If you have already incorporated some type of fasting in your life or if you wonder how you could start some Time Optimized Feeding protocol and then easily intertwine it with your current lifestyle for better health, then this article is perfect for you. The intention of this article is to provide a turbo boost to your total investment for maximizing your wealth with a large ROTI. You can use Fasting F++ whether your primary prescription to fast comes from your religious faith or from your social media feed.

I will quickly run through some of the basic philosophy and principles and then lay out broad categories of protocols for what I call Fasting F++. If you trust me and follow through, you will become wealthier.

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Contents

Philosophy of Fasting F++
1234Time for a Large ROTI
1234Example-1 – Easy to Experience
1234Example-2 – Simple Rules – Difficult Experience
Principles Underlying Fasting F++
1234Religious Requirements
1234Fasting Rhythms and Cycles
1234Two Outcome Categories
12341234Fat Loss
12341234Beyond Fat Loss
1234Mechanism
1234Overlap, Orthogonality and Interaction
1234Non-Singular & Reflexive
1234Safety & Protecting Your Capital
1234Individuality & Customization
Protocols
1234Measuring, Collecting Data, Analysis
1234Fasting
12341234The Free Marginal Lunch
1234Hypoxia
1234Nutrients during Fasting
12341234Religious Errors
12341234Caffeine
12341234Other Drinks
12341234Medication
12341234Supplements
1234Feasting
12341234Religious Errors
1234Physical Workouts
12341234Muscle Loss & Fat Loss
12341234Competition
1234Hypothermic Conditioning
1234Hyperthermic Conditioning
1234Learning, Thinking & Prayer
1234Higher Principles
1234Sleep & Rest
Tracking
Parting Message

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Philosophy of Fasting F++ [top]

It is important that we appreciate the philosophy of Fasting F++ so that we can then use its principles to master its design and implementation. Whether you have never tried to fast in the past or have decades of experience with fasting, Fasting F++ is for you.

Unlike fasting based on religious prescription, Fasting F++ is a metaparadigm that is not dogmatic. Instead, it encourages exploration and experimentation while basing itself on scientific discoveries and explanations where they might exist. As a result, it discourages us from using a one-size-fits-all approach, or a fixed format for all time, instead encouraging customization to the individual to encourage safe progression.

There is no theoretical limit to the number of different Fasting F++ formats you can have.

While Time Optimized Feeding is about timing meals within your day so that you can benefit from the period of fasting, Fasting F++ is about combining various other protocols with fasting.

Time for a Large ROTI [top]

Money comes and goes, and we can always make more external wealth. But, with time being the only non-renewable resource that you think you control, it is critical that we use it to expand our internal wealth. Good nutrition is beneficial just as appropriate fasting is. Unlike meals, a key benefit of fasting is that it does not take up any time and, instead, releases time that might have been spent in feeding. As a result, the ROTI around fasting even on its own is typically very large.

Fasting F++ is about creating recipes that include other components of lifestyle for generating even larger ROTIs with fasting and then delivering them.

Example-1 – Easy to Experience [top]

Finish dinner 4 hours before your night’s sleep, then do not eat or drink anything before lunch the next day other than green tea only between 10am and noon, i.e. no later than an hour before breakfast at 1pm at the office. Work out in the morning during the fast. Do this every day.

Example-2 – Simple Rules – Difficult Experience [top]

Finish early dinner on a Sunday, then no more food until late lunch the following Saturday. Do your job, study, and other tasks as usual. Continue all your workouts over the 6 days, lowering volume and/or intensity only if you deem it necessary on the fly. During these 6 days travel either on foot or bicycle, else in public transport, avoiding taxis and cars. Take the stairs rather than the elevator. Limited limit caffeine intake to be without dairy or sugar and only between 10am and noon and include a pinch of salt in your water only if your blood pressure drops to a level where you feel a little dizzy. There is no real need to inform others about your fast unless you have been invited to a meal during which you can talk but will not eat. Do this twice a year.

Principles Underlying Fasting F++ [top]

It is important that we understand the principles underlying Fasting F++ so that we can master its design and implementation. Some of these principles are just concepts about processes and outcomes, others are about our perception of physical reality through various branches and sub-branches of science.

Religious Requirements [top]

If you are fasting for religious reasons and there exist rules for that fasting that you are required to follow, then you must not break those rules while incorporating Fasting F++ protocols. Instead, look to design and implement Fasting F++ without breaking the rules of your faith that you wish to follow.

Whatever the type of fasting, a necessary phenomenon when fasting is that there be no sustained higher-than-fasting levels of insulin floating around in your blood. If your practice of religious fasting includes food or drink that does not keep your insulin at fasting levels, then you might get some spiritual benefit but you are not doing a scientific fast. My strong recommendation is that you avoid that insulin-raising food or drink as you are unlikely to be breaking rules set by your religious community.

Fasting Rhythms and Cycles [top]

We all do an overnight fast, whether in prison or in a palace.

The fasting rhythm you follow over the next 12 months can incorporate durations of a few hours all the way up to many weeks on only water and electrolytes. Where the fasting duration is shorter, the frequency can be higher e.g., daily. When the fast duration is prolonged, the frequency may be as low as once a year.

How you layer various protocols on the timeline of your Fasting F++ will vary depending on the specific fasting duration you are considering layering things on. For example, it will be easy to layer “no water or drinks of any kind between sunset and sunrise” for your overnight fasts when you are mostly asleep or sedentary at home. On the other hand, to layer “no water or drinks of any kind” during a 3-day fast will be extremely challenging.

Two Outcome Categories [top]

In terms of possible beneficial outcomes, it is instructive to think of there being 2 types – one type that the vast majority get very excited about, the other type that is more useful for all of us.

Fat Loss [top]

The first type of possible outcome is narrow, the potential for fat loss. I say potential because fasting is about nutrient deprivation for a duration but one can easily gain fat overall because of the feasting that follows fasting.

Beyond Fat Loss [top]

The second type of beneficial outcome can be significantly wider, deeper, and longer lasting than just fat loss. It includes many things that I place in a single bucket we can call “Beyond Fat Loss” for the practical reason of closing the Implementation Gap between the theoretical knowledge that is out there and a better life in practice. We tend to ignore these outcomes because the more immediately visually observable and so attention-grabbing nature of any fat loss shifts our focus from this second type back to the first type – the fat loss. This second type which is not immediately visible like fat loss includes aspects such as increasing your insulin sensitivity, expanding your microbiome diversity, a more balanced immune system function, cellular repair, improved learning and memory, protection against age-related cognitive decline, and lowering the risk of depression and anxiety. Thus, this second type of beneficial outcome is about an expansion of your Healthspan beyond just lowering the physical health risks associated with heart disease or cancer.

Mechanism [top]

Be it fasting or feeding, the principle behind a better outcome is Hormesis, your best friend. Avoiding trauma and, instead, keeping the beneficial stress to your system within intelligent control allows your body’s systems to adapt to the stress and become better versions of themselves.

Going much deeper, the hormetic responses to Fasting F++ include a fascinating set of mechanisms that scientists are continuing to discover. These include your metabolic adaptation (e.g. improving glucose update and mitochondrial efficiency) and upregulation of endogenous antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses, increased expression of stress response proteins, including heat shock proteins, cytoprotective autophagy, repair of DNA damage, and clearance of your senescent cells that have aged and no longer divide but now produce substances harmful to you. That is just a short list from a longer list!

Overlap, Orthogonality and Interaction [top]

The components of various Fasting F++ protocols are good even on their own. You might already be using many of them, such as daily exercise or regular cold or heat exposure. The philosophy behind Fasting F++ is to encourage us to think about how fasting and other components of our lifestyle and environment can be made to overlap, or not, for better outcomes, especially for a larger ROTI.

With Fasting F++ we should think of each protocol as having a beneficial component that is orthogonal to all other protocols. Using tea as an example just to illustrate, even if there is a significant overlapping component between green tea and black tea, there will be a component in each that adds to the total value you cannot get from only the other. So black tea will add a beneficial component beyond what green tea can. And, green tea will add a beneficial component beyond what black tea can. There are at least 2 reasons today why we must believe that there exists an orthogonal component from each Fasting F++ component that adds to the total benefit:

1. Because there is a limiting belief held that there is little if any corporate profit to be made from them, there is no real funding to conduct carefully controlled research beyond just a handful of pairwise combinations g. fasting and caffeine. However, as warrior monks, we must not hang around waiting for such publications to safely carry out our implementation of Fasting F++ protocols. We remind ourselves that “the absence of a proof does not imply proof of absence.”
2. Given the limited published scientific evidence, there is no reason to believe that there will not be an orthogonal component

A third reason that I hold onto with personal conviction is that I have never observed anything to the contrary either in my own vast experience with the Fasting F++ protocols or when those I mentor have used them, always to their advantage.

An interaction between any 2 protocols may well enhance the benefits of each on their own. A simple example that you may have already observed is where you know sleep is good for you and fasting is good for you, but when you finish your last meal of the day much earlier, you are able to fall asleep earlier and into a more deep sleep during which the repair mechanisms during fasting will work better.

Non-Singular & Reflexive [top]

Insulin is useful for our bodies and having it at an optimal level at any time is important for long-term good health. We expect spikes following a raising of blood glucose after a meal but we also want those insulin levels to fall to fasting levels soon. This is like desiring short-term (acute) inflammation (e.g. from exercise) but keeping inflammation low over longer horizons (chronic) – coincidentally, reducing inflammation is something that fasting also assists with.

Even if you do not plan to incorporate fasting for fast loss, simply having a level of insulin in your blood that is at fasting levels for most of any 24-hour period (if you do a daily fast) will be effective in expanding your Healthspan. Rephrasing for clarity – you can plan to have the benefits of fasting levels of insulin for the most part of 24 hours while also ensuring that you do not lose body fat over time because your feasting is appropriate for that goal of maintaining calorie balance.

As humans, we have a natural tendency to simplify complex situations to be able to make decisions. It is for that reason, for example, that we do Binary Thinking when more nuanced thinking is appropriate. At a micro-level, the impact of fasting is at the physical layer. With “simple thinking” when asked about the benefits of fasting we naturally gravitate towards “weight loss.” To stop the thinking at that level would be a great injustice to the tool of fasting, and to yourself. Fasting is beneficial in numerous ways at the physical level but, in addition, it also helps with improving things for you at the mental, emotional and, for me the most important, spiritual level.

There is a reflexive nature to Fasting F++ because

• you need mental and emotional strength to implement various protocols
  and
• you develop greater mental and emotional strength because of implementing various protocols

Safety & Protecting Your Capital [top]

If you are not prudent and reduce your capital to zero, then a very positive return environment will still produce a zero increase in your capital which stays stuck at zero. So, it is important that you remember the motto of “Safety First” when designing and implementing Fasting F++. There is little wisdom in going backwards (or ageing quickly) because of having to be sedentary while recovering from injury or illness.

Protect your internal wealth while you grow it, avoiding get-rich-quick hacks.

Individuality & Customization [top]

At one end we have the laws of biology that apply systematically to all humans e.g. the mechanism by which insulin enables glucose absorption from the blood into the muscle. At the other end we can have an individual who is insulin resistant so that, despite a large amount of insulin floating in his blood, the muscles that have been depleted of stored glucose (glycogen) are unable to absorb the dangerously large amounts of glucose also floating in his blood.

The design of Fasting F++ protocols must depend on both the systematic factors e.g. all humans need water to survive and the idiosyncratic customization e.g. a lady experiencing a variety of menopause symptoms.

Protocols [top]

As you go through the various protocols you will see that they lie within a spectrum from “fun, easy, pleasurable” all the way to “uncomfortable, difficult, anxiety-generating.” Bear in mind that “fun, easy, pleasurable” does not necessarily mean ineffective.  In the same way, “uncomfortable, difficult, anxiety-generating” does not imply a large ROTI.

Measuring, Collecting Data, Analysis [top]

It would be a pity if, in an age of different measuring devices and smartphones for recording notes, you did not collect data that you could analyze to create increasingly more effective Fasting F++ protocols for yourself.

We can think of your data falling into 2 categories: processes and outcomes.

Process-based information could include just about everything about your lifestyle from sleep and awake timestamps, fasting and feeding timestamps, to detailed information about your workouts and your food and drink.

Outcome-based information could include your body mass, body composition, blood glucose with a home glucometer or a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), blood pressure, and blood markers from a reliable lab. It can also include information you record about your mental and emotional state.

Fasting [top]

Depriving yourself of certain macronutrients and micronutrients is at the core of Fasting ++. Whether it is a dry fast (no food or drink) or a water-only fast, or a fast that simply prevents an insulin spike (e.g. black coffee permitted but not soya milk) please be aware of a powerful fact that almost everyone misses. Allow me to explain.

The Free Marginal Lunch [top]

For most protocols, the marginal benefit of an additional incremental unit is typically less than the marginal benefit of the previous incremental unit. This is called “diminishing marginal returns” because the incremental benefit is getting smaller with each additional unit. So, if you run 15km, the benefit of the 15^th kilometre is positive but less than the benefit from the 14^th kilometre, whose benefit is less than that of the 13^th kilometre.

The beauty of fasting is that for most durations that we typically fast for, we experience “increasing marginal returns” because the point at which the marginal return goes from “increasing” to “diminishing” happens after 5 days of water-only, or perhaps even later.

So, while I might say, “It’s OK that you ran for only 14km instead of 15km” I am very likely to say “If you have already fasted for 15 hours, try and fast for an additional 16^th hour.”

Hypoxia [top]

A breath-hold practice to induce a state of hypoxia can be done just about anywhere and at any time. If you already appreciate the health benefit of depriving yourself of air in a manner that does not risk sudden death then you will know that including this large ROTI protocol is easy within just about any Fasting F++.

Nutrients during Fasting [top]

Nutrients take the form of food, drink, or supplements. During Fasting F++ you will have the freedom to choose nutrients so you should make carefully considered decisions. Let us unpack this.

Religious Errors [top]

Those who eat certain foods during their religious fast are typically eating things that are harmful to them along with food that is beneficial (e.g. fruits). The translation to English from a “traditional language” has landed us in an unfortunate situation where instead of using the term “eating limited food groups” we use the word “fast” or the phrase “religious fast.” This loss in translation is a harmful error because many of us assume that we are doing a “scientific fast” and we feel unjustifiably satisfied. I am all for temporary spiritual upliftment even with such a practice but we mustn’t fool ourselves.

Caffeine [top]

There are at least 2 sides to this:

On the one hand, if caffeine is a hunger suppressant and if we are to believe that caffeine also increases the rate of ketosis, then black coffee, black tea or green tea could be part of your Fasting F++.

On the other hand, caffeine will trigger some cortisol release and thus an increase in blood glucose (released from stores of glucose or conversion of fat to glucose) which may then increase the insulin in your blood.

When layering onto the timeline and considering that sleep is of the utmost importance, you ought not to have caffeine in the second half of your day even when not fasting, but especially when fasting.

When considering the interference with nutrient absorption, you will also want to ensure your caffeine intake during your fast does not interfere with your nutrient absorption once you start to feast.

Other Drinks [top]

If you have a concoction of some kind that is micronutrient-rich and with approximately zero macronutrients e.g. a broth of neem leaves and mint leaves along with spices – you are likely to be adding value.

On the other hand, for a drink that is macronutrient focused e.g. a protein drink, or worse, a whey protein drink – you will be subtracting value by breaking your fast.

Medication [top]

If you would like to design a Fasting F++ protocol to help with curing an illness as opposed to treating the symptoms with medication, then you must be careful with how you go about it and this article cannot go into the specific details of what you must do. (But you can get in touch with me about this.)

If you would like to continue with medication and design a Fasting F++ then you need to be aware of whether the fasting will enhance the potency of your prescribed dose or interfere with it. Again, this will depend on the kind of illness you have and the type of medication you are taking. Some medications, e.g. thyroxine for hypothyroidism, are meant to be taken on an empty stomach. Others, e.g. metformin for diabetes will need to have their dose adjusted if you are introducing a new fasting rhythm and/or a new exercise pattern!

Supplements [top]

Protein supplements are a no-no as they will break your fast. Other supplements e.g. B-12 or D-3 will not interfere and you should continue to take them as usual.

Feasting [top]

With feasting being the other side of the coin, it is very important that we do it correctly, in accordance with the non-trivial effort we put in with fasting. Even if your goal is to gain fat overall, something that is a very rare desire for most people, the way you feast is important for producing better health outcomes. For example, you need not and must not clog your arteries in the process of satisfying your desire to gain body fat.

Religious Errors [top]

Many maintain a strict fast during the religiously prescribed hours but then gorge on life-diminishing food at the end of the fast. Why limit, reduce or eliminate your gain from the physical, mental, and emotional effort? The philosophy of Fasting F++ is to encourage you to feast to enhance the benefits of your fasts, including your religious fasts.

Physical Workouts [top]

Of the things we layer onto the timeline, our physical workouts are the most demanding, so ensuring that we do not cross the line from beneficial stress to harmful trauma is important. Whether it is a strength training session, a cardio workout, or a friendly tennis match, what you should probably not worry about is “I will not have energy” and instead focus on the risk of dehydration (if it is a dry fast) or a loss of salts if you sweat a lot and do not replenish salts while hydrating during an endurance workout.

Not exercising when fasting is one of the more common errors people make. Instead, all that is needed is a tweaking of the details of the exercise prescription.

Muscle Loss & Fat Loss [top]

I have already discussed Fasting & Muscle Loss and you should remain confident that you will notice no difference in your muscular ability a few days after even a 10-days water-only fast as long as you continue to do strength training during your fast. If you do not do strength training you will lose muscular ability whether you fast or not!

The metabolic adaptation to becoming a well-oiled fat-burning machine includes the process of allowing your body to build the micromachinery for being better fat-adapted. That adaptation will occur if and whenever your body experiences a situation where it needs to burn fat as a source of fuel. This adaptation will be faster the more you do endurance workouts in a fasted state.

Competition [top]

If you blend your training for a competition with your Fasting F++ then at the competition itself you have a choice of repeating the same Fasting F++. Remember, feeding and the digestion of nutrients do distract away resources from the body, so do not assume that consuming macronutrients will produce better results in a competitive battle than a fasting regime would. The details will matter, so attention to detail when planning is important for the outcome you would like.

Hypothermic Conditioning [top]

The process of digestion is largely exothermic, making us feel warmer a short while after we eat. Correspondingly, you will feel cooler than usual many hours into a fast. This sensation will be more pronounced when deep into a prolonged fast.

If you engage regularly with cold exposure protocols, e.g. ice bath or limited attire cold weather exposure, although you are looking for a shock, you should always have easy-to-execute emergency plans for situations that seem to be going out of control. Depending on your cold exposure protocol, it could be something as simple as multiple layers of clothing, or a heated space like a room or a car. If you are experienced with breath protocols you ought to be able to normalize your internal state without external heat sources or clothing. Finally, to protect your internal capital and live to fast again someday, breaking your fast early by eating to generate heat (with some digestion process delay) is also an option you must consider.

Hyperthermic Conditioning [top]

In the case of a dry fast (i.e. no drinks/water) If you are going to do a heat exposure protocol, e.g. sauna or working out in the hot sun, although you are looking for a shock, to be able to stick to your dry fast duration, it might be better to do it near the end of the fast so that you can break it slightly sooner if needed because you pushed the heat exposure too much and are dehydrated beyond safe levels, and lying down in a cold room is not returning you back to a safe state.

Learning, Thinking & Prayer [top]

While it can be difficult to concentrate on your studies immediately after a heavy meal, an intolerable hunger will also be a distraction. Ideally, you will be able to learn, think, study, and analyze even when deep in a fast. The same holds true for prayer or other mindfulness practices. We must never lose sight of a fact that most of us invariably do forget – to face and overcome a sensation of hunger is a costless investment in personal growth and with zero time invested. Such an opportunity comes to you at least once a day, how often do you turn it down?

Higher Principles [top]

You can use Fasting F++ to incorporate or initiate many small or big actions that align with broader principles that you would like to live by. For example, you can be strictly vegan in your feasting around Fasting F++ even if you are not strictly vegan during the rest of the year. You can have a smaller carbon footprint by avoiding private vehicles and taking the stairs even if there is an elevator in your building. You can use Fasting F++ to reduce your dependence on substances like caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. The point is to rise above yourself, look at the bigger picture and consider how you can have mastery over the Unholy Trinity.

Sleep & Rest [top]

Of all the things we do in our day, sleep is the most Healthspan extending. At first, it appears to be the most time-inefficient of lifestyle protocols. Within a day the total duration of our food consumption is around 60 minutes, and even 20 minutes of exercise in addition to being generally active throughout the day is sufficient for a long and healthy life. On the other hand, our ideal requirement for sleep is somewhere between 7-8 hours i.e., many multiples of our time invested in eating or exercising. Nature is not stupid to have evolved us in this apparently time-inefficient way over millions of years. Therefore, it is important that we do away with notions such as “sleep is a waste of time” or “I sleep less during the week so I can get a workout done before going to work in the morning.” Instead, we must place sleep at the top of the priority list when planning the day, every day.

Just about everything you interact with has some potential to impact your sleep in a small or big way, positively or negatively. Your sleep, in turn, impacts the decisions you make and your performance the next day.

Fasting will also have an impact on your sleep in many ways, both positive and negative. Where it is fasting that must take priority because it is a long-duration fast done only, say, twice a year, it will be up to you to allow your sleep to suffer for those few days while noting its quantity and quality. For the kind of fasting that is quite frequent, you must layer it onto your timeline so that the impact on sleep is beneficial rather than harmful – sleep must take priority.

Tracking [top]

With an almost infinite number of possible combinations of protocols, it becomes more important that you collect as much data about your processes and outcomes so that you improve things further based on your own experience justified with evidence.

Parting Message [top]

There are so many big and little things that we do to have a better future. Fasting F++ is about encouraging you to think about how you might combine them during periods of nutrient deprivation.

If everything you do is consistent with your core beliefs and desires, then a long and healthy life of joy is pretty much guaranteed to be yours. If you want to be guided in detail, you know how to reach me, and if you found this useful, please do share it with others.

Puru

Dr Purnendu Nath spends his waking hours focusing on helping individuals and organizations reach their goals, to make the world a better place. He speaks, writes and advises on topics such as finance, investment management, discipline, education, self-improvement, exercise, nutrition, health and fitness, leadership and parenting.