering  that Tes ask for it if they're not willing to   order it sometimes I hear my doctor doesn't know  how to interpret it that's a copout um I would   still get that lab done very inexpensively it's  probably like the cost of two coffees two fancy   fofy coffees and a coffee house you can definitely  afford it get it checked find out what your number   is and then adjust your lifestyle accordingly so  fasting insulin is very important to test another   thing I want to ask about which is fasting how it  affects the hormone so it affects your grin which   is your hunger hormone so it's going to regulate  that it affects your cortisol it's going to bring   that down so you feel more calmer and happier  but I'm very interested in leptin that is your   fullness hormone can you talk more about how  fasting different types of fasting can affect   your leptin yeah I mean I I think that for so  many of us we have gotten so conditioned from what   fueling our body feels like what is true intrinsic  hunger feel like what makes our bodies feel good   and so the the hormone leptin and you can become  leptin resistant just like you can be insulin   resistant and this is very important for people  to understand because it's not as if leptin and   insulin resistance go hand in hand you can be one  without the other so let me be very clear because   I oftentimes will hear healthc Care Professionals  saying oh they go together sometimes they do and   sometimes they do not I've had people with normal  insulin levels that have high leptin levels so   let's back up and talk about this hormone it's a  hormone that is drawing communication between our   stomach and the Brain this can become disregulated  it can become disregulated because we've lost our   ability to determine when we're hunger hungry  it can be impacted by meal frequency choices   of foods I'm going to keep hammering on the ultra  processed food piece but we know based on research   the average person here in the United States 70%  of their diet is ultra processed foods we know if   you're eating that much ultr processed foods you  are consuming way more calories you may not even   be aware of it so you're consuming highly inflamed  flammatory foods that very likely are food-like   substances let's be clear and by this I mean I'm  not talking about you have a three ingredient   packaged food I'm talking about the stuff that  is 90 ingredients most of which you don't know   what it is um it makes you hyper phasic meaning  that it you know whether it's the protein bar   that's kind of disguised as a candy bar whether  or not it's the crackers the cookies the Doritos   the Cheetos it disregulation between our stomach  and our brain and that's designed there's a bliss   Point these processed food companies design foods  to be as Blissful and addictive as possible and   so understanding that a lot of these foods will  trick our bodies into thinking we are not full   when in fact we are and so leptin is that hormone  when it's functioning optimally you're you will   have these stretch receptors in your stomach  the communication to your brain says you are   full let's stop eating and people that have letin  resistance they just keep eating and eating and   eating and it is not that they lack willpower  it is not that they aren't trying hard enough   it is that their their brain has been hijacked  by these food- like substances that are just   regulating this communication pattern there are  other reasons why this can happen even things like   mold and MotoX sins can inflame the brain but from  a very basic level I think most of us know when we   don't have letin properly regulated because our  appetite just doesn't get shut off I will give   an example um I speak very openly that I am gluten  grains and dairy free I'm very happy in this space   but I can tell you that if someone were to give  me a gluten-free cookie or a gluten-free pie or a   gluten-free cupcake my disregulation in my brain  just starts to get scattered and it we can make   the argument that it's the flour that's doing that  because flour can be very addictive or the sugar   that's doing it but for me and an otherwise very  healthy person that eats a nutrient-dense diet   even I can get some disregulation whether it's  the dopamine hits that are going on in the brain   combined with the sugar and the flour that can  impact my leptin signaling and tell me oh you   can have another piece of pie you can have another  five cookies you can have more cake and so this   happens even in healthy people but traditional  leptin's job and there's many functions of leptin   but the big kind of hierarchy prevailing macro  view is that this is our hormone that helps us   understand when are full and when we are eating  less frequently we're going to get to a point   where we recognize what is true in termic hunger  I know what that feels like I know how my stomach   feels I get that stomach growl it's not that I'm  dehydrated so it can reinforce that communication   pattern you know the gut brain axis is a real  axis helping us understand to properly regulate   our nutritional patterns and I find for a lot of  people that that and in of itself is one of those   benefits of intermittent fasting that we probably  don't talk enough about you know for many people   they're so accustomed to eating too frequently  too often the wrong types of macros and they   don't realize that that meal frequency and the  improperly balanced macros in and of itself can   really do significant and profound uh I don't want  to use the word damage it sounds very pejorative   but can disregulated this delicate communication  pattern in a way that reinforces these maladaptive   behaviors so as Cynthia mentioned how often we eat  is just as important as what we are eating but the   thing is our bodies are very unique in terms  of how they respond to different foods even if   you're following a keto or a carnival lifestyle  and that's why it can be very important to test   how certain foods affect your body in real time  and that's exactly what Nutri sense offers they   offer a program which includes a continuous  glucose monitor which is just a small device   that you put on the back of your arm so basically  after having a meal or a drink all you do is open   the neutri sense app tap and you will see in real  time what's happening to your glucose levels and   the great thing about nutrients is that you don't  have to do it on your own they will match you with   a nutritionist that will help you understand the  data they will go through the CGM data and come   up with a personalized plan just for you and this  is really important so that you'll understand what   foods affect you how often to eat and what to eat  and this can help you create a healthier lifestyle   in the long term and I have used the Nutri Sense  app and as you know I follow a carnival diet so   it wasn't so much what I was eating it was what I  was drinking using the nutrient app I found that   having my midm morning coffee spiked my glucose  so what I did was I took out the coffee and I   noticed I felt calmer I felt less anxious during  the day and I was sleeping better and the great   thing about it now is that I can understand the  coffee wasn't great but I'm more more interested   to understand what Carnival foods are affecting  me in the longer term so what I want to do is test   different Carnival Foods over the next 6 months  using the Nutri Sense app so I can see exactly   what foods are affecting me plus the drinks and  I can also make better options for myself to have   a healthier lifestyle in the future so if you'd  like to try nutrients just go to nutrients. iob   and use the code five minute body to get $50  off and they'll also give you one month free   nutrition support thank you so much to Nutri  sense for sponsoring this video but circling   back to the time between meals it's very important  you mentioned this fancy word in your other videos   which is the migrating Motor complex I was like oh  that sounds fancy can you explain what that means   and why it's important to have that break for your  gut in between meals yeah so the migrating Motor   complex or the MMC which is again one of these  kind of nerdy factoids and it's real science   helping people understand it's almost functioning  as is a janitor in the digestive system so you   know when we allow four to five hours in between  meals this migrating Motor complex it's just   looking to push food forward it's also helping to  clear up pathogens or things that don't belong in   the gut microbiome but when we're eating with  great frequency it mucks up this mechanism so   probably most of your listeners are familiar  with something called sibo so small intestinal   bacterial overgrowth and if you talk about sibo  and you look at the research in many instances   that mechanism is disrupted so this gut motility  mechanism is not working properly so not only are   they at greater risk for developing overgrowth of  non-beneficial bacteria or fungi because there's   even SEO now small intestinal fungal overgrowth  which sounds scary but helping people understand   that when we are in an unfed State it's not just  that we have less bloating and maybe we have   better digestion it's that our body gets to optim  imize this very delicate process of moving food   forward clearing out pathogens things that do not  belong and that when we're eating all the time it   doesn't allow our body to be properly regulated  and so I think it's important to help people   understand that when we are not optimizing our  digestion this is when we deal with constipation   this is when we deal with diarrhea or lots of  gas or bloating how many women tell me they are   chronically habitually blo Ed and that can come  from a lot of different things so the migrating   Motor complex is this little nerdy mechanism  that goes on in the body it's very important   it's important for us to understand that that that  distance between our meals allows our body to be   get ready it's almost like it has to reset  itself to be able to consume food again and   helping people understand this is why I talk about  not eating every 2 to three hours because you're   not allowing your body to set up this mechanism  to move food forward and address these potential   pathogens that you could have been exposed to or  even ingested I always think about you know the   fact that regular lettuce has plenty of little  parasites on it and that's why we wash our our   vegetables before we eat them but in someone who  has a healthy gut microbiome or a healthy stomach   acid which is you know in the stomach they should  be able to as a first line of defense be able to   kill off that parasite but for a lot of people  that don't have a healthy digestive system it   makes them more susceptible to picking up  opportunistic infections so you mentioned   the gut microbiome can you explain for people  watching what is the gut microbiome and what   is the effect that fasting has in it for their  for the health of the gut microbiome yeah the   gut microbiome is having a moment I would say the  amount of experts I've interviewed on the podcast   in the last couple months has really exploded so  we're talking about this very delicate ecosystem   in our colon so the large intestine so when we eat  goes into esophagus into our stomach goes into the   small intestine then ultimately large intestine  and different parts of the colon have an anerobic   environment which means there's oxygen or there's  an aerobic sorry aerobic environment where there's   oxygen an aerobic environment where there lacks  oxygen and that's done specifically because of   Keystone different types of keystones bacteria so  as an example acrania is a keystone bacteria very   important for many things in the body including  the production of mucus it's invol in gp1 so for   anyone's heard of seml and wovi we make our own  endogenous glp1 in the body and it's intricately   involved in that well as well as creating things  like short Change fatty acids like butyrate things   probably your your listeners are familiar with  so when I think about the gut microbiome it is   impacted by so many things our stress levels  our Sleep Quality um are we is our circadian   rhythm disrupted like are we doing uh do we have  jet lag are we traveling like you're in another   continent if I were to travel to where you are  right now you better believe my gut microbiome   is going to change in response to changes in my  circadian biology it's also impacted by what we   eat it is also impacted by how frequently we eat  and so when I think about a lot of the benefits   of fasting it's the benefits that are conferred  to our digestive system but also understanding   that you know wherever we are in terms of our gut  microbiome and you can do testing to look at this   so you know this is not contrived uh we actually  look at stool samples to be able to tell like do   we have plenty of beneficial bacteria or do we  have a lot of opportunistic bacteria that make   us more susceptible to certain types of infections  or imbalances in the microbiome but we know that   the food that we consume can feed the bacteria but  there are prebiotics like things like asparagus   and onions there are postbiotics you know things  that are designed to be able to help the health of   the gut microboom and then we have probiotics so  organisms like fermented foods um a lot of people   talk about supplements as they pertain to this  but for the purposes of our conversation I'll   Focus solely on food but understanding all of  these foods provide information to the terrain   of that gut microbiome and I know that depending  on someone's traditional philosophy towards food   there'll be various opinions on this I know that  for myself I say this clinically myself and then   professionally uh when I was hospitalized five  years ago for 13 days my entire gut microbiome   just got profoundly disrupted because of how sick  I was and six weeks of antibiotics and antifungals   and a hospitalization and a surgery and a whole  bunch of other things and it has probably taken   me five years to get back to a baseline of where  I was before so you know depending on where you   are if you were to get stool testing done and and  you and your practitioner look at your stool and   decide that there are things you need to work on  it's always on this trajectory of you know you can   be on antibiotics and yes that's going to disrupt  things to a point but there are things that you   can do to counteract the effects of antibiotics  antifungals chronic stress sleep deprivation   but I think I would be remiss if I didn't talk  about the fact that our lifestyle plays such a   huge role in the health of our bodies and anyone  that thinks otherwise is really foolish I would   say the other thing is when women go through  menopause and men go through andropause there   are changes to the terrain of the the microbiome  the entire digestive tract is a byproduct of   changes in estradi which is the predominant form  of estrogen as well as other changes that go on   I'm more familiarized with women because that's  who I work with but helping people understand   there's always something you can do and I think  for everyone that's listening whether it's meal   frequency whether it is the foods we choose to eat  whether it's how we manage our stress and for many   of us our stress shows up in our digestive system  whether it's diarrhea constipation bloating gas   Etc things that we just take as normal don't have  to be our normal so getting back to your original   question I think the gut microbiome is really  important I think over the last five to 10 years   we've learned a lot there's not enough research  it's ongoing and certainly when I talk to The   Experts the things that I think make the biggest  difference in the health of our gut microbiome the   intermittent fasting or meal frequency the quality  of the foods we eat how we manage our stress how   much we sleep and yes you do get a change in the  terrain in your gut microbiome when you travel so   I'm getting ready to take a trip with my family  in a couple weeks and I know that jet lag is   definitely going to play a role in what's going on  in my gut microbiome but I know what I need to be   doing to help counteract that so it's interesting  the fasting it has so many health benefits I   wanted to touch on the one last thing before we go  into these fasting schedules which I think people   just dying to hear so calories in calories out  I see this so much that people just want to fast   but they're just undereating calories so I really  wanted to ask you for weight loss or even healing   inflammation does calories in calories out matter  this is such an important question because I'm not   suggesting the calories don't matter because  if you were to say to me Cynthia I'm I allow   myself 1,500 calories a day and 30300 of which are  going to come from a carton of ice cream is very   different than having a nutrient-dense diet let's  say you have steak and maybe a vegetable and you   have two or three meals during the course of your  day that information that your body takes in from   Whole nutrient-dense Foods is very different than  when you take in a highly processed yet delicious   um high in sugar high in fat dairy uh you know  delicacy I'll just say a delicacy because in my   house ice cream is King my my sons and my husband  it's like they're Kryptonite but when people take   the concept of calories which is a which is a a  unit of measurement and they try to reduce it and   Whittle it down like a lot of the Bro Science guys  no offense guys but that's typically where I see   it they'll just say you know it's a 25-year-old  who's super fit and ripped and he's like oh the   way you lose weight is you just restrict your  calories there's so much more to it it takes   out the impact of hormones and how hormones are  regulated I would be the first person say any   woman who's listening knows that there are times  in your menstrual cycle when it is a whole lot   easier to lose weight than others if you're a  woman in perimenopause or menopause all of you   know that it is far more sophisticated than just  calories and calories out so I think that calories   matter that's always the message I send but it  is far more important what we're eating and when   we're eating that'll help regulate whether or not  we're able to lose weight as an example if you   look at the research if you're eating within two  hours of bedtime that's not going to just disrupt   your sleep regulation because you'll suppress  excuse me melatonin and increased cortisol but   it also can lead to you know your your heart rate  gets elevated your body temperature is probably   elevated while your body's trying to process this  Bolis of food before bed as opposed to knowing   that we are more insulin sensitive earlier in the  day and my first meal of the day is usually my   biggest I also know I'm more insulin sensitive I  probably have extra exercise before I ate my meal   my first meal of the day and for me I do best  eating you know I I stop eating by 5 o'clock at   night now that's not what happens when I do things  socially but I live in a house of teenagers and   a very flexible husband and as the teenagers are  in and out it allows me to have a little bit more   flexibility it was the blessing of the pandemic  that I realized I don't like eating dinner at 7   or 8 o'clock at night I just don't feel good so  for everyone that's watching there is more to it   than calories calories are a unit of measurement  and if it were just about calories every person   listening who's ever been weight loss resistant  wouldn't have been weight loss resistant because   if it were just that easy all of us could drop  weight there is so much more to it and it's not   just the hormonal imbalances it's also toxins  were exposed to microplastics um this is not   woowoo there's actual science and research being  done in these areas whether it's personal care   products what we're exposed to our environment or  food microplastics and in itself is a huge problem   which can disregulated not only estrogen but can  also impact testosterone quite significantly the   the number one and two reasons why we're dealing  with low testosterone in men number one is insulin   resistance number two is toxins and this is again  research based evidence-based it is not just you   know why we're seeing all these infertility  challenges it is really our reality so helping   people understand that if you're abiding by the  EO you know the calories in calories out you're   missing out on other opportunities to consider why  people are dealing with weight loss resistance or   struggling to lose weight I want to hear from you  Cynthia because you fasted so your last meal is   at 5 o' me too I love that earlier dinner how  has fasting changed your life you know I came   to fasting like everyone else I know does I was  in my early 40s I was I had a husband who did   a lot of international travel at the time my  boys were very young uh which meant I was you   know carpooling to sports and doing I was just  exhausted and I had a very stressful job working   for a very large cardiology practice and I was  probably exercising too intensely for that stage   of my life and I probably was too low carb and  I can retrospectively look back and say there's   probably a lot of things that just kept adding  stress to my plate add in per menopause which is   when many women will start saying like everything  that I used to work doesn't work anymore so I came   to intermittent fasting under that guys and I  didn't initially lose weight I actually came   to fasting and realized like I feel so mentally  clear I can round on patience from 700 a.m. in   the morning until 12 o'l and then I'm like oh I'm  hungry I'm going to eat then so for me it was very   life-altering in terms of reduction and bloating  I felt much more mentally clear and then over   time the weight loss Came As I understood what  was actually going on in my body in early Parry   menopause but I think for a lot of individuals uh  they come to it out of a curiosity but they stay   for all the other benefits and certainly that's  been my trajectory and I I think it's important   to say that fasting has a season and a reason so  there have been times over the last you know 10   years when I have not fasted and and we can talk  about that but I think for a lot of individuals I   think what's so important about fasting is it's  flexible so you don't have to be rigid there's   a lot of people who like rigidity in their lives  I don't encourage anyone to be super rigid about   fasting like as an example today I went to the  gym it second day this week I lifted weights for   my legs when I came home I was like ready to eat  so I actually had something very small um I'll   eat a bigger meal after we're done having our  conversation but I think it's super helpful for   people to understand that depending on you know  where you are in your menstrual cycle depending   on you know how how heavy you lifted in the gym I  don't believe in in in stressing my body more than   it needs to be stressed and I think we have people  that like to White Knuckle fasting like they're   miserable while doing and they'll push themselves  anyway and so that's not the way to fast I think   fasting is designed to be able to be integrated  into your lifestyle there's a time to fast there's   a time not to fast um my husband fasts and really  enjoys it my teenagers do not fast I get asked   that question all the time they're still growing  I mean they're 18 and 16 but they're you know very   athletic lean boys I would never encourage them  to fast they're still developing they're not done   developing and so I I think on a lot of different  levels the desire to fast comes out of a curiosity   to lose weight and then people end up staying for  all the other benefits because they're like now   I recognize what true insic hunger feels like I  have less bloating uh my bowel movements are more   regular I'm sleeping better how many middle-aged  women don't sleep well and then they start fasting   and all of a sudden their sleep improves and so I  think that it really comes down to what are your   goals uh where are you life stage because a woman  that's under 35 is different than a woman that's   imper menopause versus menopause and men have it  so much easier because they don't have as much   hormonal fluctuation but I think it's looking  at where are you life stage wise you know are   you male or female I think all those things matter  and then obviously what are your goals like I will   say that I meet a lot of very young women like  let's say they're 30 they're lean they exercise   a lot they have no business fasting every single  day I think fasting in a certain part of their   cycle maybe every couple of days once or twice  twice a week there's lots of benefits but I don't   like to see young lean athletic women doing a  lot of fasting because you know our bodies are   just exquisitly designed to um nutrients and  how we nourish our bodies and if you're even   if you're choosing not to have children at that  point in your life your body is paying attention   to how you're nourishing your body or not and  so that over restriction over fasting peace I   see a lot of young women doing and that's always  a cause for concern because many people may not   me thinking about their fertility until they're  you know in a relationship with someone special   or they're ready to start having children and they  don't even realize that they've been chronically   under nourishing their body which has impacted  their fertility quite significantly I'm mindful   um depending on who's watching and their thoughts  about fasting fasting is fantastic and it works so   well for you it works well for me in a you know  easier window not too hard but I want to touch   upon your story where fasting didn't work for you  and could have been quite detrimental could you   elaborate more on that yeah so in 2019 so 5 years  ago I uh spent 13 days in the hospital I ruptured   appendix and a whole slew of complications in fact  it became a running joke with all the Specialists   that were seeing me of course this would only  happen to a healthc care provider because this   wouldn't happen to the average person but in 13  days I lost 15 pounds I went home with a drain I   officia that developed between my seeum which  is part of the colon and my appendix which was   still ured I was too sick to take to surgery  I went home with a central line because I was   getting IV antibiotics and I was so incredibly  weak and I I literally could not tolerate much   of anything my mom my Italian mom was home so  she made bone broth and stewed meats and that's   all I tolerated for nine months I'm not kidding  and so for me I I realized pretty quickly after   being discharged that I was in no position to  not be eating regularly because my body was so   deconditioned and so I was sharing with you before  we started recording that I went to the hospital   one day to see if they could pull the strain  out and just walking from the car which was my   mom dropped me off at the entrance of where I  was to the Radiology Suite which was not very   far I was so deconditioned I could tell my blood  sugar was very low I felt terrible and so I did   not intermittent fast for probably four to five  months after that hospitalization because I was   in no position to put my body under that amount  of stress because we have to understand that   intermittent fasting is a form of hormetic stress  beneficial stress in the right amount at the right   time and so for me it was really understanding  that there's a a season and a reason for fasting   and that was the season of me taking a break and  quite honestly it was really interesting to see   like how do I do having at that time I had to do  four to five small meals a day because my stomach   I mean my entire digestive system had really taken  a huge hit and so for me it was smaller meal more   frequently it kept my blood sugar stable and then  I was able to get to a point a couple months later   where I was able to space out meals and I did  much better but I think it's important for me   to disclose this because there's a time and a  place to fast and that was not the time and not   the place for me to engage in fasting and I would  be irresponsible if I had forced myself to do that   that's again I go back to do not White Knuckle  fasting if it's not working for you it might be   there's a certain time in your life or maybe  it's where you want in your cycle or there's   too much stress and so for me my body was under  a tremendous amount of stress having not died in   the hospital because I came quite close um and  I don't say that lightly I I think I'm in a good   place mentally now but I realized how sick I was  and so for me part of my recovery was learning to   eat more frequently smaller meals and just allow  my body to heal intrinsically I think it's so   important to know what's working for you at that  time and be open-minded not to just just have one   fasting schedule doing the same thing over and  over and over and just stressing your body out   that goes very nicely into how to start fasting  for people that are just wondering well Cynthia   how do I start I want to get to your results or I  want to do an omad we shouldn't be just doing an   omad but let's just for the absolute beginner  that's just like where do I start what is the   most gentle starting point to start fasting yeah  I would say the first thing is to stop snacking   because snacking in between meals is a sign that  you're not put put your meals together properly so   we're going to look at a macro level snacking is  not necessary no one should be snacking I mean if   you're a 5-year-old kid and you don't know enough  to sit down and eat enough at a meal and you get   hungry two hours later that's very different  but as an adult no one should be snacking so   we remove the Band-Aid of snacking it forces  you to structure your meals with enough protein   if you tolerate vegetables great and whatever the  carbohydrate comes from it could be that you have   non-starch vegetables if you tolerate those you  know the next thing to think about is not eating   after dinner so you have maybe you're having three  meals you've taken out the snacks you don't eat   from after dinner until breakfast the following  morning and and I want everyone to think about   breaking your fast is breakfast so I break my fast  at 10 o'clock in the morning it doesn't have to be   breakfast food it could be leftover from the night  before that's actually how I like to do it and   so really opening up that episode of digestive  rest if you will I think 12 hours of digestive   rest is exactly that it still has benefits slowly  opening up that window for some people they can   do it pretty readily and quickly they can go from  12 hours to 14 to 16 hours pretty easily I think a   lot of it depends on how metabolically healthy you  are so if you have been a sedentary Couch Potato   eating an ultra processed food diet it's going to  take you longer um it's going to take you longer   especially if you're insulin resistant or you're  even diabetic and if you're diabetic or if you   have chronic health issues make sure you talk  to your health care provider before you start   doing that because you may need alterations in  your medications so we're going from you know   12 hours of digestive rest to 12 and a half to  13 and slowly people will make their way it's   important understand it's important to hydrate  your body it's important to utilize electrolytes   especially if you are going lower carbohydrate  or low carb or even ketogenic you will get renal   losses of electrolytes especially sodium and a  lot of the effects that people will experience   headaches nausea achy are a byproduct of this  loss of electrolytes so store glycogen as your   body is emptying up the stored glycogen you're  losing not just sodium you can use potassium   magnesium chloride this can precipitate some  of these symptoms that I was talking about and   so that's how people start and it's water and  electrolytes and then bitter coffee bitter tea   everyone freaks out they're like I love all the  cream and the sugar in my coffee well you know   it's interesting uh I just interviewed Dr William  Lee he was talking about if you put cream in your   tea as an example your body will like kind of wall  off the polyphenol so a lot of these plant-based   compounds that you get benefits from bitter is  information for our bodies we know bitter teas   like green tea black tea actually can boost fat  oxidation so for those of you that are like yes   on the fat loss piece bitter coffee you can add  things like high quality salt like Redmonds or you   can add cinnamon that will not break a clean fast  but it can change and alter the flavor profile I   personally can't stand the taste of coffee I never  have so I drink tea and the way that I learned how   to drink green tea was I brew it I ice it and  I put a straw on it that's how I work I like I   generally like bitter plant-based compounds but I  don't love tea but I like tea I enjoy tea because   there are health benefit so that's typically  how we kind of work our ways through and the   next question is usually what do iing break my  fast with protein always the answer is protein   you want to stabilize your blood sugar you don't  want to sit down and eat a plate of potato chips   or ice cream or have a piece of pie or one  of those protein bars I mentioned that taste   more like a candy bar I get it they're yummy but  that's not going to set you up and if you look at   the research on the first meal of the day the most  important thing you want to do is stabilize that   blood sugar because if you do that you are less  likely to eat for hedonistic reasons you're more   likely to eat because you're truly intrinsically  hunger so I usually will say have some steak have   some chicken have a piece of fish um if you like  salad or you like vegetables have those with it   you want either protein and a healthy fat and if  you have a riye that satisfies both or if you have   like Duck or you want some salmon or you have  protein and some carbohydrate now again um I'm   the first person to say like I like carbs but I  like my carbs from vegetables that's generally   where I like to get my carbohydrates from and  I'm of a certain age where I have to be more   mindful of my carbohydrates so if you're a woman  in per menopause or menopause you may notice that   your carbohydrate threshold is changing as your  insulin sensitivity is changing so those are some   of my best tips I think it's just as important  what we break our fast with as it is important   to understand we want to clean fast we don't want  to fudge it like there's a lot of people that love   to talk about um you know like coffee bombs or  fatty coffees or Bulletproof Coffee and some of   those those drinks can be 400 to 500 calories and  if someone's weight loss resistant is that really   where I'd rather get it from real food but if  you are that standard American diet Couch Potato   sedentary really struggling to get to 14 15 hours  then maybe adding a little butter or a little bit   of MCT oil which is generally my personal favorite  adding some MCT oil will get you a little bit of   um a little bit of expansion in that fasting  window but understanding we don't want to be   in a position where we're getting 500 400 calories  from a coffee drink like that you know if you just   don't want to eat that's a that's a whole separate  conversation but I think a lot of people assume if   you're drinking your calories they don't count  and this is something that I think people have   to really investigate like I I love Dave aspey  I've met him many times I've been a guest on his   podcast but I always look at Dave and I'm like  I would rather just have the the green tea and   then later on you know get that chloric intake  from something else I'd enjoy more like half a   stick of butter and half a cup of cream like  that does not appeal to me that would not do   well in my digestive system but I'm sure there are  probably some of you that are like hey I really   enjoy having a bulletproof coffee every once in  a while that's different but if you're doing it   every day and you're weight loss resistant that's  a really easy way to remain weight loss resistant   so starting off the gentle which is a 12 hours of  fasting even 12 to 14 hours of fasting would you   call that Tim restricted feeding yeah I mean I I I  I do think about it that way and and I think that   Tim restricted eating is just this prescribed  time period in which you're not eating and I   know sat and Panda has done a lot of research in  this area and so I think it's semantics when we're   talking about this you know to me whether it's  Tim restricted feeding or intermittent fasting   it's the same in my mind the same prevailing  philosophy and for everyone that's listening   you may do really well at 14 or 15 hours and doing  a longer fast does not appeal to you you're not   interested in it and that is okay and then I meet  people that they want to go 18 20 22 hours every   day and I'm like well it's kind of hard to get all  your food in in one meal that's what we're going   to talk about some mistakes so 12 to 14 hours is  very good for fat loss uh what about if you want   the autophagy fasting can you also explain what  autophagy fasting is yeah so it's interesting so   autophagy is this waste and recycling process  in the body you'll see some people talk about   autophagy fasting and when what they're doing is  they have a very protein restricted food intake   and they will increase their healthy fats with the  thought process that in a low protein State you'll   have an upregulation and autophagy um this isn't  something that I do with any regularity because   I'm of a certain age where protein is King and  I like to maintain and build muscle um and so   there's there's prevailing principles there are  the people the long it experts and then people   that are more in the carnivore muscle protein  synthesis crowd and that's kind of where I I exist   um and to be completely Fair most the longevity  experts look very sarcopenic and they're very   skinny and and this is not a criticism it's just  observation and then I look at my friends in the   muscle protein synthesis carnivore is crowd and  they look very different and that looks healthy   to me whereas a lot of longevity experts just  do not look particularly healthy and I think   at some point you have to decide for yourself  like what is most important for me I'm on I'm   I'm with the carnivore is group so when we're  talking about autophagy fasting helping people   understand that in this low protein State we  have this upregulation of autophagy it's not   something I do with any regularity I do think  autophagy is important I think it's important   whether it's mitophagy autophagy helping people  understand the role in the aging process the role   in most chronic disease States you know after  the age of 40 most everything that you see is   uh a a byproduct of disregulated autophagy or  a reduction it's one of the Hallmarks of Aging   even it's something that is very very helpful  for people to understand like we want to do the   things that allow us to live our best lives and  to have as much energy as possible to sleep well   to exercise Etc um I think this is a strategy  one you know subset of of intermittent fasting   but it's not something that I do ever um I do talk  about it in in a program that I run but it's not   something that I do with any frequency uh again  because I go back to I want to maintain and build   muscle and so a low protein State I've been there  five years ago I was there and I know what it's   like when your body breaks down muscle to survive  and so muscle is this organ of longevity that I'm   just not willing to negatively impact how does  somebody choose their period of fasting because   you've got the 12 hours okay or 14 hours then  you've got 168 186 20 and 4 and what I mean by   20 and four Etc is 20 hours of fasting 4H hour uh  feeding window so how would or even an OM 23 in1   how does somebody choose what they want to do and  what's best for them well I think it depends on   your goals um most of the people I interact with  want to build and maintain muscle so that is going   to have a different set of prevailing philosophies  so number one no less than 100 grams of protein a   day no less than 30 grams of protein per meal i.  e 50 to 60 per meal just for me I get about 110   120 grams of protein in a day and that's how I do  it in two meals so when you look at people that   have wide feeding windows it's probably fairly  easy to get 30 grams per meal at least 100 grams   per day as you start closing that feeding window  it gets harder and harder and harder I don't know   any women that can eat nutrient-dense foods of  100 grams of protein in one meal I know plenty   of men that can do that and there's there's  research to now demonstrate that you know   we can eat upwards of a 100 grams in a meal and  our body knows what to do with it so there there   are sometimes people that will say oh if we eat  more than 30 grams our body stores it as fat no   that's actually not what happens especially with  protein but I do think it's important for people   to consider are you a north of 40 where we know  sarcopenia or muscle loss with aging accelerates   if you are not actively working against it that's  why strength training and adequate protein is   so important important and why is the 30 grams  of protein important because that's the that's   the amount that helps trigger muscle protein  synthesis and it hits a Lucine threshold and   Lucine is an amino acid very very important to  hit those thresholds to help stimulate muscle   you want to do you that that's I think that's the  prevailing Focus for most of the work that I do   so when someone says to me I do omad and they're a  woman or they have a 20 20-hour fast with a 4-Hour   feeding window the first thing I ask them is how  much protein you eating every day because more   often than not they're chronically undereating  protein and by that if I look at a diet recall   of women like that they're probably getting  40 50 grams of protein and I remind them that   and I'm a visual person so I always use this as  an example young muscle looks like a fillet old   muscle although delicious looks like a ribeye and  those the marbling that goes on in a ribey is a   byproduct of this you know inflammatory process  I know fat is delicious and my husband and my   younger son would say the riy is better my older  son and I would say the fle is better we just   like leaner meat my husband and younger son like  fattier meat but what's going on in our muscles   this is where we lose insulin sensitivity first  very important for people to understand this so   insulin resistance starts in our muscles so if you  have no other takeaway from this conversation it's   track your Macros figure out how much protein  you're eating every day to help offset what's   happening as we're getting older so sarcopenia  will happen if you don't work against it that's   why the strength training and adequate protein  is so important and Stress Management and sleep   and all that but for a lot of individuals when  they start tracking their macros they realize oh   I can't get enough protein in one meal I can't  get it in two meals and that's okay you know I   have some women that do two big meal two good siiz  meals and then they have a whey protein shake and   if you tolerate Dairy I think that's totally fine  just find the cleanest option that works for you   but I think in a lot of different levels there's  this lack of awareness we've been conditioned to   believe that meat is detrimental red meat is  bad for you red meat raises cholesterol uh   high cholesterol is the basis for heart disease  that's completely been disproven and I think for   everyone listening it's it's like figure out what  makes your body feel good for me personally I do   really well with lean meat lean protein lean fish  lean poultry that's works well for me I love eggs   I'll eat ground bison I love all these things and  then I have other people that love fatty meat and   that works really well for their body so figuring  out what works well for you but being cognizant of   where's your protein intake because if you were  chronically undereating protein you're going to   spin down the the muscle that you have on your  body and you know bioimpedance scales bod pod   that's usually what I like to use um they have a  much more accurate reflection than standing on a   stand standard scale which just tells you what you  weigh it doesn't tell you how much muscle mass to   body fat that you have but I think most of us have  a good sense of where our body fat is to muscle   ratio um a lot of people start getting less hungry  in their 40s um that's certainly been something   that I've seen as a middle-aged woman so you know  when my appetite goes back up I usually know that   I'm I'm creating and and fostering more muscle  development so just as an aside your fasting and   feeding schedule should correspond with how much  protein you need so if you are ideally 150 pounds   uh of a woman or a male that's what you want to  be working for as it may not happen overnight but   over time that's what you want to work towards so  when it comes to choosing your fasting window I   like to give a general advice to people what would  be the ideal fasting protocol for somebody that   just wants to start I've heard 168 is very popular  I I think a 168 is is a reasonable option because   it still gives you eight hours to eat it's not  too long of a fast and I think for a lot of people   they can work their way up to it and they kind of  feel like okay I can do the 16 hours I feel really   good if I decide to do a 17 I'll see how I feel  maybe that's too long um but what I like about a   16 is that it gives someone you know four hours  in between meals and that's really important so   that's a good starting point obviously there's  different types of fasts or different types   of goals if someone as an example excuse me if  someone as an example is insulin resistant has a   lot of weight to lose maybe they're diabetic they  have lots of stored fuel right they have lots of   stored fuel so they could go two to three days  without consuming food and for a lot of people   that helps them get out of plateaus it helps  them kind of do a jump start I've had a lot   of obese patients tell me that a two to three day  fast which obviously they would do in conjunction   with their health care professional especially if  they're on medications it helps them like reset   their palette they're like okay I've been craving  junk food I would say after Christmas after the   holidays a lot lot of people are craving junk and  crap and they'll do a two to three day fast the   first couple days of the year and they're like  okay now I'm ready to get back on track so there   is a purpose for longer fast but it really depends  on your goals like another example is you know   doing a three to 5 day fast where you know you can  impact telome length and Stem Cell Activation and   all these other benefits but I can honestly tell  you that since my hospitalization five years ago   I don't do long fast anymore I feel like I've  done I did a 13 fast I have no desire to ever   do another 13-day fast or a long fast I think  a lot of it depends on your goals and for me   it's reflecting back on that muscle preservation  muscle mass building muscle mass maintaining it   and when you start getting over 24 hours even  if you're a lean person it's really this cost   benefit like I I actually will talk to Dr Ted NE  uh again next week and this is something he talks   about we're about the same age and you we're both  very lean and I'm like I don't want want to lose   what muscle mass I have and so for me anything  more than 24 hours just doesn't make sense but   for someone who is a different stage of life or is  insulin resistant or has a lot of weight to lose   that might be a good way to kind of jump start or  break through some plateaus so I want to get into   something very interesting which is things that  affect your fast because people have this question   my first one is Stevia and artificial sweetness  what are your thoughts well I think this depends   so I'll go back and say the same thing if you are  weight loss resistant or obese or you're dealing   with a lot of sugar Cravings I think whether  it's Stevia monk fruit sucrose aspartame and   and I'll explain in a second why I don't put  those all in the same boat but if you have a   sugar handling problem artificial or cleaner uh  sugar options are not necessarily beneficial now   people will argue till the cows come home Stevia  doesn't impact my blood glucose well I bet you it   impacts your insulin because it's sweet on the  tongue there's something called the calop phase   insulin response if I put something sweet on my  tongue you better believe my food my body thinks   food is coming and so I always say that if you are  thin and you're at your gold weight I don't think   having a stb as sweet and bever is going to make a  difference but since we know so many of us are not   metabolically healthy that can make a difference  now if you look at the research on and there was a   research study that was done I think in September  of 2022 in nature talking about sucrose aspartame   Stevia and I think sacaron and it made me laugh  I was like who still uses sacran I don't I think   I think about that from my grandmother used to  drink tab like a thousand years ago and so it   was looking at the impact of those on oral glucose  tolerance which is important and then they looked   at the impact on the gut microbiome and so not  surprisingly sucrose aspartam had the greatest   net impact and then Stevia a little less but I  think it's important for us to understand like   these artificial sugars and by that I mean sacarin  sucrose aspartame are very different to me than   like Stevia monk fruit a thyrol I mean if you have  a sugar handling problem you have a sugar handling   problem you should probably avoid all of those but  with that being said I think when you look at the   research and and some of this was done I believe  on mice so they're mice Mo they're a mouse model   it's not a human but understanding that in one  month's time or I think it was 28 days the sucrose   the astine the sacr the stevia all had a negative  impact on oral glucose tolerance they also had a   negative impact on the gut microbiome and we've  talked about the gut microbiome and how important   it is uh and that's in the coal in the large  intestine and so I just I I go back to most of   us are so conditioned for sweetness we're always  looking for another fix we're just a bunch of   sugar junkies and so I I always reflect on what is  your relationship with sugar number one number two   are you just looking for a solution to a problem  you know are you using stabia because you really   do have a sugar problem you you you're a sugar  addict or you're someone that's always looking   for something that's sweet I I tend to be a salt  person like I'm like anything I can put anything   that's a conduit to Salt I'm like oh that's why I  love electrolytes and my drinks and I I like salt   probably way more than the average person but when  we look at Stevia as an example there is you know   people have glucometers and cgms and they'll say  well I didn't see anything changed people love   to argue with me on social media all the time and  my team and I kind of laugh at this I'm like yes   but there's something called the calic phase  insulin response and that's what I think you   need to think about if you think that you have a  disordered relationship with sugar you probably   need to limit it or eliminate it and I always say  if you can't moderate you eliminate I don't think   I have a problem per se with stevia so if I have  Stevia sweetened chocolate like Lily's brand as an   example I can moderate it but there are other  things I don't moderate as well and so I just   don't have them but I think it's important for  people to just be honest with themselves and say   you know maybe I have an unhealthy relationship  with sugar and maybe I need to work on that   and you know there's a a program that we run a  couple times a year that is essentially like a   a sugar-free diet for 28 days oh my gosh the sugar  detoxing that goes on is unbelievable and I always   say to people like use this as a litmus test for  the fact that for so many of us we think of sugar   being benign and innocuous but it's in everything  it's in condem it's in ketchup it's in mustard I   think one of my kids was saying the other day  there was they're now adding sugar to Salt so   that people want more of it and it's just it's a  disturbing Trend so you know eat less processed be   conscientious and honest with yourself and if you  have to add Stevia to everything in an effort to   consume something that might be a sign like if you  have to sweeten up your your tea and your coffee   all the time that's a sign that you know you may  you may be uh you may be a sugar addict and you're   just not real Iz in it the word sugar addict is  very controversial so it's not saying that Stevia   is bad have it if you need to but it's just to  open the mind up to say okay is it affecting your   body is it causing the calic insulin response  just be mindful of that the next thing is you   mentioned Bulletproof Coffee obviously if you  had 400 calories in the morning that's going to   affect your fasting results but what if you add  a tablespoon of heavy cream or a tablespoon of   butter you know 100 calories 50 calories does that  affect your fast you know this is this is when we   start to split hair so I would say you know based  on my research a tablespoon of mct2 oil is going   to be processed differently than having butter or  cream those are insulinemic so they will evoke an   an insulin response but again I go back to are you  thin are you at a healthy weight it's not going to   make a big deal but you know if we're really  going to split hairs like I occasionally use   lemon in my water but I am during my fast but I am  am a healthy weight I'm insulin sensitive it's not   going to make a difference but if I were obese and  not at a healthy weight and really struggling with   weight loss resistance those kinds of habits can  make a difference and so I invite everyone just   to have an honest conversation with themselves to  say does this habit serve me well without judgment   like to me I'm like when people ask does a break  a fast and I say yes this does or no this doesn't   I'm like listen there's no judgment if you still  decide to do that do understanding what know the   potential exists that if you're struggling to  be to lose weight that could that be like as an   example I have a lot of women who they love  element and so they want to use element 247   and I'm like that's great you're getting your  electrolytes but do you have a sugar handling   problem are you a sugar addict um are you is  this what's hindering you know because still   you can make the argument if you're drinking  this copiously throughout the day could this   be you know in between you're eating could this  be crazy creting a problem for yourself and so   just inviting people to consider that some of our  habits may not serve us well now again I go back   to are you insulin sensitive are you metabolically  healthy are you at your goal weight do you feel   like you're at a healthy weight you probably have  a little bit of leeway around some of those things   without stressing about it and if you were to say  to me like my greatest joy in life is having a   coffee with heavy with a tablespoon of heavy cream  I would say enjoy it and like don't stress about   it like I think we stress about these things so  much much like the questions that I get in some   of my groups I'm like holy cow like there's a  lot of stress going on with this so like let's   think big like let's think at a macro level like  how is this impacting our health and then decide   like is this worth getting upset about or is this  something like maybe this is contributing to some   of the problems I'm seeing like maybe I should cut  it out and see what happens what about alcohol in   your feeding window is that going to affect your  fasting window results it could I mean so if we   understand that there's now a lot of emerging  research coming out that alcohol really doesn't   have any health benefits our body prioritizes it  as a toxin if we are eating while we're drinking a   glass of alcohol whether it's a mortini or we're  having a glass of wine I always think about big   picture um certainly people in middle age who  already are dealing with some sleep disruptions   who may be insulin less insulin sensitive that  glass of wine could turn into a pooright sleep   which we know impacts leptin grin glucose  insulin and food choices made this the next   day it's always in the context of does it serve me  I have never had a problem with alcohol for full   disclosure I'll just use myself as the example in  my 20s and 30s I learned to drink dirty martinis I   would have one I would sip on it maybe once a week  always socially and during the pandemic I just   stopped drinking and I thought to myself oh my  gosh my sleep is so much better one drink a week   and so understanding that we we are in a culture  where alcohol is not looked upon the same way that   other types of drugs are and so there there's  very much a mommy drinking culture I'm going to   just State this for the obvious and so I think a  lot of people just don't even realize that their   relationship with alcohol may be impacting their  goals that they have for their your s maybe it's   impacting your sleep maybe you are weight loss  resistant maybe it's causing you to eat Foods you   wouldn't otherwise eat because it's disregulated  your blood sugar or you know maybe this is the   reason why you're you know chronically inflamed  or you know worse than that it's understanding the   net impact on a lot of other things in our lives  so this is not stated pejoratively but we've been   conditioned to believe that alcohol has a lot of  health benefits and I think the emerging research   is suggesting otherwise so if you're going  to drink I would I would look at biodynamic   or organic wines I would stick with clear Liquors  you know like JY vodka tequila although for those   of us that have maybe over the course of your  lifetime have had a bad night with tequila I'm   like I can't even smell it it still gives that  Pavlov's dog but understanding there are better   choices so always that good better best and I I  think that you can exist as an adult and not drink   if that's your choice um but just understanding  how it can set things up and for me my sleep is   too precious to drink alcohol so it I gave it up  four years ago and I haven't looked back but the   's been a lot of pressure just socially when  I go out it makes other people uncomfortable   and I don't make it an issue I'm like I show up  with my kombucha or my sparkling water and a lime   no one knows the difference but it makes people  very uncomfortable the last thing I want to ask   you is mistakes because you probably have seen a  lot of things that could affect people's fasting   what would be the top three mistakes that you  would say people make when they start fasting   or do fasting yeah I would say number one forcing  a fast so this is in the context of there's a time   in a women's menstrual cycle and I talk a lot  about this in the book of when we can get away   with fasting versus times when we should reduce  the amount of fasting that we're doing or really   just do a 12-hour digestive rest so that's number  one not observing where you are in your cycle or   contrary to that per menopause or menopause and  women forcing a fast when they have like too much   stress they had terrible sleep um they're going  through a divorce they lost their job there's just   a lot of stress it's like adding gasoline to a  fire I would say number two not understanding how   to fuel their body so it goes back to the macros  not enough protein too many carbs the carbs are   a huge issue I don't see fat being an issue I  think my generation your generation probably   aren't fat phobic like my mother's generation  is still completely fat phobic like trying to   encourage my mom to have more than like a quarter  of an avocado is still an issue um but I do think   the macros piece like what you break your fast  with matters how you f your body and your feeding   window matters and then I would say lastly I I  think it's this prevailing philosophy I call it   the Triad of over fasting over restriction overe  exercising like women get into this trap and I I   do see it with men but not as significantly women  are just hard on themselves um women become weight   loss resistant for a multiplicity of reasons  um and then they find that uh they're like if a   little bit of fasting works the more is better if  a little bit of what you can insert carbohydrate   restriction fat restriction whatever it is they  do more restrictions so they're under nourishing   their bodies they're they're have a very very  tight feeding window they're really under   nourishing and then they overe exercise and so  those are the things that I get the most concerned   about and to be totally transparent number three  has become such a huge issue that I'm starting to   speak out more about it because there's a lot of  disordered relationships with food it's not just   unique to the fasting Community but there's a lot  of that on social media whether it's orthorexia   whether it's anorexia that people hide they hide  that in their intermittent F intermittent fasting   they're really just not eating and so for me I  just feel like as a woman as a clinici I have   to just be transparent and say this is why I've  started speaking about this more often because   I see a lot of troubling patterns and a lot of  troubling messaging that goes on and that's why   I I think I I owe it as a as a woman um you know  I I've been in this intermittent fasting Community   for such a long period of time that I more often  than not have women stop fasting because they're   doing too much or I have them stop fasting because  they don't have a healthy relationship with their   bodies and with food and so we have to kind of  work on that first so those are the the three   most common things that I see um I'm curious to  know if that's what you expected me to say or or   or were you thinking I was going to say something  else that was what I was expecting that overdoing   it um what I was also I actually wrote down was  vegan diets doing fasting with a vegan diet that   because of the the protein emphasis um and protein  is so important and fasting is very important for   the right reason and it's the extremes it's you  don't want to eat the whole day and you don't want   to have be snacking because you want to have that  rest and digest process if you're eating a vegan   diet plus fasting how on Earth are you getting  your nutrients I'm not against veganism well I'm   the opposite of vegan but I don't get vegan  with fasting well we we so number one my mom   was a vegan for over 10 years and like watching my  mom her health spiral and then trying to help her   get back to um a healthy eating pattern and have  more animal based be more of an omniore which she   loves vegetables so like that's that's her happy  place but to Echo your sentiments you know when a   a woman who's choosing to be vegetarian or vegan  and I respect that comes through our programs and   we're trying to talk to them about higher protein  and they're trying to get it from first of all we   always ask like do you do dairy and eggs if they  do I'm like okay we can work with this but if they   don't it is really challenging because most of  the vegetarian protein sources are either soy   which I'm not a huge fan of or the amount of  carbohydrate to protein is so disparaging like   you know six cups of quinoa to 6 ounces of steak  it's like I don't know many middle-aged women that   can tolerate that carbohydrate load like they  just can't um and so I I typically will say 30   grams of carbs in a meal Max and you know 50 to  60 grams of protein and so that really becomes   problematic and I would say this is not coming  from a place of judgment it's just I'm trying   to figure out how to support your nutritional  philosophies but also help educate you as to   why maybe we need to bring some eggs into your  diet maybe we need to bring some Dairy into your   diet so we can backfill and I don't don't think  a lot of vegetarians and vegans get into trouble   until middle age I think there's a lot of shaming  about eating meat which I think is is unfortunate   certainly not in my community not in the the the  the realm of the Health and Wellness Community   that I'm in because a lot of almost all of us  are at least omnivores if if not carnivore is   or carnivore and I I think that there's still  a lot of shaming e and ethical considerations   that people will spout out about eating animals  like if I want to throw a grenade on Twitter I   will talk about veganism that is when I get so  much hate and and we try very hard to navigate   not being particularly inflammatory on social  media but if I want to anger a bunch of people   I will talk about veganism on Twitter even if I  do it respectfully I mean the amount of of trolls   and nastiness that comes out it's like swatting  flies because they just get so triggered and yet   um I think it was there's a a woman in the United  States who just came out just saw it on the news   this morning Wendy Williams I'm not sure if you're  familiar with her she's a talk show host uh she's   59 years old and I think she's been vegan for more  than five years and she now has the same form of   dementia that Bruce Willis does and I'm not saying  that there's a connection but I am saying you know   59 years old and being having a a diagnosis of  I think it's temporal dementia frontal temporal   dementia my dad has it my dad is yeah he's um  he's actually in an age Care Facility 3 years   after the diagnosis so frontal temporal dementia  it's a debilitating disease and that's why I'm so   interested in um in nutrition and health because  of that very reason for Dad it was more alcohol   stress not a healthy lifestyle but that's why  I'm not against veganism or vegetarianism and   as Dr kimberry says if you're vegan or vegetarian  you're mindful of your health and maybe that is a   good thing but the nutrients that you need it's  just and as you said you only see this 20 years   later yeah well and it's concerning I mean I  so we have a whole generation of women that   you know my mom's generation post women's health  initiative so that was a study that was released   in 2002 when I was a new nurse practitioner  at that time all these women were taking off   their hormone replacement therapy so what do  we see now we're seeing a lot of neurocognitive   effects bone health effects heart disease Etc um  My Generation certainly knows better like we're   we're flipping the narrative and talking about  HRT and how beneficial it is to our brain our   green Health cognitive Health but I think it's  incredibly sad when we start to realize like   whether it's toxins we're exposed to like alcohol  I have a a parent my father um is an alcoholic   uh and and seeing what's happening to him and his  health is really concerning I think for all of us   it's building awareness without judgment helping  to educate people without judgment I always say   listen I'm always open-minded and someone if you  convince me of a different way of thinking I'm   always open to it I'm not rigid but I think for  so many of us it's like building that awareness   of what works for our bodies what makes us feel  good what allows us to sleep well engage with our   loved ones because that's really what it's all  about it's like you know my husband and I are   both in our 50s now we're getting ready to be  empty nesters in a couple years which is hard   to believe and so you know from my perspective  it's like we were talking about this morning I   was like I don't ever want to not be able to  get out and walk our dogs in the morning and   exercise and do all these things that we don't  think about now but I don't want to be 10 15 20   years down the road and not be able be an active  contributing member of society that's that's what   we want to avoid absolutely and that's why we love  you and all the information that you provide and   that's why fasting and health and diet is so  important if people love you and want to hear   more from you where can they find you thank you so  probably easiest to go to my website www. Cynthia   tho.com I have an amazing podcast called everyday  Wellness which is truly one of my greatest joys in   my business I hope you enjoyed this interview now  you need to watch this video next with Professor   Thomas SE freed all about how to stop cancer with  diet and water fasting I'll see you guys next week