Low Carbs vs Low Fat vs Intermittent fasting: Which is better for healthy life style?

There is a big debate among low fat diet and low carbs diet group. Both are claiming that they are right with keeping full respect on another group. Because both groups address the same issue and that is insulin resistance and obesity.

The low fat diet group wants to say that intracellular fat is the culprit for the insulin resistance and hence better to avoid or reduce external fat. They also want to tell that carbs is not the problem, so one can intake carbs as much as he can!

The Low carb diet people says that carbs is the main culprit to raise your blood insulin, which causes increase over exposure of insulin to the cells and insulin resistance occurs. So they say to lessen carbs, increase good fats as fat has no or less insulin index.

Regarding the Protein intake both groups say the same and that as protein increases the blood insulin, so better to take it not more than 20-25% in your food plate.

Now I am making a bridge in between the two groups and it will help you understand that actually both are trying to say the same things, but due to their way of approach it seems that they are different. 

Actually we should not say low carbs or low fat, better word is to change or swap the sources of the foods.

Carbohydrates should come from good sources, like green leafy vegetables and fruits. If someone takes rice or potato or bread or oats and after meals their blood glucose levels go high, then better to avoid these or the specific one. Because everybody is unique to response specific food. May be for myself bread is ok but rice is not ok as it spikes my blood sugar sudden high. On the other hand, may be ice-cream is ok for me, but not the bread as it makes my blood glucose very high after 2 hours.

So check the blood glucose level by your gluco-meter after taking specific carbs you want to make it regular/ suitable for you. If glucose goes sudden high after 2 hours of intake the carbs, better to avoid if you are diabetes / prediabetes, better to restrict if you have family history or sedentary worker.

But both groups agrees that direct sugar, sugary products, refine grains (roti, cake, etc.) and carbonated drinks or beverages (though it is zerocal) should be avoided.

Regarding the Fat, better to use the good fat like Olive oil, Mustard oil, coconut oil, nuts, homemade butter, non-sugary yogurt, and oily fish. Most of them have good lipid, like HDL and Omega 3. And better to avoid the bad fat, like marzoline, soybean oil or any kind of vegetable oil (as they are high heated and hence inflammatory for the cells and cell walls) .Fat has less or no insulin index, and moreover it will increase the taste of food. And cholesterol is very important for our body to produce certain hormones, Vitamin D3 and suitable media for fat soluble vitamins (ADEK). LDL and VLDL which are known as bad lipid actually comes from endogenous cholesterol (80%). Endogenous cholesterol will be increased when we take too much carbohydrate, which breaks down into glucose and Insulin is released by beta cells of pancreas to take this glucose into the cells, and insulin will convert the rest of the glucose as fat and store in the liver, artery, belly, kidney, muscles. This stored fat is a big source of energy, body should use it when we are in the fasting. That's why human can survive even 60 days without taking any food!! (Remember the holocaust Germany concentration camp).

So the idea that low fat foods do not help with weight loss is the result of the food industry adding back sugar to make up for the taste lost by reducing fat. The most famous example is Snackwell cookies which were fat-free but had the same number of calories as a regular cookie.

So when you look at a non-fat version of a food, check the total calories per portion and added sugar.

Healthy fats include olive oil, coconut oil, mustard oil and avocado oil.

Avoid processed snack foods with lots of hidden fat like potato chips, cakes, and pastries. When talking about fat, you also have to look at carbohydrate foods with hidden fat.

So there are good and bad fats and good and bad carbs. The bad carbs are the ones with hidden fats!

For Protein, both are saying the same and that is it is needed because we cannot produce some of the very important amino acids which is called essential amino acids, hence they should be supplied from outside. Just like we cannot produce some important fatty acids inside our body, so we have to supply these from outside to our body. That's why they are called essential fatty acids. But unfortunately there is no essential carbohydrate!!! (Should we supply it from outside??)

By the by, in our diet we should not increase our protein more than 20% and it should be from good sources; like eggs, fish, grass feed poultry or cows. Those who have already kidney disease, they should restrict more and always consult with his/ her physician.

Now we understand how both groups are in the same tone, this is the source and amount. Nothing more than that.

But upon one thing they both are completely agreed and that is fasting. Fasting is the most natural way to give your body immense benefits. What is fasting? When we stop eating, that is fasting, it is as simple as I am saying now. 

This the most ancient method to treat the disease, to clean your cells. If someone had epileptic seizure, the Greeks named it as the action of demons on him/ her (Demon's action). So they kept the person with seizure in a isolated room without giving any food. Two or three days later they saw the persons brain function was improving. They said, demons afraid of starvation, so he left the person. 

But actually what happened? The modern neuroscience says that because of fasting the brain develops more mitochondria in their neurons which increase more ATP that give more energy. Besides this due to fasting there is a chance of development of Brain-derived neurotrophin factor, also known as BDNF, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the BDNF gene. BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the canonical nerve growth factor. Neurotrophin factors are found in the brain and the spinal cord. This protein promotes the survival of nerve cells (neurons) by playing a role in the growth, maturation (differentiation), and maintenance of these cells.

When we eat food we actually store energy. When we are fasting, we actually use our stored energy by breaking down the glycogen which has small storage capacity but easy to access, and then breaking down the fatty acid which has big storage capacity but difficult to access. Glycogen gives glucose and Fatty acid gives us ketones. Both are fuel for energy production. But ketone is stronger than the glucose and more appropriate for our brain cells. 

Some of the diabetic patients are afraid to keep fasting even in the Ramadan! Why? Because they check their glucose level while they are in fasting, and find that it increases even though they are not taking any food. Actually what happens to them? When they are in fasting, first their glycogen breaks down and increases glucose in the blood. This increased glucose is not from their recent ingested food but from stored glucose (glycogen).

So intermittent fasting helps us to utilize our stored glucose and fat and thus helps us to reduce our body extra fat. This is so natural that does not need any money, any training. 

There are several types of intermittent fasting: 

1. 16/8 Diet: It means diet window period is 8 hours, and fasting period is 16 hours. If someone takes food two times one at 12 noon and another is at 8 pm, the fasting period will be 16 hours. I always prefer this for the smooth maintaining. And I am trying to practice it.

2. 20/4 Diet: It means diet window period is 4 hours, and fasting period is 20 hours. If someone takes food two times one at 2 pm and another is at 6 pm, the fasting period will be 20 hours. Or maybe he can take only one time at afternoon. This is also called OMAD (one meal a day). This is particularly good for those who has slow metabolism and huge obese.

3. Warrior diet: The Warrior Diet encourages subsisting on only small amounts of vegetables and fruits during the day, then eating one huge meal at night.

4. 5:2 diet: The 5:2 diet involves eating normally 5 days of the week while restricting your calorie intake to 500–600 for 2 days of the week. This diet is also called the Fast Diet and was popularized by British journalist Michael Mosley. On the fasting days, it’s recommended that women eat 500 calories and men 600. For example, you might eat normally every day of the week except Mondays and Thursdays. For those two days, you eat 2 small meals of 250 calories each for women and 300 calories each for men. Simply I don't like it and never recommend anyone.

5. Eat stop Eat: Eat Stop Eat is an intermittent fasting program with one or two 24-hour fasts per week.

6. Alternative day fasting: Alternate-day fasting has you fast every other day, either by not eating anything or only eating a few hundred calories.

 How to start intermittent fasting? For the beginners who literally think that fasting means starvation, I am just telling you please clear your conception about fasting and starvation. Starvation is involuntary and meals are calorie restricted. Fasting however means no meals at all which promotes hormonal changes in the body to allow stored fat to be used to survive. Starvation is like a drip feed stopping the hormonal reaction and preventing the use of fat as a fuel. So fasting is so flexible and easy to exercise that anyone can start it any time and any time one can stop it by taking food, that's all. It is so simple, as I am saying now.

So as you clear up your brain about fasting, now start it very slowly, step by step. First of all stop taking snacks. "Eating, eating, and eating, several times small eating makes you healthier” this is a completely wrong theory and there is no evidence based research on it. Each time you have meals whether it is small or big in amount that does not matter, it helps secrets your insulin, which hits on cells to help the glucose enter in and stores the excess glucose as fat in the liver. So, stop eating snacks first, the most unethical practice in the history of healthy lifestyle. 

Secondly, just skip two or three day’s morning meal, which is familiar to you as breakfast. Breakfast is a misnomer. Actually breakfast means break the fast. If you fast whole night then break your fast at morning but if you fast whole day, then break your fast at evening (like Muslims are doing in the whole Ramadan). So morning meal should not be defined as breakfast. It can be done at any time.

 So if you take your night meal at 7pm (I prefer always 6pm) and just skip the next morning meal and then do your breakfast at 10am, next day at 11am, next day at 12 noon, next day may be at 2 pm. You can see you are keeping in fast nearly 18 to 19 hours!!! First two to three days you will face a little hungry and uneasy, but when you are adjust with your ketone metabolism, you will surely enjoy the sweetness of fasting. No tension for preparing morning meal, no hurry to get prepare for office, have a huge time for office work or house hold works. And three weeks later you will find your body is losing its extra fat, and you are simply achieving your fat burning goal without any hassle. 

Intermittent fasting boost your immune system up by stimulating your autophagy process. The old damage cells will be regenerated, rejuvenated. 

This is the most important issue upon which all the scientists and dietitians are agreed to be united. Intermittent fasting brings every diet debaters in the same page. Why not you try for that? I told you it is free, easy to practice, convenient for all and most flexible method of achieving healthy life. It is tested! Now it’s time for you to taste it.

Don't you still believe? Ok, just jump into the pond and feel the immense happiness of the swimming. I bet that you will never give up it for your rest of the life.