Any fasters here?

[myrdale]

I work 10 hour shifts from 4:00 pm - 2:30 am.

There are three things you need, diet, exercise, and sleep. Even if you are perfect on your diet, working 3rd shift can make it even harder to fit in exercise and maintain a normal, steady sleep pattern. Both of these will have an effect on you over time.

Taking the supplements shouldn't upset your fast, but you'd do far better to take them with your meal when you do break for better absorption.

[kork13]

Fasting helps my blood sugar. I'm not diabetic but have family history of it so I'm keeping my eye on it. Here's a specific example. Friday May 30, I ate 3 meals with my last meal being eaten on May 31 at 3:00 am. I work 10 hour shifts from 4:00 pm - 2:30 am. That last meal consisted of 1/2 a baked potato w/a 1/4" inch slice of melted butter, 1/2 a roasted chicken breast w/Lawry's seasoning, and boiled broccoli. I woke up on May 31 at 11:00 am and my blood sugar was 101. At 6 pm same day my blood sugar was 104 which I was surprised it went up when I thought it would go down but my blood sugar was still spiking from that last meal on May 31 at 3:00 am. At this point I figured to bring my blood sugar down I would fast for 24 hours only drinking water. When my shift ended on June 1 at 2:30 am (23.5 hour fast), I tested again and finally got a 93 blood sugar level. If only to keep my blood sugar levels under 100, I'll keep fasting for this benefit alone, never mind the glycogen breakdown or ketosis, but if I can get that benefit as well great.

It's not quite so linear as that ... I'm not a medical type (Steve probably understands this way better), but when my wife had gestational diabetes, we learned alot. Eating a meal isn't the only thing that will increase your blood sugar. Your body manages alot of different bodily functions (in part) with blood sugar. Sleep for example. You can go to sleep without eating dinner, fasting for nearly 24 hrs ... But when you wake up, you'll still have a spike in blood sugar, because your body's circadian rhythm uses it to get you going when you wake up. For my wife, that morning spike is the one that always threw off her numbers, even when she was fine the rest of the day.

What regular fasting provides (wrt blood sugar) is a trend toward better stability -- spikes from eating a meal or a snack become less extreme, and level out more consistently. It helps your body become more responsive to insulin, which is part of the problem when you develop T2 diabetes. Not at all saying fasting is the solution to diabetes, but it can improve your body's resilience against developing the disease.

[ua_guy]

I'm also not a medical type, but can someone help me understand why minor fluctuations in blood sugar levels well within the "normal" bounds of 80mg/dl to 120mg/dl need modification or lifestyle alterations?

[disneysteve]

I'm also not a medical type, but can someone help me understand why minor fluctuations in blood sugar levels well within the "normal" bounds of 80mg/dl to 120mg/dl need modification or lifestyle alterations?

Fasting sugar shouldn't be over 100. Going up to 120 briefly during the day when you're eating and drinking is okay. That's why we do fasting blood work. We're not terribly concerned with your reading after a meal. We don't diagnose diabetes based on that. We do it based on fasting levels and HbA1c readings (3-month average measurement).

[QuarterMillionMan]

By fasting I noticed that I'm wasting a lot of foods (bananas turns brown, milk spoils, etc). Adjusting my grocery shopping trips and buying a lot less. Today I bought 93% lean ground turkey to make spaghetti, cauliflower, 1 garlic, 1 onion, cilantro, and Kraft American cheese slice to melt on the spaghetti. I have the sauces & noodles and frozen peas which I'll add as well. This should last me almost an entire week if I only eat one meal a day but I'm not serious about fasting and will sneak in 2 meals a day or 3 meals a day which by Thursday or Friday I might need to cook something else. I'm like a dog and can eat the same left-over meals for days and weeks on end, lol. No wasting here.

[QuarterMillionMan]

What is the one most dangerous carb worse than sugar itself. Hint, it is a highly processed carb. Search Dr. Eric Berg who said it causes inflammation in the gut and causes spikes in blood sugar levels.

[ua_guy]

Fasting sugar shouldn't be over 100. Going up to 120 briefly during the day when you're eating and drinking is okay. That's why we do fasting blood work. We're not terribly concerned with your reading after a meal. We don't diagnose diabetes based on that. We do it based on fasting levels and HbA1c readings (3-month average measurement).

Is fasting currently a recommended prevention for diabetes (or those who are determined to be pre-diabetic - I'm not certain of the criteria there, either)

[kork13]

Is fasting currently a recommended prevention for diabetes (or those who are determined to be pre-diabetic - I'm not certain of the criteria there, either)

FWIW ... A study from the NIH talking about fasting as a component of diabetes prevention/management. BL: It helps, but isn't a cure-all.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9534344/

I'm not sure about current medical treatment standards/recommendations (or where to research them).

[QuarterMillionMan]

Very good article Kirk. BTW the worst card even more so than auger itself is the highly processed maltodextrin and avoid it all costs.

[ua_guy]

FWIW ... A study from the NIH talking about fasting as a component of diabetes prevention/management. BL: It helps, but isn't a cure-all.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9534344/

I'm not sure about current medical treatment standards/recommendations (or where to research them).

Good info. That's the kind of information that encourages me to lean in. The data looks promising.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Fasting takes tremendous discipline. You're depriving yourself of an enjoyable activity. I eat to live, not live to eat. Imagine someone addicted to food, fasting would be out of the question. Today my blood sugar was 101 so I'm planning to do a 12 hour fast with my last meal being 6/5/25 at 3 am but I'll need to summon my will power not to eat. For me 2 meals a day is easy, but 1 meal a day is much harder.

[myrdale]

Fasting takes tremendous discipline....... For me 2 meals a day is easy, but 1 meal a day is much harder.

The worst part is always on the front end. Once you've established it as an on going habit, it is second nature.

It doesn't help that the foods we eat are addictive, and it's a life long addiction.

In the back ground, your body has all sorts of processes going on regardless of if you eat or not, a part from blood sugar. Read up on ghrelin. It is the hormone that stimulates your appetite and goes up and down throughout the day.

The ATP cycle is fascinating as well.

[ua_guy]

Fasting takes tremendous discipline. You're depriving yourself of an enjoyable activity. I eat to live, not live to eat. Imagine someone addicted to food, fasting would be out of the question. Today my blood sugar was 101 so I'm planning to do a 12 hour fast with my last meal being 6/5/25 at 3 am but I'll need to summon my will power not to eat. For me 2 meals a day is easy, but 1 meal a day is much harder.

Still not a subscriber. I can eat healthy and maintain my blood sugar and goal weight just fine without it. I have zero predisposition to diabetes, so I consider that lucky.

If someone believes they are not "addicted to food", well, then stop eating it. I have yet to see anyone be successful at that. In the end, it never works out.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Update: my blood glucose was 73 at 6 pm on 6/5/25, 15 hours after I last ate at 3 am on 6/5/25. I was planning to do a 12 hour fast when my blood glucose was 101 at 11 am on 6/5/25 but since it went way down I ate at the 15 hour mark and since I have the ground turkey spaghetti that I made yesterday. And I was hungry so never mind the 1 meal a day fast. Today will be a 2 meal day. Why torture myself, lol.

[james.hendrickson]

Update: my blood glucose was 73 at 6 pm on 6/5/25, 15 hours after I last ate at 3 am on 6/5/25. I was planning to do a 12 hour fast when my blood glucose was 101 at 11 am on 6/5/25 but since it went way down I ate at the 15 hour mark and since I have the ground turkey spaghetti that I made yesterday. And I was hungry so never mind the 1 meal a day fast. Today will be a 2 meal day. Why torture myself, lol.

Can you post the recipe for the ground turkey spaghetti?