Dietary Principles

These two terms get used as if they referred to the same thing.

They do not.

More often in the media, but even within some scientific papers, fasting is sometimes referred to as starvation.

It just isn’t.

Starvation is simply always bad, never health promoting, never safe. It is an imposed, pathological, harmful state with an accompanying negative hormonal response and loss of lean mass, organ function and immune function.

Fasting is a *potentially* physiologically adaptive state which can be used, at least some of the time, for some people, to gain health benefits. Benefits like metabolic flexibility, enhanced cellular repair and even mundane but ever popular fat loss. Unlike starvation, it can be practiced with care and safety, with appropriate monitoring and support.

Hence if you ever read or hear anyone using these terms interchangeably, you might want to query their understanding, or what they are trying to convince you of, and why.

I am not a straight up advocate for fasting. It *can* be positive. It *can* be a match for some of my client’s goals, but it is not a panacea, and there are plenty of other diet and lifestyle interventions to prioritise. When I do support a client to use fasting, it is because it is both aligned with their desired outcomes AND we have selected an approach which fits within their life AND they are supported by me, and others, as they embark on it. We will also use functional testing, where it is helpful, to monitor the results.

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I help professionals achieve optimum health using the best interventions matched to their goals, enablers and constraints.

WhatsApp me or book a free discovery call through the link in my profile if you could benefit 📲

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There are plenty of reasons to fast. Plenty of advocates for fasting. Lots of books, videos and podcasts promoting the benefits of fasting.

But why *not* fast?

When is fasting just not helpful?

I have had multiple clients express an interest in fasting, and after discussion of their personal goals, we determined it just was not a good fit.

These are well worth considering as top level reasons *not* to fast:

1. Goal Misalignment
You do not have a health goal aligned with what can be expected from fasting

2. More Muscle is Better
Even if fasting may be beneficial, you may benefit *more* by prioritising muscle development, which is definitely true for many people

3. Disordered Eating Risk
Fasting may lead you into a less healthy relationship with food, increasing anxiety and stress. A horrendous thing about disordered eating is that it is really tricky to recognise that you are heading towards it, and no easier to reverse it once you are.

4. Toxic Burden
If you lose *fat* during fasting, and you are not ready for the natural release of toxins stored within your fat tissue, the experience can be miserable, and potentially harmful

5. Nutrient Deficiencies
If you have any other health condition that emphasises the benefit of robust nutritional intake, or follow a restricted diet for any reason, fasting may well increase your risk of nutrient deficiencies.

6. Social Impact
Eating together is a huge part of relationship-building and bonding. Some forms of fasting can reduce the opportunities.

None of these are an argument against fasting per se, but rather a sense check on whether fasting will be a net positive, or net negative, for you as an individual.

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I help professionals achieve optimum health using the best interventions matched to their goals, enablers and constraints.

WhatsApp me or book a free discovery call through the link in my profile if you could benefit 📲

> Link goes to Insta, where you can message me and see the full size image.

Have you read articles or listened to podcasters or youtubers who advocate for fasting?

🤷🏼Do you feel that it might be something you *should* do, perhaps without being exactly clear on why?

📉Have you thought about fasting for weight loss or fat loss? Perhaps instead for reduced inflammation and inflammaging? Improved blood glucose control? Better concentration and focus? Maybe even increased cellular regeneration (autophagy)

🤩Do you know someone who has adopted a fasting protocol and has become enthusiastic about the benefits they have gained?

The above are clearly true for many people. I have had several clients essentially just ask me, “should I be fasting?” My first step is to ask them in return, if you did, *what* benefit would you be seeking to gain? Some have a clear answer. Most do not. That is okay! It is my job to help them think it through. In 2 out of 3 cases, the result of talking it through is that fasting is confirmed as *not* the best fit for their goals and they simply feel happier about *not* doing it. In the remaining cases, we move on to selecting an approach to fasting that does match their goals and critically, their lifestyle, including social pleasures and commitments.

So if you are interested, I would suggest considering -

❓What benefit do you want to gain?
❔Is there human trial evidence that fasting can deliver that benefit?
❓What other interventions could also deliver that benefit?
❔Is fasting preferable to those alternatives?
❓How can fasting fit into your lifestyle?
❔Fasting *can* be beneficial but it can also act as a stressor, so if you are going ahead, when is an appropriate time for you to try it?
❓Are there any contraindications relevant to your health status that mean you should not fast?

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I help professionals achieve optimum health using the best interventions matched to their goals, enablers and constraints.

WhatsApp me or book a free discovery call through the link in my profile if you could benefit 📲

> Link goes to Insta, where you can message me and see the full size image.

Andropause, also known as male menopause, manopause, testosterone deficiency, androgen deficiency in the aging male (ADAM) and a few other names refers to reduced testosterone and accompanying symptoms.

There are dietary factors which appear to lower testosterone, raise it, and have no clear effect. So which appears to lower it?

1. Low fat, below 20% of calories. e.g., if on a 2,500 kcal diet, 20% is 500 kcal, which would be around 55 grams of fat.

2. Low carb, below 35% of calories. e.g., if on a 2,500 kcal diet, 35% is 875 kcal, which is around 219 grams carbs. However, note that fully ketogenic diets, which would typically have only about 5% of calories as carbohydrates, are an exception.

3. Very high protein, at greater than 3.4 grams per kg bodyweight per day. Note that moderately high protein, like 1.6 grams per kg bodyweight recommended for optimal support for muscle building, is far lower and not associated with any negative effect

4. Low energy availability resulting from caloric restriction to under 30 kcal per kg of fat-free mass per day. For example, for a 80kg man with 65kg fat free mass (thus around 19% bodyfat) this would mean under 1,950 kcal per day. Note this refers to daily caloric restriction rather than fasting.

5. Greater consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF), refined grain products, added sugar products and fried foods.

There is also *some* suggestion that higher intakes of polyunsaturated fats, relative to saturated fats and monounsaturated fats, is also associated with lower testosterone, but with less certainty than these other factors.

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I help men of any age improve their natural testosterone, with all the mental, physical and emotional benefits this delivers. This is my specialist area & I am welcoming new clients. Message me or book a free discovery call if you could benefit 📲

> Link goes to Insta, where you can message me and see the full size image.

Within my own practice, and others I know, there is a striking dichotomy between people that find rules more helpful and those that find flexibility preferable.

Imagine, if you can, that you like chocolate candy bars and you also have a body composition goal to reduce your bodyfat. What is the best approach?

❌No chocolate candy, ever? 🍫

The rule offers simplicity and certainty. It spares you from the tyranny of decision-making. It eliminates doubt and enables consistency.

It also binds you. It stifles spontaneity. It might deny you some shared experiences with friends & family. It might trigger anxiety and unhealthy behaviours and thoughts.

✅Chocolate candy, sometimes? 🍫

This approach gives you flexibility. It does not oppress you. It respects your capacity to balance consistency with freedom.

It also means on any given day, any given hour, you *could* have chocolate candy.

What does a balanced approach actually look like? How do you choose? If you have decision fatigue at the end of a day or a terrible time at work or something similar, will this likely result in you making a choice that pleases you in the moment but does not support your goals? If yes, what next? Does the departure from your intentions undermine your confidence and commitment?

Rules vs Flexibility in practice

I am yet to discover a way to *know* what will work best for a person up front. Asking works well of course and some people do have the insight and self-awareness to know.

For others, I find a helpful approach is to:

1. Create a shared awareness of this dichotomy
2. Start out with flexibility
3. Plan a review
4. Assess whether the flexible approach is a good fit for your personality, goals, support and environment
5. Continue with flexibility if it is a good fit OR switch over to try out a rule

Do you know what works best for *you* already?

Link goes to a full size image, on Instagram, where you are welcome to ask or tell me anything.

Protein Principles for Optimal Health

There is debate over whether a high protein or low protein intake is most supportive of health. Advocacy for a low protein intake is typically based on concern that a higher protein intake will upregulate metabolic processes that accelerate aging and age related disease risk. There is some evidence for this albeit mainly in mice.

Set against this, advocacy for a higher protein intake is usually based on the certainty that higher protein intakes support increased muscle, and muscle is a highly current and long term health supporting organ, providing functionality (being able to *do* stuff), reducing the risk of injury, and acting as an endocrine organ, secreting myokines with multiple health supporting effects.

If you choose to prefer the higher protein approach, the key principles to apply are:

1. Total Protein Intake

There is a fair consensus that for actively exercise individuals, protein intakes of 1.4 to 2.0 grams per kilo bodyweight (0.63 to 0.9 grams per lb) is safe and supports improved recovery and adaptation to exercise

2. Protein Dosing Per Meal

There is a demonstrated increase in muscle protein synthesis from meals that contain a minimum of 25 grams of protein and 3-4 grams of the leucine amino acid, making this an ideal target to apply per meal.

You may read that there is a "maximum" amount of protein one can benefit form within a single meal, but initial research that led to this understanding was using extremely rapidly digesting whey protein. Slower digesting proteins and mixed meals will change that picture completely.

3. Protein Intake Timing

Since there is no effective longer term 'pool' of amino acids for the body to use, unlike stores of fat and glucose, and since there will be an upper limit to how much protein can be effectively utilised from a single meal, it is ideal to take in protein rich meals 3 or more times daily.

For example, if aiming for 100 total grams of protein daily, 3 meals each containing 30+ grams.

4. Protein Quality

The key quality features are how well the amino acid profile of a protein sources matches what is typically needed, and how much of the protein in a food will be digested and absorbed.

Great wholefood sources include eggs, muscle meat, organ meat, fish, bivalves (such as mussels), cottage cheese and some dairy.

It is possible to obtain sufficient protein for all the above from plant-based sources, with some caveats. One is that the amino acid composition is often less ideal in plant based sources compared to the better animal based sources such as whey, egg, fish and lean meats. One can address this by combining different sources and eating more total protein.

Secondly, wholefood plant based protein is usually bound up in a complex fibrous matrix that may render some of the protein undigested as it passes through the small intestine.

Last, plant based protein sources often contain more carbohydrate than protein. Plant-based protein powders can work around this issue.

Top plant based options include fermented soy products (tempeh, some tofu, natto) and lupin or lupini beans, which have a far higher protein content than all others. Mycoprotein, from fungi, is also a great option, for example, from the Quorn brand (available in the UK)

5. Protein Powders

Protein powders are not essential for most, but do provide simple and quickly available protein which can be consumed alone or mixed into a meal, shake or soup.

Protein powders will often not provide the added nutritional qualities - micronutrients and phytonutrients - that wholefood sources do, so they are ideally used as part of, but not the only and not the main protein source.

In addition to the popular whey and vegan blends suitable for shakes and smoothies, one can use savoury proteins such as beef, pea and pumpkin seed for adding to soups and dips and as the "flour" base for high protein bread.

> Link goes to the International Society of Sports nutrition Position on Protein and Exercise