Kristina K. Carlton wrote:
> I had sent him an email when you originally recommended him. I spoke
> to him and he now requests a donation ahead of time. He recommended
> $200 which I would gladly pay if it will help. My husband and I have
> actually discussed me going to Germany for several months to stay
> with my mom and possibly seek medical treatment over there. If I do
> this, I would try an extended fast first, or even a fasting clinic
> which aren't all that expensive in Germany. I would like to fast 21
> days at a minimum and being at a clinic where no other food is
> available sure would be helpful. :)
>
> When I visit my mom all I do is rest, relax, walk the dog, etc. It
> would be more conducive to healing. Not that I have a hectic life
> right now considering I am not working, but we have more social
> interaction, eating out, trips, etc.
>
That's 66 minutes of telephone time!! :(
About fasting, ignoring hunger is starving, and bad for us. Intermittent
fasting is eat only when hungry. You might reconsider after reading this:
Fasting Alters Pulsatile and Rhythmic Cortisol Release in Normal Man
"The effect of a 5-day fast on integrated, pulsatile, and periodic
cortisol release was studied in 10 normal men by measuring serum
cortisol concentrations every 20 min for 24 h before (day 0) and during
the fifth day of fasting (day 5). Serum concentration profiles were
analyzed for integrated cortisol release (area under the curve),
pulsatile hormone release by an objective, statistically based pulse
detection algorithm (cluster analysis), and periodic hormone release
(circadian and ultradian rhythms) by Fourier expansion time series
analysis. Urinary cortisol excretion per 24 h was measured in 5 men. The
mean 24-h integrated serum cortisol concentration increased 1.7-fold
during fasting (P = 0.0006). This increase resulted from a 2-fold
increase in the serum cortisol concentrations between pulses (valley
mean; P = 0.0004), an increase in the pulse height (P = 0.001), and an
increase in pulse increment above baseline (P = 0.01). There were no
changes in the number of pulses per 24 h, the interval between pulses,
the width of the pulses, or the area of the pulses during fasting.
Twenty-four-hour urinary cortisol excretion increased in all men, and
the mean urinary cortisol (nanomoles per L)/creatinine clearance
(milliliters per s) ratio increased from 119 on day 0 to 187 on day 5 (n
= 5; P = 0.05). The pattern of periodic hormone release also changed
during fasting; the mean (±SE) circadian rhythm (24-h) amplitude
decreased from 160 ± 14 nmol/L on day 0 to 102 ± 105 nmol/L on day 5 (P
= 0.06), and the amplitude of the 12-h rhythm increased from 68 ± 11 to
99 ± 11 nmol/L. There also were significant increases in the amplitudes
of rhythms with periodicities of 8.1, 4.1, 2.4, 1.6, and 1.3 h (P =
0.02–0.008). Fasting in normal men results in distinct changes in the
amount and pattern of pulsatile, circadian, and ultradian cortisol release.
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/6/1013
***
Dual Regulation of Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-1 Levels
by Insulin and Cortisol during Fasting
These data show that insulin and cortisol both regulate IGFBP-1
secretion during fasting; the effects of insulin and cortisol are strong
during the course of fasting. Significant hypoglycemia stimulates a
further rise in IGFBP-1, which seems to be regulated, in part, by
cortisol. The cortisol-induced rise in IGFBP-1 during fasting and during
hypoglycemia potentially serves to prevent the hypoglycemic effects of
free IGFs.
http://tiny.cc/ijwBP
***
24-hour rhythmic cortisol secretion by fasting stress in midluteal phase
women
"In summary, short-term caloric deprivation enhances daily cortisol
secretion by 1.7-fold in healthy midluteal phase young women by
selectively amplifying cortisol secretory burst mass and elevating the
24-h rhythmic cortisol mean. Augmentation of daily cortisol production
occurs without any concomitant changes in cortisol pulse frequency or
half-life or any disruption of the timing of the 24-h rhythmicity or
orderliness of cortisol release. Fasting degrades the physiological
coupling between cortisol and LH, cortisol and GH, and cortisol and
leptin secretion otherwise evident in calorie-sufficient women. We
conclude that the corticotropic axis in the young adult female is not
resistant to the stress-activating effects of short-term nutrient
deprivation, but, rather, evinces strong adaptive homeostasis both
monohormonally (cortisol) and bihormonally (cortisol paired with GH, LH,
and leptin).
http://tiny.cc/yYbth
***
Fasting as a metabolic stress paradigm selectively amplifies cortisol
secretory burst mass and delays the time of maximal nyctohemeral
cortisol concentrations in healthy men
"In conclusion, the present data indicate that starvation-induced
enhancement of cortisol secretion in young healthy men is mediated by an
increased glucocorticoid secretory burst mass, rather than changes in
secretory burst frequency or duration or in cortisol half-life. In
addition, fasting modifies the diurnal secretory pattern of cortisol by
delaying maximal serum concentrations to the early afternoon. The
inverse relationship between serum cortisol and GH responses to fasting
suggests differential regulation of the corticotropic and somatotropic
axis by the metabolic stress of fasting and/or feedback interactions
between these two axes when they are both activated. "
http://tiny.cc/FJsUh
***
FREE CORTISOL IN OBESITY; EFFECT OF FASTING
"Plasma and urinary corticosteroids were measured in 13 obese subjects
before and after high and low protein diets, and after fasting. During
isocaloric high and low protein diets, urinary 17-oxogenic steroids and
to a lesser extent urinary free cortisol excretion rose and fell in
parallel with protein intake. Plasma unbound cortisol levels were not
much changed by high or low protein intake.
However, during 7 to 11 days total fasting, there was a highly
significant rise in plasma unbound cortisol at 24.00. A smaller rise
occurred at 09.00. The overall effect was a considerable diminution of
the day-night variation of plasma unbound cortisol levels during
fasting, and a rise in prevailing unbound cortisol levels and urinary
free cortisol excretion. In 3 subjects tested these changes were
reversed immediately by glucose re-feeding."
http://www.eje-online.org/cgi/content/abstract/81/2/321
***
The effect of Ramadan fasting on maternal serum lipids, cortisol levels
and fetal development
"In the fasting group, the maternal serum cortisol levels on day 20 were
significantly higher than the initial levels obtained 1 week prior to
Ramadan (p < 0.05)."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h4w1840303242r0n/
***
increased salivary cortisol in response to three stressful conditions
"In the fasting stress experiment, students had higher salivary cortisol
concentrations after fasting for 15 h than they did after the completion
of the GTT. Even short-term fasting is sufficiently stressful to cause
activation of the HPA axis and a rise in cortisol (2). Once fasting has
ended, cortisol levels drop to basal values quickly (2, 26, 27). The
cortisol decline during a GTT has been suggested to reflect a circadian
fall in circulating plasma cortisol (27). Basal cortisol has a
precipitous circadian drop in the first 4 h of the light cycle (17).
While our class met after this time, our data do not refute the
possibility of a circadian effect as there were no differences in
cortisol concentrations between the fasting samples in this experiment
and basal samples from either the presentation stress or competition
stress experiments (P > 0.05). This suggests that the decrease in
cortisol concentration may be due to a circadian rhythm or the
combination of a circadian decline in cortisol and the end of the
fasting stress. Another possibility is that glucose ingestion directly
effects cortisol release through an unknown mechanism (27)."
http://tiny.cc/HTfHV
***
The effect of a single missed evening meal on the male reproductive axis
The male reproductive axis reacts more quickly to energetic imbalances
than previously appreciated.
•Waking and 11AM salivary cortisol remained unchanged by missing a
single meal. Previous studies found cortisol increases following
fasting. The cortisol awakening response may have concealed any
fasting-stress based salivary increase. Urinary cortisol (unconfounded
by waking response) increased significantly following a single evening
of fasting. This is consistent with the literature (Cameron 1996).
•Salivary ghrelin was not associated with fasting. Diurnal variation in
ghrelin production likely overshadowed any increase in salivary ghrelin.
Future studies will asses urinary ghrelin, a pooled overnight measure
less confounded by diurnal variation.
•Salivary ghrelin was strongly negatively associated with waking
salivary testosterone. Combined with previous research showing high
ghrelin expression in the testes, and decreases in T after ghrelin
administration in vitro, these results are suggestive of ghrelin as a
mechanism decreasing testosterone production during fasting (Barreiro
and Tena-Sempere 2004).
http://www.csss.washington.edu/Anniversary/Poster/BenTrumble.pdf
***
Insulin, glucagon, Cortisol and growth hormone release in association
with physiological decrements in the plasma glucose concentrations in
fasting men
"All subjects fasted the whole month and the average fasting time was
about 16 hours. Venous blood samples were taken on four different days;
one day before Ramadan (day zero), then on the first, 74t h and 28t h
days of the month. In each of these four days, blood samples were taken
at 4:00 PM (shortly before evening meal). At the end of the month, mean
weight loss was 3.9 kg (p<0.05). Reduction in the mean plasma glucose
concentration from 5.21'±0.37 mmol/L to 3.71 ±0.46 mmol/L were
associated with increments in plasma glucagon (34.9±9.4 pmol/L; p<0.001)
and Cortisol (378±154 nmol/L; p<0.05) at the end of fasting, and the
increment in plasma growth hormone (GH) 169±39.5 pmol/L; p<0.05) only on
day 14 of fasting."
http://tipdizini.turkiyeklinikleri.com/download_pdf.php?id=51646
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