I LOVE doing IF and OMADS. I feel so empowered and in control…and the mental focus when I hit 16 hours is fucking amazing!
BUT - I have stress induced PCOS and that means that fasting (which also means more black coffee) raises my cortisol level even more. My doc has asked me to not fast over 14 hours under any circumstances…is there any science in this area that could help me? Thx!
Like someone else mentioned Ashwaghanda. L-Theanine helps too with it. I drink roibos tea at night and it really relaxes the adrenals. It’s amazing. I have to it have too much liquid in it though because I’ll have to wake up to go to the restroom. By the way roibos can be quite cheap too if you look l-the anime gets seems to be expensive unless you’re just drinking green or white tea.
No one wants to talk about the potential health hazards but I am here to tell you that they are very possible. I started fasting in December, pretty aggressively. After three months fasting… I was diagnosed with MGUS. A precursor disease to blood cancer.
This disorder typically has no symptoms and is usually only found due to testing for some other disease.
This is, imho, basically blood cancer stage one. As if you had ONE cancer cell in your body an a blood test turned it up. I has a low rate of progression but usually doesn’t go away.
Due to the testing for this it became clear while I was fasting my immunity took a hit. My WBC’s were down.
Is it a leap to suggest that my immune system was suppressed while a cancer got ahold in my body? I don’t think so.
Sure maybe everyone doesn’t suppress their immune system when fasting (high cortisol can do it) but if you did, you would have no idea. In the name of “being healthy” you could unknowingly be harming yourself.
I am tired of 4 or 5 studies forming the basis for this new fad being healthy. We have a LONG way to go to say that for sure.
http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2019/06/pcos.html
Go read this article. Worth the time.
Note that fasting is like the ultimate keto diet, when you aren’t eating, your body is literally living off nothing but your own stored fats.
https://www.burnfatnotsugar.com/WhenToEat.html
This is some great info too.
Drink decaf coffee instead! Tastes the same if you get a good brand and you can have lots of cups per day without getting stress levels up. Just don’t forget to drink a lot of water too as it will dehydrate you
In Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Obesity Code, he mentions cortisol can rise on a fast so you should aim to reduce it by meditating and getting enough sleep. Perhaps you can try the book to see if there is something you can do to help with that.
As long as your food is really nutritious and you get enough sleep and exercise, pcos should be reversible. Fasting 16 hours per day is safe for most people and recommended for pcos. Cut out sugar for sure.