The FastDay Forum

Thanks @rawkaren appreciate your feedback from the book. It's pretty hard core diet to follow. I can understand though having wheat gluten gut issues and feeling so good on fast says when I have no wheat / gluten. Makes sense ... Will have to reread to digest it all. So I presume the book is worth getting

@Gillymary. For me this is my book of the year. A complete revelation to me, but then again I'm not in a position to challenge the medical research and hypothesis. Certainly worth a buy.

@Auriga. I have been very strict on grains and carbs this week and had a 2lb's loss (I'm normally half a pound a week). Interesting that you have had the same. My sleep has improved however.

[Debs]

I have read some critiques of this book, and not by the carb industry I should add. I am not convinced and am concerned that some of these books are selective with the evidence. I also note that he has a supplement on sale, like many others. I do not doubt that some people feel better without gluten, processed foods, but I agree with Manderley, I do not want to take all the joy out of eating and food. I have already cut down and don't really eat 'processed' food, but there is a risk of going too far. I have given up reading quasi-science and just trusting my body to tell me what to do, and occasionally ignoring it! Now where's that glass of champagne I was drinking!

A couple of voices of reason @izzy and @Debs.I suspect that for the majority of people the diet he recommends would prove too expensive and probably too restrictive. I do agree that lowering carbs can help shift weight but as in all things moderation should be the key factor. I try to eat a balanced diet from as many food groups as possible and personally don't take any extra supplements or vitamins etc and I'm as fit as a (old!) fiddle and very healthy.

Gosh, this is all fascinating, firstly @Rawkaren thanks for your in depth appraisal of the book, you must have been up all night, working away at that, thank you. Secondly, much as I would love to be following this regime , like others have said, life is for living and if I can have a diet applied success rate of anywhere near 75% of the time then I will be happy 100% of the time. My instincts tell me that if I complied 100% of the time I would be miserable 100% of the time so what would be the point? That said, I still await with baited breath your next post on the book and I shall try a bit harder to be more grain free, but only a little bit harder

Ballerina x

I can only speak from my own experience. Some of that was gained months before they started calling Alzheimers Type 3 diabetes and talking about links to sugar and carbs. As many of you know, I have FMS and have had it since 2001. Well, I was diagnosed then but I can pick up links that go back much further than that. Fibro is a crappy thing on all fronts but the thing that has wiped out my career and brought me to the edge of suicide was the brain fog. On a good day I had almost no short term memory. On bad days I totally lost my ability to read and understand a page of writing or numbers. Sometimes I was unable to even string together spoken words. Trust me, when you have had a good career and everything looking good for you its a bitter blow to be reduced to something on the verge of a vegetable. As part of the FMS I piled on weight and was sliding into Type 2 and insulin resistance. Over a period of years I tried every diet and a multitude of supplements but never lost more than a stone and the FMS reached a stable plateau but didn't improve. I decided to give low carb a go in desperation. At that point a bar of chocolate was about my only pleasure in life so it was a hard decision. It was, however, my best decision yet! Not only have I lost a further 3 stones, but within the space of a fortnight my energy levels soared and my brain function has improved no end. It really has turned my life round.

Sorry this is long but I want people to realise that it is worth a shot. I went into it to get my BG down and lose weight but the effects have been great for me. I have read a lot about ketogenic diets and the effects of grains and carbs and there is a lot of sense coming through regarding how brain function can be preserved even in people who already have a diagnosis of Alzheimers and certain other neurological conditions if you change the brain's source of fuel from glucose to ketones.

I am also gluten intolerant so I was halfway to giving up grains anyway! I would also second more of Rawkaren's postings and say not to just think that coeliac disease is all about gut pains and diarrhoea! Gluten affects epithelial tissue. OK, you get a huge amount of that in your gut lining, but it lines every other part of your body too, eyes, joints, cheeky bits! Not to mention skin being epithelial tissue. I had years and years of suffering huge mouth ulcers and not one doctor or dentist picked up on it being down to gluten! Since giving it up I know how many of my other bits were also affected!

Sorry this is long but I wanted to back up Rawkaren with personal experience rather than just sections from a book that people are questioning. I certainly don't take all the supplements suggested in the book and I follow a LCHF diet as listed on the Diet Doctor's site. Its up to everyone to find their own path but if you do think you are in danger of dementia then its something to look into that doesn't cost anything. OK, I know some people say low carb is expensive, but that's usually just at first. When you get into it you actually eat much less as its much more satisfying and you don't need so much.

[Betsysgr8]

Curious, why is blue cheese restricted? I love the strong flavors of blue, stilton, gorgonzola, roquefort, etc.

Crazy! I love it too and it doesn't seem to make any difference to me. A slab of blue cheese each week is my treat. If I'm not buying chocolate I'm having something!

@Miffy49 thank you for that, very enlightening and I'm so glad that this wol is helping you, how awful to have the restrictions which you bear with such fortitude and humour. I think the problem for most of us on this forum is that we are lucky enough not to be suffering from debilitating conditions such as yourself so books like this one, whilst we all think are very interesting, don't represent the life changing experiences that people such as yourself feel. I am lucky in that I can cherry pick, you, on the other hand do not have that luxury so it is not just interesting reading for you, it is essential.

Ballerina x

Thanks Ballerina. I think you have to be selective. There are more and more people jumping on the bandwagon and some are making up their own science from bits they take from others work. I haven't read this particular book so I can't comment on the content but I just feel people shouldn't totally chuck out the theory. Theres a lot of research being done in Sweden at the moment and I certainly learned a lot from the books by Phinney and Volek and Westermann. I was a Yudkin disciple in the 60s and 70s and I certainly feel that he had it right all along.

For anyone looking to improve their health as they age but not going very low carb I would certainly advocate cutting out the 'white carbs' and then deciding if you want to cut back further.

Can I just say a big thank you to Karen for her hard work in researching the book. I would like to say also that following this way of eating is actually costing my husband and I a lot less than before....when you don't buy prepared food it's cheaper. Chicken is quite reasonable and we eat a lot more of that now..if I could eat fish I would. You future health is very important. If I can stop myself getting dementia by following a grain free existence then it'll be worth it and if I can also lose weight and improve my blood profile and all the rest of the advantages that come with 5:2 then maybe I can also stop the slide into a 'sorry' old age. I would rather be hard on myself now and get used to it than bemoan the fact I hadn't at least tried when I could 'stop the rot'. I don't expect this way of eating to be a 'miracle cure' for old age, but I am doing everything I can to make my future a healthier one. If you've ever lost a loved one to dementia as I have it's not a pretty thing...it's gut wrenching and I also lost my mother to kidney failure, caused by atherosclerosis of the kidneys...double whammmy!
I have to thank the few doctors who stick their necks out and try and tell us what, in their opinion, is the problem. I look at the research they quote and cherry pick what I think is right. 'The fast Diet', 'Grain Brain' and 'The Diet Delusion' have honed my WOE and it is WORKING!
That's my penny's worth on this subject.

I agree Auriga. My hubby and son eat according to Slimming World and I would say I spend more on their nasty low fat stuff than on my real food! I do insist on cooking from scratch though. I had started doing that anyway due to the need to avoid gluten and I think we are all healthier for it.

As someone who has spent most of their working life caring for people with various types of dementia then I can relate to your need to do everything in your power to prevent going that way yourself. Its a wicked and cruel disease both from the point of view of the sufferer and the people who love them. The idea of sliding down that sort of slope certainly terrified me when I thought I was on my way there! At least now, thanks to altering my diet, I think I can safely say that I do have all my marbles though hubby would say they are not necessarily in the right order!

Curious, why is blue cheese restricted? I love the strong flavors of blue, stilton, gorgonzola, roquefort, etc.

@betsysgr8. Apparently some blue cheese contain gluten (but he did not explain why). Anyway looking on Dr. Google, apparently some cheeses are innoculated with mold's that have been grown on breads or other cultures that contain gluten.

@miffy49 and @auriga. Thanks for sharing your stories. Certainly he is saying that if there is gluten sensitivity in the family or a history of diabetes, dementia or cognitive dysfunction, then prevention is the best strategy. I also wonder if the very low carb diet he advocates as a maintenance approach (60g) is for those like miffy who need to reverse symptoms of brain fog, depression etc, rather than currently healthy adults.

I do have a point of view. My shopping bill has reduced by a third since starting this WOE in conjunction with reducing my carbs (but not as low as he suggests). I agree about the supplements, but I guess if you are in a situation like miffy was before her wonderful transformation, then I think they would certainly be worth the investment IMHO.

Two stand out stories for me in the book. It wasn't until the end of WWII that a suspicion between psychiatric disorders and food sensitivity started to surface. A scientist noticed a relationship between postwar Europe's food scarcity (and consequently a lack of wheat in the diet), and considerably fewer hospitalisations for schizophrenia. Further, during the Dutch famine of 1944, bread and flour were scarce and a Dutch pediatrician noticed that there was a dramatic decrease in the death rate amongst kids affected by coeliac. From greater than 30 percent to virtually zero.

Wow, fascinating stuff this.

Please may I ask Miffy and Auriga, do you use any gluten free products, either to change over or for an easier life sometimes?

Many thanks :0)

Hi Azureblue, I don't buy gluten free products because I prefer to cook my own food. For a special occasion I make a flour-less orange cake (it's got sugar in it and I am trying to avoid sugar too, but hey ho just gotta live a bit!).

Thanks for that @Rawkaren. I wondered why some blue cheese was listed as having gluten. I did once get caught out by some so I usually check. I just thought it was down to the packing environment of that specific brand. You think 60g carb is low, I average between 6 and 20gr! I eat around 5-10% carb, 15-20% protein so around 70-75% is fat. I have the odd splurge day when I will allow myself up to maybe 50gr but not every week.

@Azureblue I don't use much at all in the way of ready made gluten free products. I don't find them very nice and the ingredients list never reads like something that should be found in a food cupboard. A friend once remarked that one ingredients panel was like the recipe for semtex! That's partly why it was fairly easy for me to go low carb. I just don't bother with the gluten free fillers like bread and pasta and rice bloats me anyway so that's out. I'm no angel though! Aldi do gorgeous gluten free chocolate and its very hard to resist that!