Practical Longevity

How to Manufacture the Greatest Sleep of Your Life (Part 1)

Thu, 11 May 2017 06:17:00 +0000

To Sleep Is to Live
Sleep is the single most underestimated ingredient impacting your health and life. Sleep is so powerful, in fact, that making even tiny improvements to this activity we spend ⅓ of our time doing can radically improve the quality of our health and our lives.
This post (part 1 of 2, so stay tuned) will introduce you to the basics of how sleep works, and, more importantly, reveal some of our secrets to manufacturing the greatest sleep of your life.

On average, each of us spends nearly 36% of our time sleeping . Given the average lifespan, that’s more than ⅓ of our time here on earth. By the time we reach age 75, we’ll have spent 25 of those years asleep.
Yet we know surprisingly little about this thing we spend so much time doing. One thing we do know, however, is that sleep is essential to the human condition.
By the time you finish reading, I’m going to convince you that sublime sleep is the most important ingredient in great health. I’ll do so by explaining the science that illustrates how sleep regulates both your health and your quality of life.
But knowledge without action is worthless. That’s why each lesson will include a tip for improving the quantity and quality of your sleep.
After all, if you’re going to spend ⅓ of your life doing something you may as well be good at it.
Let’s start with the basics. Sleep occurs in 5 stages.
The stages of sleep, in order from lightest to deepest, are REM (rapid eye movement), non-REM 1, non-REM 2, non-REM 3, and non-REM 4 (also known as deep sleep). Each of us, when sleeping, passes fluidly through these stages in what is known as the sleep-wake cycle.
The most important stages are REM and non-REM 4 because it’s in these stages that some of the most critical processes of our brain and body are regulated.
REM is recognizable by heightened brain activity. It’s responsible for memory connection, learning, and neuronal growth. Time in REM sleep enhances your creativity and can even help you solve complex problems. You also dream during REM.
In deep sleep (non-REM 4) your heart rate slows, blood pressure lowers, breathing becomes regular, and you become less responsive to your environment. In this stage of sleep, your body releases growth hormone to stimulate muscle and tissue repair.
In short, REM sleep heals your mind and deep sleep heals your body. The amount of time you spend in these stages determines the quality of your sleep. There are two ways to achieve more time in REM and deep sleep (non-REM 4).
1. Get more sleep.
Adults need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, sometimes more, to be at their mental and physical best. But the average American only sleeps about 6.9 hours per night and 30% of adults report sleeping less than 6. We’re sleep deprived, and it’s a serious issue.
Many people mistakenly think the recommended 7-9 hours is an average. But sleeping 6 hours tonight and 9 tomorrow night to average 8 hours simply doesn’t work. You must get 7 to 9 hours of sleep EACH night.
As soon as you drop below 7 hours, you begin to suffer the consequences of sleep deprivation. Sleeping a little extra the next day (or on weekends) doesn’t make up for the loss, especially for your brain. (Brues, 2010)
While “making up” sleep can diminish daytime sleepiness, reduce inflammation, and restore cortisol back to baseline levels, it cannot return mental performance--things like attention and focus--to normal. (Pejovic, 2013)
More sleep equals better sleep.

2. Sleep at the right time of night.
According to Dr. Matt Walker, head of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, “The time of night when you sleep makes a significant difference in terms of the structure and quality of your sleep”.
Timing matters. Aim to fall asleep between 8p and midnight every night. Missing this window throws off your sleep cycle causing you to lose valuable time in REM and deep sleep.
This doesn’t seem like too much to ask of ourselves; 7 to 9 hours is a reasonable amount and most people already go to sleep at the same time every night.
Sleep deprivation has been likened to dying.
Without sufficient deep sleep and REM sleep the body literally begins to die.
If you deprive yourself of sleep, you’re unable to recover physically, your immune system weakens, and your brain becomes foggy.
Or, as the researchers put it, “sleep deprived individuals experience increased risk of viral infections, weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, mental illness, and mortality.”
In fact, sleeping less than 6 hours per night adds 10% to your mortality chances, meaning the amount of sleep you get directly predicts your longevity.
To sleep is to live.
Sleep & Stress
In conjunction with our national sleep deprivation crisis, we also have a national stress crisis.
Stress is a physical condition associated with the release of various hormones by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis is an adaptive system that allows we humans to maintain homeostasis or balance in our ever-changing environment.
But not all stress is bad. The HPA axis gives us jolts of energy and increases alertness when we need it most, like in fight or flight situations. It’s essential to survival.
Stress becomes problematic when environmental factors, like a stressful job, cause chronically elevated HPA activity, or chronic stress, a condition associated with high circulating levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), norepinephrine and other hormones that lead to a variety of health issues, not the least of which is impaired sleep. (Bush, 2010)
This isn’t a revelation since most of us know we don’t sleep well when we’re stressed.
What you may not know is that this equation also works in reverse. While stress results in poor sleep, poor sleep or too little sleep induces stress.
Studies have shown that dropping from 8 hours of sleep to only 6 increases morning circulating cortisol levels by up to 50%, so you’re stressed out before your day has even begun.
This makes it clear that getting a good night’s sleep can lower stress. So if you’re stressed out and not sleeping well, sleep more.
Which brings us to my first tip for sleeping like a champion. Sleep Improvement Tip #1: Be Consistent

Your body loves consistency. It’s actually wired with an internal clock that’s designed to perform certain actions at specific times of day. It can’t be rewired and it doesn’t like change.
Humans evolved to operate in sync with the sun--something known as Circadian Rhythm. Trying to fight against natural Circadian Rhythm wreaks havoc on your health. (Fonken, 2013) So, to stay in rhythm with your Rhythm:

Wake up at the same time every day, and make it early--preferably between 5 and 8. That goes for weekends too. Sleeping in on weekends throws off your rhythm for the week to come.
Go to bed at the same time each night. The optimal time is between 8p and midnight, which ensures that you’re asleep during the early morning hours when your body cycles into that much-needed deep sleep.

Remember that you’re aiming for 7 to 9 hours EACH night.
Sleep & Metabolism
The sleep-stress relationship is a two-way street; lack of sleep causes stress, and sufficient sleep reduces stress.
Sleep affects your metabolism in the same way, especially in regards to your weight.
Sleeping less than 5 hours per night can actually increase your risk of obesity by 150%. (Cappuccio, 2008)
One study showed that losing just 30 minutes of sleep leads to significant weight gain. (Taheri, 2015)
What’s going on between sleep and metabolism?
1. Sleep deprivation, or sleep debt, throws off the hormones that regulate appetite by stimulating ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and suppressing leptin, the satiety hormone. This makes you hungry.
Additionally, when your brain is tired from lack of sleep it becomes desperate for energy which it typically gets in the form of glucose. Because glucose is most readily available from sugar and carbohydrates, you begin to crave those things.
Sleep loss doesn’t just cause cravings, it causes junk food cravings. (Cauter, 2012)
2. Lack of sleep also impairs your glucose metabolism, causing insulin resistance (a precursor of metabolic disease) that deprives your body’s tissues of needed fuel even when fuel is available in your blood stream. (Gottlieb, 2005)
In other words, your body is unable to use all that junk food you’ve just given it so you’re still hungry. Get trapped in this cycle for too long and your body will lose it’s ability to regulate blood sugar and fat.
One study, in fact, showed that reducing sleep by 3 hours per night can completely negate the effects of restricting calories to as few as 600. (Chaput, 2012)
Proper sleep is the foundation of any effective weight loss or weight management plan. Sleeping less than 7 or more than 9 hours per night will counteract your weight loss efforts. So stay in the zone! Sleep Improvement Tip #2: Develop a Nighttime Routine

There’s nothing worse than being exhausted but laying in bed wide awake because you can’t get the wheels in your brain to stop turning. The brain has to be given an opportunity to shift into a lower gear.
And since you’re now going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (remember, Tip #1), falling asleep easily and on time is essential for a good night’s rest.
Remember how your body loves consistency? This is especially true before falling asleep. Insert nighttime routine.
A nighttime routine calms your brain. It also conditions your body and mind to fall asleep at a certain time each day.
Nighttime routines don’t have to be long. The most effective range from 15 minutes up to an hour and the key to a successful one is selecting calming activities. Here are a few to consider:

Turn off all electronics: tv, phones, tablets, computers, all of it. This is a must.
Dim all the lights in your house, especially the bathroom.
Take a bath with epsom salts.
Wash your face / brush your teeth.
Listen to calming music.
Do some relaxation exercises, such as meditation or deep breathing.
Write down things you need to accomplish the next day to get them out of your mind.
Have a relaxing drink (other than alcohol). Try this tea concoction from Tim Ferriss, renowned everything hacker.
- Here are some other relaxing tea ingredients to look for.
Read fiction.(See what I’m currently reading below).

Don’t expect your nighttime routine to work perfectly on day one. Experiment with different activities and find what works for you. It’s just one more ingredient to help you create the best sleep of your life.
My Nighttime Book: “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles"
Sleep & Disease Risk
Hormonal disruptions--or metabolic disruptions--caused by sleep loss lead to weight gain. If unchecked for too long, these same disruptions can lead to metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.
Your disease risk is linked to sleep because sleep impacts how your body signals hunger and satiety, metabolizes glucose, and maintains energy balance. (Schmid, 2015)
Ample studies have found that disruption of the body's natural sleep cycle—as experienced by shift workers—significantly worsens metabolic health and escalates rates of chronic illness and early death. (Borba Brum, 2015)
Sleep deprivation is also closely associated with mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
Some studies link these illnesses to your body’s inability, when it’s sleep deprived, to clear out metabolic waste that builds up in the brain during waking hours. (Xie, 2013)
The relationship between sleep deprivation and metabolic or mental disorders is, forgive the cliche, a chicken and egg situation, since new studies are confirming that lack of sleep does predispose you to these conditions.
But the good news is that there is more and more evidence showing that improving sleep can positively affect your mental and physical condition - even in severe cases of sleep-related illnesses. (Rusch, 2015)
Bottom line, consistently getting sufficient, quality sleep lowers your risk of developing metabolic diseases and mental disorders.
Which brings us, once again, to the importance of improving the quantity and quality of your sleep. Sleep Improvement Tip #3: No Caffeine after 2 p.m.

Caffeine is a drug--an amazing one that 85% of Americans use on a daily basis.
Random fact: coffee accounts for about 54% of all caffeine intake.
Relax, I’m not asking you to stop drinking coffee. Coffee has many potential health benefits such as protecting your liver from cirrhosis, reducing heart disease risk, and even preventing neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. (van Dam, 2005) (Santos, 2010)
The caffeine in the coffee, however, does make it difficult to fall asleep and disrupts sleep quality during the night.
Because caffeine has a metabolic half-life of 3-5 hours, it takes your body that long to process and eliminate half your caffeine intake. Consequently, caffeine can disrupt sleep even when ingested as early as 6 hours before bedtime. (Drake, 2013)
The simplest way to avoid its impact on sleep is to stop caffeine intake at least 6 hours prior to bedtime, preferably 8 hours.
Sleep & Fatigue
We discussed how sleep debt cripples your body’s ability to use energy even when it’s available, an impairment that elevates disease risk.
Another side effect of hormonal or metabolic dysregulation that can be equally as dangerous is fatigue accompanied by loss of productivity.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fatigue is a cause in 100,000 auto crashes and 1,550 crash-related deaths each year in the U.S.
Quality sleep allows your body to clean out the metabolic waste (junk left over from the process of creating energy) from the previous day, ensuring that when you feed your body again its systems are primed to absorb and deliver energy where it’s needed.
Without sufficient sleep you can’t create enough energy no matter how much you eat.
Sleep loss weakens your immune system. And when the immune system is weak, it takes what it needs to regain its strength from your body’s energy stores. This depletes the energy available to perform basic daily tasks.
Sleep debt also intensifies physical pain, or aches, because it prevents your body from fully refreshing the neurotransmitters that suppress pain. Now your body is working extra hard to shush the pain - another energy drain.
Depriving your body of sleep for long periods of time can be even more detrimental to your health. 48 hours without sleep actually impairs oxygen intake and anaerobic power, which affects your athletic potential, physical coordination, stamina, cognitive abilities, and focus. (Engle-Friedman, 2014)
Sleep deprivation is like being drunk.
And being drunk is bad for productivity. (Kirby, 2013)

Burning the midnight oil or putting in a few extra hours to get ahead, “just for a few weeks”, is a losing proposition. It will significantly decrease the quality of your work output and life.
To be your best at whatever you’re doing, sleep more and sleep better. Sleep Improvement Tip #4: Turn the Temp Down

Your body’s ability to change its internal temperature, known as thermoregulation, is linked to how you move through the various sleep cycles. As the night progresses, your core temperature drops.
Consequently, cool environments are best because they mimic your body’s natural temperature changes during sleep.
65 to 69 degrees Fahrenheit (18 to 21 degrees Celsius) is the ideal range for sleep - lower is better.
Just be sure to keep your extremities warm. Cold hands and feet are a sign of poor blood circulation and cause wakefulness. (Heller, 2012)
Consider wearing loose fitting socks, or placing a warm water bottle by your feet. Cold room; warm body.

That's all for part 1! What are your best sleep hacks? Let us know in the comments below.

Sleep tight.

Bodybuilding: Will It Extend or Shorten Lifespan?

Mon, 24 Apr 2017 09:03:00 +0000

Bodybuilding has changed a lot during its short life, but the motivation behind it hasn’t. Bodybuilding is all about the gain train.
We lift to look good, to be strong, and because we like it - health is an afterthought.
But society has become increasingly health conscious. Within the past decade human lifespan and longevity have come to the forefront of health interest.
We’re even seeing this interest work it’s way out of research environments and into specific activities, sports, and realms of fitness. Even bodybuilding.
This integration of fitness and longevity has presented an interesting complication, the two pursuits seem to contradict each other.
It’s as if there’s a fork in the road with one way leading to optimal performance and the other to optimal longevity.
Does it have to be this way? Must we prioritize one over the other?
Regardless, you chose bodybuilding - meathead.

I’m totally with you. Muscles are legit, which is why I’m writing this article.
So let’s look at how bodybuilding, or muscle, affects your body, and attempt to answer whether or not the pursuit of gains can live in harmony with longevity (along with some random awesome photos of course).
The Physiology: What Happens to Your Body When You Lift, Bro?
First, What is Muscle?
Muscle is bands of fibrous tissues in the body that control movement, and for a long time this is all we understood it to do.
But within the last 20 years research has shown that muscle also functions as an endocrine system - it regulates the function of other cells and tissues by releasing hormones and myokines. (R)
Myokines are cytokines produced by the muscle. Cytokines are tiny proteins that send signals or commands to other cells around your body.
When you bodybuild / resistance train / weight lift you are telling your muscles to release even more of these signals.
What then is muscle signalling your body to do? And do we want more or less of it? Answering these questions will reveal the health benefits or consequences of lifting. Muscle Sends Signals to Your Body to . . . Boost Fat Oxidation

Muscle is the primary regulator of leanness.
Resistance training releases the myokine Interleukin (IL)-6, which increases fat oxidation within skeletal muscle via AMPK phosphorylation - it forces your body to burn fat for energy. (R)
Lifting also depletes your muscle glycogen stores and increases glucose uptake and glucose transporters so sugars are better utilized and less likely to be converted into fat. (R)
This restores insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism function leading to further reduction in fat mass over time. All of which lowers your chances of becoming obese and developing fat related diseases such as type 2 diabetes. (R, R)
Reduced fat mass also improves leptin (satiety hormone) and ghrelin (hunger hormone) regulation. This helps your body determine how much food it needs and protect you against over eating. (R, R, R)
You’re now better able to burn fat less likely to store it, can efficiently utilize energy because your metabolism has improved, and consequently have less inflammation, which brings me to my next point. Lower Chronic Inflammation (The Bad Kid)
Chronic inflammation is systemic (all throughout your body) and raises your metabolic disease risk. (R)
Muscle plays a vital role in the fight against chronic inflammation by releasing IL-6, which is accelerated when you lift. IL-6 is especially unique because in addition to regulating cells and tissues, it appears to also regulate other cytokines.
In the presence of IL-6 inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1b and TNF-alpha decrease, and anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-1ra increase. A deadly combo for chronic inflammation.
Resistance training also causes acute inflammation via release of IL-8 and other cytokines that attract cells called neutrophils to the area for repair. (R)
This type of inflammation is isolated to specific areas and is good for your body.
Lastly, resistance training also lowers plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory substance released by the liver that’s considered a reliable marker of disease risk.
Low inflammation makes you feel and perform better, and also protects your body against against oxidative stress, ultimately slowing the process of aging. (R) Improve Brain Function

Lifting raises Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which is crucial for neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) and improves learning, memory, and higher thinking. (R, R)
The dumb jock really is a myth. (R)
Furthermore, exercise of all kinds has been proven to prevent cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disease, slow brain aging, and increases brain size & memory. (R, R, R) Improve Bone Density
Resistance training improves bone density, protecting against osteoporosis. (R)
Denser bones means less injury, which leads to healthier aging. Lengthen Telomeres
Telomeres are protective caps at the end of DNA strands that facilitate cell division, which is how your body replaces and repairs old or worn out cells. This is a basic function of life.
Each time a cell divides telomeres become shorter. When they get too short cells can no longer divide, this is called senescence, or cell death.
This process of telomere shortening is associated with aging, disease, cancer, and higher risk of death, so much so that telomeres have been likened to a bomb fuse. (R)
The good news is that there are ways to reverse the process and lengthen telomeres, resistance training is one of them. Grow & Preserve Muscle
Muscle naturally deteriorates as we age, a condition known as sarcopenia. Weight lifting fights this by releasing growth hormone and testosterone. (R, R)
There’s some debate over the long term health effects, however, because although both hormones are necessary for preserving healthy bodily function into old age, they also seem to accelerate aging. (R)
Resistance training also releases other growth factors such as IL-15 that decreases protein degradation and mTOR - this is where the gains come from. (R)
Once again, although essential for maintaining muscle mass, these growth factors seem to accelerate aging and increase susceptibility to age related diseases. Hmm. (R, R) The Paradox: Growth Simultaneously Slows and Accelerates Aging
We’ve learned that muscle, specifically strength, is good for maintaining mobility and avoiding injury as you age; that muscle mass keeps you lean; exercise lowers chronic inflammation; lifting improves brain function and bone density; and resistance training lengthens telomeres - all incredible benefits that are essential for healthy aging.
On the other hand, the very same pathways required for growth and these results also accelerate aging and increase your susceptibility to age related diseases.
The answer lies in alternating periods of growth with periods of rest and repair; anabolism with catabolism; creation with destruction.
Healthy aging demands both. How to Bodybuild for Longevity, a Dual Sided Approach. Step 1: Properly Manage Growth
Growth is great - as long as you do it right. Stay Natural
Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), anabolic steroids, and exogenous hormones can down regulate your body’s natural hormone production over time.
Inhibiting your body’s ability to naturally perform necessary functions will damage your health and shorten your lifespan. (R)
Speaking of supplements, don’t overdo it. Taking 10 times the prescribed amount can lead to liver toxicity and over stimulation. It’s also best to cycle on and off them. Avoid Injuries
You want to be the strongest dude around, and definitely can’t be outdone by your workout buddy.
So you go too heavy too soon and perform reps with improper form putting excessive strain on your skeletal structure and tendons because your muscles aren’t yet developed enough to handle the load, and you get injured.
Injuries shorten life.
Check your ego. If you can’t lift it with perfect form, it’s too heavy. Learn Proper Nutrition

Body builders and weight lifters tend to be more nutritionally aware than “cardio-ers”, but there are still a lot of misconceptions floating around.
For starters, if you’re fat you aren’t doing it right. Leanness matters.
Probably the biggest myth is that you need 1g of protein per pound of body weight. You don’t.
Studies have shown that there are no additional benefits for muscle development (protein synthesis) beyond 0.82 g of protein per pound of body weight, which is the number they fell on after adding two standard deviations to their results to guarantee no benefits were left out, which means 0.82 is significantly higher than what they found in the study.
On the other side you only need about 0.55 to perfectly preserve lean mass. So keep your protein intake between 0.55 and 0.82g per pound of body weight. (R)
More than that spikes mTOR and IGF-1 levels, which accelerates aging and is associated with age related diseases such as osteoporosis and dementia. (R)
Elevated mTOR and IGF-1 also suppress autophagy, your body’s own recycling system that is critical for optimal anti-aging. (R) Beware of Overtraining
Training 6 days per week without proper recovery can lead to hyperthyroidism, high levels of cortisol, and adrenal stress that leads to extra fat storage, loss of energy, poor performance or plateaus, immune deficiencies, mood imbalances, and other side effects. (R)
How do you know if you’re overtraining? Maybe you’re struggling to get through a workout, or gaining fat despite increasing intensity, or your body just aches. (R)
If you’re training frequently you need to plan time for recovery. (R)
Sleep is the most important element of recovery. Sleep deficits boost cortisol and lower testosterone to inhibit protein synthesis. No sleep, no gains. (R, R)
Additionally, studies continue to show that you may not have to lift as often as you think to improve your strength and make size gains. (R) Balance to Your Routine
Try not to focus on muscle building at the expense of joint and tendon care, and cardio respiratory exercise. I know, cardio.
I’m not saying you have to jog every day, but try to incorporate at least on day of HIIT (sprints) with jump rope, hill sprints, cycle sprints, tabata - there’s lots of options. Besides HIIT is better for your heart than traditional cardio with the added benefit of accelerating fat oxidation.
And add two or three days of mobility training to your weekly routine - maintaining mobility is increasingly important as you age. (R)

Step 2: Rest & Repair
Your body has it’s own process process for this, it’s called autophagy.
Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process that is essential to maintaining homeostasis within the body. (R, R)
It breaks down old and worn out parts within your cells and discards or reuses them, parts that are replaced through the growth processes above. (R)
Think of it as your own recycling program.
Boosting it slows aging. (R)
Additionally, autophagy improves muscle growth and performance. Any use of energy, especially during exercise, damages cell components such as mitochondria. These damaged parts build up over time. Autophagy goes in and clears the damage out. (R)
How can you boost autophagy?
One way is with calorie restriction, from a normal diet and not your bulking diet. Aim to restrict calories down to 40% to 60%, somewhere between 800 to 1,200 calories for a few days (3 to 5). (R)
Do this a few times per year. Once per month would be optimal for longevity, but once per quarter would also work just fine. (R)
The best way to boost autophagy, though, is by fasting. Fasting is the ultimate form of calorie restriction making it the ultimate tool in the longevity kit.
There are many variations of fasting, all of which stimulate autophagy and are beneficial for longevity.
Intermittent fasting is a protocol popularized by Martin Berkhan and has become fairly common in the bodybuilding community. (R)
Single day fasts also work great, although extended fasting still reigns supreme.
There’s also a new method out known fasting mimicking, which is essentially severe calorie restriction for a period of 5 days that has been shown to produce up to 90% of the benefits of pure fasting. (R, R) In Closing, Be Consistent
Focus on building a lifestyle of continual improvement and sustainable activity. Never get comfortable in your routine. Never stop pursuing the gains.
None of this stuff works in isolation, and none of the benefits are permanent. (R)
But if you keep lifting you'll keep your muscle. And if you keep fasting you'll slow aging.
Consistently alternate periods of growth with periods of rest and repair, and you may just extend your healthy years beyond what you ever thought could be possible - like Mark, who's 63.

Stay young,
Grant

VIDEO: 5 Day Water Fast (Energy, Mood, Hunger, Sleep, & How NOT to Break a Fast)

Wed, 22 Mar 2017 09:33:00 +0000

I'm a big proponent of fasting - all types of fasting.
Fasting radically improved my health and changed the way I think about food and the human body.
I'm a firm believer that everyone should be using this powerful practice, but I also recognize that it can be intimidating.
Which is why I created the LifeBox Core Plan. It's a fasting diet that allows you to get all the benefits of fasting without most of the discomfort.
I make make some pretty bold claims about the benefits of fasting mimicking, and they've all been proven true in clinical trials.
But a lot of people still doubt that it's actually as effective as fasting.
So I decided to put it to the test by doing a 5 day water fast and videoing it as I went - and my brother Grant, who also happens to be my Co-Founder, decided to join in with me.
We share our thoughts on which is harder, but more importantly we track key biomarkers that allow us to quantitatively compare the two.
We measure weight loss, blood glucose levels (sugar), and blood ketone levels, then compare them to measurements we took during a 5 day fasting mimicking cycle.
I hope this video useful for anyone thinking about fasting, and trying to decide between different options.
Don’t forget to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments below. We hope you get a good laugh and enjoy the video!
Stay Young,
Austin Gill
Video Summary Blood Sugar
One common concern about fasting is having your blood sugar levels drop too low; you shouldn’t worry about this. Your body is designed to stabilize blood sugar even when you aren’t eating, otherwise your brain would shut down and that’s not ideal.
Normal blood sugar (or blood glucose) levels should be below 100 mg/dl when taken in the morning before eating.
This is going to decline slightly over time during extended fasts.
So by the end of 5 days fasting my blood sugar was at 74 mg/dl. This is fine, because remember that your body compensates for the lower sugar levels by producing ketone bodies for energy.
If you normally run high blood sugar, fasting is one of the best things you can do to permanently bring your blood sugar levels down. Spending time without sugar in your blood stream makes your body better at processing sugar.
Tips & Insights

There’s no need to worry about your blood sugar, your body will naturally take care of this.
IF you are prone to hypoglycemia, consider fasting mimicking over water fasting. Having some food in your diet will boost your blood sugar.

Ketones
Ketones, or ketone bodies are molecules that are created through the process of breaking down fat for the explicit purpose of providing energy to your brain and body during times of low energy intake.
These little guys are awesome, contributing to reduced hunger, mental clarity, and mood stabilization.
Measuring ketones is important because that is how you know when your body has entered ketosis. Ketosis the metabolic state where permanent health change happens.
Your body begins to remove old and worn out cells through the process of autophagy, and produce new stem cells to replace them through activation of the hematopoietic system in your bone marrow.
Tips & Insights

Your fast should last a minimum of 3 days. That is approximately how long it takes to get into ketosis, then you want to stay in that state for some time to ensure you receive all the benefits.
If you are measuring your blood ketones, aim to get them above 0.5 mM/dl. Between 1.0 and 5 mM/dl is the optimal range

Weight Loss
Fasting is the most effective method for weight loss. It’s popular in the health and weight loss industry to say otherwise, where fasting is often labeled as “crash dieting” and said to be dangerous. This just isn’t correct, as proven by science, but it sells more diets.
Most experts agree that there is no need to worry about too much weight loss or harming yourself via fasting unless your body fat percentage is 4% or lower, which is definitely not a concern for most people.
Some of the weight you lose while fasting is water weight. When you fast your body empties your glycogen stores, and glycogen retains water molecules. So you will gain some of the weight you lose back once you resume eating.
However, most of the weight you lose will be directly from fat loss! As I mentioned above, the process of ketosis breaks down your fat to create ketone bodies. You are burning fat for energy. It’s awesome.
How much weight you will lose depends on many variables such as gender, your current body composition, the contrast of the fast to your normal diet, and the type of fast you choose.
You will lose more weight water fasting than fasting mimicking. This could be a benefit or a detractor depending on your personal goals. If you are an athlete or someone with specific fitness goals then water fasting may not be for you as you may not want to lose much weight and it will make it more difficult to resume your normal diet (i.e. your stomach shrinks like crazy).
Tips & Insights

Fasting is the most effective way to lose weight by burning fat.
Water fasting is the best method for rapid weight loss. BUT it can be hard on the body.
Periodically fasting mimicking is easier on the body, and so is more sustainable over time.

Energy
Energy levels is a tricky subject because it is going to vary depending on, well, lot’s of things. If it’s your first time fasting it is going to be more difficult for your body to adapt to the fasted state so you’ll probably be a bit sluggish. The more you fast, the better your body gets at operating in the fasted state and the better you will feel.
Your “energy levels” are also dependent on your attitude. If you constantly tell yourself that you feel bad and dwell than you are going to feel worse than you physically should. If you’re attitude stinks, you stink. Mental positivity goes a long way.
Now as far as what you should feel physiologically speaking, the first 3 days are the toughest. This is the transition period when your body is depleting your glucose and glycogen store but hasn’t yet begun to compensate for the energy intake shortage through ketone production.
By day 4 your energy will return. Many people actually report a euphoric like feeling after being fasted for several days.
Tips & Insights

Expect to be a little groggy the first few days, but this will go away.
If you would like to continue your exercise routine while fasting, we recommend fasting mimicking over water fasting.
Consider supplementing with BCAAs, these will boost your energy and protect your muscle mass.

Mental Energy
This is worth mentioning separately. The mental benefits are the best part about fasting. In my experience (other’s report the same) your thoughts smooth out, you develop a sense of mindfulness, calm. Creativity increases as does productivity; it’s like your mind can run all day without getting tired.
This may be slightly off topic, but fasting will affect your psychological relationship to things (like food). You will grow your will power, become less dependent on things, and develop a healthy separation from normal habits and patterns - one reason fasting is so effective for addiction treatment.
At the very least, your work will not suffer in the slightest (unless, again, you allow yourself to become trapped in a negativity cycle). You will be able to perform all your normal tasks and perform them well.
Tips & Insights

Fasting is great for the mind! You will think clearly and boost creativity.
Fasting is a great way to adjust your relationship with food or any other habit.

Emotions & Mood
Sorry, but you’re going to get moody. Food is a drug. What I mean is that it chemically and hormonally stimulates different pathways in your body, so when you cut it out you have “withdrawals”.
I’m not talking about debilitating mood swings. Just a slight increased sensitivity to environmental stimulus. The newer you are to fasting the more susceptible you will be, but it’s nothing to be afraid of.
Just like your energy levels, this is the worst during the first 3 days and will level out around day 4.
Tips & Insights

Expect to be slightly more sensitive to your environment.
Avoid activities (or people) that put you on edge.

Sleep
Fasting should not negatively affect the quality of your sleep. In fact, you will probably sleep better, I do.
In regards to quantity, you may feel like you need a little extra sleep. I usually just go ahead and tack on an extra hour to my sleep when I’m fasting - it just makes everything better.
Tips & Insights

Schedule an extra hour of sleep per night while fasting. You’ll be glad you did.

Hunger
You’re going to be hungry, BUT you won’t be as hungry as you expect.
Typically each day, at least for the first 3 to 4 days, a moment of real hunger will come up. Don’t worry, it goes away after 5 or 10 minutes.
The rest of the time you’ll just have a faint sensation, like “hmm, I should eat something”.
Tips & Insights

You won’t be as hungry as you expect. It will come in waves and go away.
You will be significantly less hungry with fasting mimicking than with water fasting.
Drink water to keep you full and protect from dehydration. Carbonated is better.
Stay busy and move around. Give your mind something to focus on other than hunger.
Stay Positive. Positivity is your best weapon. Pump yourself up!. You are going to be better for having done this!

Time Considerations
You typically eat 3 meals a day, which is at least 2 hours you spend eating. If you cook or dine out then much more time is devoted to eating.
Take those meals away and you suddenly have a lot of extra time on your hands.
Tips & Insights

Do something fun or productive with your extra time! Read, go on a walk, take a bubble bath, or get outdoors. Enjoy the extra time, don’t waste it.

Breaking the Fast
You may have noticed in the video that we broke the fast with peanut butter cups and cheesecake bites, and we didn’t show you the bacon and eggs . . .
We did this on purpose to test the limits of what a stomach can handle after extended periods with no food. I can confidently say that I don’t recommend this! Feel free to laugh at me.
Tips & Insights

Water fasting will shrink your stomach and make it sensitive during refeeding.
Fasting mimicking allows a faster and easier transition back to a normal diet.
On your first meal back after the fast eat something small and low carb, then give your stomach at least an hour to adjust before eating something else.
Some foods to consider breaking your fast with: salad, fresh vegetables (I like vinegar soaked cucumbers), almonds or other nuts, some fresh fruit (just not too much because fruit contains sugar).
Foods to avoid when breaking your fast. Any processed carbs, fried foods, greasy food, heavy protein, and definitely sugar.