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-   -   Intermittent Fasting: A Popular Diet With Serious Psychological Risks (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=482861)

Demi Tue, Jul-30-19 02:55

Intermittent Fasting: A Popular Diet With Serious Psychological Risks
 
Intermittent Fasting: A Popular Diet With Serious Psychological Risks

"Not only does dieting not work, it causes harm. That's the bottom line."


https://www.inverse.com/article/580...ks-binge-eating


Quote:
To follow most diets, you have to give something up: dessert, carbs, or even a whole day of eating. But often, that’s not all. Sometimes, your mental state and emotional health can take a hit too. Here, four experts tell Inverse the sneaky ways diets like intermittent fasting can both improve mental health and jeopardize it.
Quote:
But some dietitians caution that so-called “restrictive diets” can be dangerous for some people, exacerbating unhealthy eating patterns like emotional eating, binge eating, and eating disorders.
“Intermittent fasting is a gateway to an eating disorder,” Evelyn Tribole, registered dietitian and co-author of Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works, tells Inverse.
Quote:
Nutrition therapist Sondra Kronberg, founder and executive director of the Eating Disorder Treatment Collaborative, agrees. “A very small percentage of the population can do this kind of dieting and not have any long-term impact. And by long-term impact I mean not have any recoil,” she tells Inverse.

DaisyDawn Tue, Jul-30-19 07:33

I've done IF protocols for 7 years now and hanging out on other IF forums and such, it definitely can be abused by those who struggle with EDs. But, for those of us who don't have those issues then yeah, no :p

It really is surreal how we have gotten into a pattern of eating All.The.Time. This pattern was NOT normal 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago! The constant snacking, the mindless eating during screen time etc, are all fairly new occurrences. Paired with our changing food system and its been a recipe for complete disaster to our health.

Also, I've read Tribole's book/spent some time on her site-not impressed at all.

teaser Tue, Jul-30-19 08:42

Quote:
“People can go on a fast and think that it is going to be healthy for them, and it may in fact be, but then they’ll come off and they’ll binge for three weeks,” she says.


I think a three week binge is fairly likely--if we're talking about extended fasting. Or if fasting is used in addition to a semi-starvation diet rather than instead of a semi-starvation diet. Or if the food eaten when you're not fasting is of the wrong sort. I ate Atkins, my weight went down. My appetite naturally decreased, and I became spontaneously more active. Also intentionally more active, but I'll call that spontaneous as well. If you always intended to walk 3 miles a day, but only found the energy to do so once on a ketogenic diet--it may be a structured exercise program, but now you're not fighting against your natural inclination.



So I lost weight. So what happens when you're 30 pounds down--because a change in diet effectively decreased your setpoint by that much--and then you go back to the SAD? Suddenly you're lazier, you're hungrier. You binge. Go on a less insulinogenic food plan between fasts, while eating sufficient food, and things might be a bit different.

Problem with fasting--even though appetite might decrease while you're on it--Seth Roberts of the Shangri-La diet fame postulated fasting as one thing that might decrease your body weight set point, and this might explain why people with sufficient body fat often experience lack of hunger during fasting--if your appetite largely depends on what you've recently eaten, go back to SAD between fasts, and suddenly your body acts as if it's starving, and you binge.

I discovered the benefit of a more ketogenic, higher fat diet after using higher protein, more 'moderate' fat to lean out a few years ago. Moderate goes in quotes because my response to this approach wasn't moderate, it resulted in binges, including carbohydrate binges--something very rare in my then already more than a decade of faithful low carb eating. Going to an 'extreme' ketogenic diet stopped the binges in their tracks. Protein, supposedly the most 'satiating' of the macronutrients, totally failed me once my body fat was below a certain level.

If I wanted to go on a three week binge, all I'd have to do is go back to the SAD for three weeks, and I'm not even fasting much these days. That would hardly invalidate what I've been doing up to this point.

Intuitive eating. There's these baby birds that will respond to a red spot on their mother's beak. Paint an exaggeration of the spot on a wooden stick, and they'll respond to that--instinctively, respond to it more strongly than they do to their mother. There's also a male beetle in Australia that prefers stubby beer bottles to the females of its own species. Intuitive eating works when the environment isn't designed to hijack your natural instincts. That ain't us.

CityGirl8 Fri, Aug-02-19 10:35

It's funny, because I bought that "breakfast is the most important meal" line. Even on a low-carb diet, I made special efforts to have breakfast everyday. I'd take smoothies or other portable food on my car commute or if I was home tried to eat within an hour of waking up otherwise I'd lose track of time and forget to eat that all-important meal. When I started to read about IF and TRE, I realized that my natural instinct was to eat my first meal somewhere between 10:30 and noon--a 14 to 16-hour fast from my last meal. How's that for intuitive eating?

GRB5111 Fri, Aug-02-19 11:40

You're very plugged in to your intuition and are following your natural preferences for when to eat. It's great, and that's really what it's all about. I also bought the claim about breakfast and its importance, until I realized after going strict low carb that I wasn't hungry until around mid-day or early afternoon. So, I went with it, and it works for me. In this case regarding the article posted by Demi, there are many who believe that some who have had eating disorders would be well advised not to approach fasting as part of a normal WOE. I agree with this cautionary concern, but we are all different and to paint something with broad strokes as dangerous for all is simply wrong.

Little Me Fri, Aug-02-19 17:46

I believe the whole “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” spiel was likely created to sell cereal. Just a hunch.

Meme#1 Fri, Aug-02-19 20:29

Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Me
I believe the whole “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” spiel was likely created to sell cereal. Just a hunch.


I definitely agree with this, a sly marketing ploy.

Ambulo Sat, Aug-03-19 01:46

So, I am in year 6 of my eating disorder ... Still very happy. Just as the wise low carber does not return to the SAD, the wise IFer does not return to 6 small meals spread over 16 hours.

cotonpal Sat, Aug-03-19 04:52

Lot's of things that are beneficial for most people can be detrimental to others. Lots of people get great benefit from going on silent meditation retreats whereas for some relatively few others such silent meditations retreats can trigger a psychotic episode. The fact that IF can be harmful for some people prone to eating disorders does not mean that it is harmful to the majority of people just as the fact that a silent retreat might trigger psychosis in some people does not mean that it is not beneficial to many people.

WereBear Wed, Aug-07-19 12:25

Quote:
Originally Posted by cotonpal
Lot's of things that are beneficial for most people can be detrimental to others. Lots of people get great benefit from going on silent meditation retreats whereas for some relatively few others such silent meditations retreats can trigger a psychotic episode. The fact that IF can be harmful for some people prone to eating disorders does not mean that it is harmful to the majority of people just as the fact that a silent retreat might trigger psychosis in some people does not mean that it is not beneficial to many people.


Jean, you have put a whole new slant on taking a silent retreat :lol: I think being alone in a cabin in the woods would work much better for me :)

WereBear Wed, Aug-07-19 12:28

I had an eating disorder, and low carb helped me fix it. Over the last six months I've been fasting with zealotry, up to three days, and no problem.

Of course, I was eating very low carb during the fasting, I was fat adaptive, and I agree with Teaser that diving back into the SAD would be awful for all concerned.

Meme#1 Wed, Aug-07-19 13:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by WereBear
I think being alone in a cabin in the woods would work much better for me :)


Me too, I vote for the cabin in the woods! :)

Ms Arielle Wed, Aug-07-19 13:28

Oh, can I come, too?? Lol

A point we have not touched on..... The far reaching effects of the SAD is chronic diseases/ obesity/ cancer all of which are likely FAR more detrimental to our health than the problems LC/keto/fasting might cause.

Seems to me we have a few million obese people that would benefit, a benefit that outweighs the risks.

Meme#1 Wed, Aug-07-19 13:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Arielle
Oh, can I come, too?? Lol


DEFINITELY!! :D

Ms Arielle Wed, Aug-07-19 16:12

I'll bring the cheesecake, LC of course!!


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