Started my journey at 218 pounds the beginning of Jan and went to my doctor for a check-up today and was 10 pounds down. He slightly freaked when I told him I was fasting in a 18/6 window and said this is horrible for me and will increase my cortisol levels thru the roof and even if I lose weight- it will shock my body into eventually stopping weight loss and destroying my metabolism and causing numerous other issues. He went with the 4-5 small meals a day lecture and not skipping breakfast. He also told me never to do OMAD which I have done quite often when I have been busy. Super frustrating. Anyone else experienced a horrible increase in cortisol levels that impacted their health?
18/6 to me is pretty close to what I would call a normal eating cycle lol. I do 16/8 I don’t think that is as extreme as doing like 2-4 windows. If your feeling good and healthy and your losing weight… and all your metrics area healthy. It is just one persons opinion. You know what they say about medical opinions, it’s always good to get more then one. If you really wanted you could see a nutritionist or some such that specializes in it as well.
Cortisol levels naturally rise in the morning and are lowest in the evening. It’s a stress hormone so it rises normally with stress/illness but that’s not a bad thing. It’s a normal mechanism which helps us survive stressful situations. Too much cortisol (like from a tumor) is bad and called Cushing’s syndrome. Too little cortisol is also bad and called adrenal insufficiency. Changes in diet like intermittent fasting will not cause either of these disorders.
I’d suggest that you try it and see how it works for you. Everyone is different, and we’re all struggling with different issues. I’m guessing you’ve tried eating 3 meals a day, and it didn’t work for you, which is why you’re trying something different to begin with. Doctors are human and can make mistakes or false assumptions. I’m not saying he is, I’m just saying there’s lots of different opinions and research. It’s worth looking into, especially if you’re seeing results.
I had the same experience from a Doctor… 5 or so small meals… oh and I was on blood pressure meds and perhaps I need to start taking cholesterol medication because it was a bit high.
6 months later I went back, all measures were better and went off blood pressure and clearly was no longer border re cholesterol. I told the Dr I went with fasting and they couldn’t say anything could they.
Lots of these guys/girls are locked into a system that profits from you being sick. It is outrageous but it’s better if you’re fat, on medication and need to see them more frequently. It’s why our sports magazines have photos of fat chicks…. try to normalize being fat and unhealthy because that shit is profitable.
By the way - well done… stick with it.
I am in healthcare. We do not know $hit about it because we do not have proper training in nutrition. A dear friend of mine is registered dietitian and can’t still make her mind about IF. Good thing she is trying it do understand it better.
I would seriously consider finding a different doctor. My latest check up blood panels showed the same or better numbers on every measurement. My doctor is extremely lean and IF is part of her regimen. Ask for them to take blood samples to measure your cortisol numbers - get the facts.
Most doctors all over the world are extremely uninformed about nutrition. They don’t know the importance of Micronutrients and even the research that’s done on their efficacy uses RDA norms which are extremely unreliable IMO. The research doesn’t reach students in medical schools and they are not taught about nutrition and how it has evolved from a carb laden fat less diet. I feel the lack of proper nutrition in patients is the leading cause of their lifelong reliance on medication. Disease prevention through diet, fasting and micronutrients should be given more importance in research, medical practice and medicinal academics as well.
It’s crazy how ignorant some medical professionals and dietitians are! Refer him to Dr Fung! I had a cardiologist tell me that running would give me a heart attack. Now, my heart health is extraordinary! He retired and was pretty overweight.
My PCP hates the fasting, says eat as soon as you get up and every 2 hours all day long.
Naturopath loves the fasting says do as much as you can.
I have found that the stress/ cortisol is a thing if you push too far, too often, on top of other stressors. These days I’m not doing strict OMAD anymore, I’m eating “breakfast” most days (around noon) if I feel hungry.
had that with my old Doc dude was also super old. My new doc is a much younger person and was sure on board with me doing keto and IF. Part of it comes from there training. For over 20 years it was High carb is better. But the turned out to be not the whole story and that your food intake should match your body’s needs. And eating often though the whole day keeps your body in one mode over another.
Honestly, find a new doctor. I’m always baffled how some providers refuse to educate themselves on new science. My primary actually told me I should research and consider IF when I was within ~6 or 8 lbs of my goal and hit a plateau. I was shocked, but it’s changed my life.