Fast-5 Diet and Lifestyle: [fast5] Re: cause for being dizzy

Friday, April 24, 2009

[fast5] Re: cause for being dizzy

Phil,
Sorry about not getting back to you on your question. I went to look up some things, didn't find what I was looking for, and didn't get back to it.

There seems to be some role for glycogen depletion (depletion here means use to the point the level is decreased, not to the point it is totally gone) in adapting, as many people see the "hump" of a tough day after 3-4 days of a Fast-5 schedule. Depletion does not appear to be required for ketogenesis, as is widely thought. As you point out, the glycogen should be fully replaced by daily carb intake. Fast-5ers may operate at a lower average glycogen level, but without detailed study, I can't say for sure.

It appears to me now that ketone production may be independent of glycogen use or is somehow related to how much of what's available is used before more is stored. Ketone production may just require insulin to be absent for a while. That's not all there is to it, though -- it's regulated, or else ketoacidosis (as happens to diabetics) would occur. It doesn't.

It gets harder to tell what's happening as the body's ability to use ketones improves. If production stays the same, faster pickup of the ketones by the body's cells to use them as fuel will make the blood level drop. So initially, a Fast-5er may see more ketones in the blood or urine than later, after adaptation, when ketone production may have had no change or even increased.

There's lots yet to be learned.

Bert

Bert Herring
Fast-5 Corporation

> OK, this begs a question I asked Dr. Herring when I first posted, and I never got an answer:Â
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> So, according to the book, it takes the initial states to deplete your liver's glycogen stores so that you burn ketones reliably during your 19-hour fast.Â However . . . if you have a serious binge on sugar/carbs, do you "undo" all the glycogen depletion rapidly?Â I am a binge-eater and have certainly learned to control my cravings (I'm down over 200 pounds over the last few years, down 100 since the beginning of 2007), but still, I have my days when I will take in a lot of sugar.Â Â I still weightlift four times a week and cardio about 20-25 miles of 15-degree incline every week (burns about 250-300 calories per mile for my 6'4" 210lb body), but I was curious about how much damage one does to the Fast5 ketone burn approach with one really strong cookie bender.Â :-)
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> Thanks!Â
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> --- On Tue, 4/21/09, Karen <laurvick@...> wrote:
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> From: Karen <laurvick@...>
> Subject: [fast5] cause for being dizzy
> To: fast5@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 11:52 AM
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> I was reading Dr Mercolaâ€™s nutrition plans and ran across this nugget:
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> â€œStep 7: Avoid hypoglycemia.
> Most of us eat far too many grains and sugars, which cause us to have large amounts of insulin circulating in our blood. When you stop eating grains your body will take several days to lower your insulin levels. In the meantime, the high insulin levels will cause you to experience many symptoms such as dizziness, confusion, headaches, and generally feeling miserable.â€
> http://www.mercola. com/nutritionpla n/beginner. htm
> Now I understand why I have gotten so dizzy from time to timeâ€¦
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