The FastDay Forum

Just seen this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z2KUZRGiIX.

Have any members had their IGF-1 measured? I am considering having mine done in the next few days and then again in a couple of months. I've not been following my IF regime for the past week because I've had a stomach bug - I plan to stay off it for the next few days, trying to eat normally (overeating, most likely, as the days go on which is normal for me); have the test done and then revert to 5:2 immediately afterwards. I'll go back to 4:3 in a couple of weeks.

Along with that, I'm due to have routine blood tests for thyroid function, cholesterol, fasting glucose etc., in the next couple of weeks so that should give me a good baseline profile.

It will be interesting, I think.

Hi Maria I am not aware that anyone here has had their IGF-1 levels tested although some have talked about it. It would be great if you did it and reported your results here, I for one and many others would be interested. (Have you seen the debate about IGF-1?)

Also these people who do the IGF-1 tests are also monitoring their own IGF-1, it is an interesting blog to follow, although unfortunately they don't allow comments (or respond to emails!)

Thanks for those useful links, especially the lab which is cheaper than the one I had found. I will ask my GP if he is prepared to do the test on the NHS but can imagine his response!

I will definitely post on here the results of the various tests and then the follow-up a couple of months later. Certainly, for me, having observable data along with weight loss and general improvements in how I feel physically and mentally will spur me on to continue IF as a way of life and not slip back into old eating habits as I have done for most of my life.

Marlene

Thanks Marlene, and sorry for misreading your name! The 'i' and the 'l' look almost identical on my screen and with my long sight!

dominic wrote: Thanks Marlene, and sorry for misreading your name! The 'i' and the 'l' look almost identical on my screen and with my long sight!

Don't worry, Dominic - most people call me Marl and I definitely prefer Maria to Merlin, which is what someone called me on another forum

The six weeks IGF1 blog results are up at http://www.medichecks.com/index.cfm?s=5&d=6 Both have dropped significantly from post Christmas highs.

Thanks PaulM for the heads-up. Their results are good - in parts! One of them had very low IGF-1 before Christmas (as he naturally has a modest diet and healthy lifestyle), this shot up over the festive period (to a level somewhat above average) and now, after doing 5:2 for 6 weeks, has reduced significantly although not down to the original level. The other had a pretty average level of IGF-1 before Christmas, it went up a little after and, with six weeks of 5:2, has now fallen to quite a low level.

Difficult results to interpret. Clearly 5:2 beats Christmas hollow for lowering IGF-1! But maybe it's no better than any other healthy lifestyle? They promise more info later about the differences in how they each approached 5:2, perhaps this will give some clues...

Interesting - thanks Paul. Am having my IGF-1 level taken next week - my GP almost laughed me out of the surgery when I suggested the NHS might like to do it for me.

Reading the blog, it occurred to me that the increase/decrease in calories consumed only gives us part of the story - perhaps keeping a log of what food types are actually consumed might be illuminating - more/less protein and/or carbohydrate pre and post Christmas splurge? If the man naturally follows a 'healthy diet' and his starting IGF-1 is significantly lower, it would be useful to know what that healthy diet consists of, compared to his wife's.

It's a bit of a bind but I might try to keep a food diary (perhaps using myfitnesspal), although how useful this will be I'm not sure as my food choices have changed quite a lot since starting IF - less protein and processed/refined carbs so I probably won't have a true comparative starting point. Could be an interesting exercise though.

Hi Marlene, great that you are going ahead with this, if you are able to keep a food diary even better. At this stage I think the more info we can gather the better - you are one of the few guinea pigs

It is very hard to know whether it is the fasting side of 5:2 that is key to lowering IGF-1, or the actual foods eaten (and not eaten), or a bit of both.

Ideally you would do two different similar 5:2 trials, one eating (say) low dairy, and the other eating (say) high dairy (or, for 2 more trials, recommended minimum protein [60g daily for 70kg - is that right Caroline?] vs high protein), and see how they compare.

I'm not seriously asking you to do 4 trials for us! But any results you get will be interesting...

<60g protein recommended by Dr Longo.

Don't forget high carbs vs low too!