Intermittent Fasting, OMAD, Ketosis, Autophagy for Crohn’s Disease: Medical Doctor Explains Pro/Cons

fasting for Crohn’s disease obviously it helps but is it sustainable that’s the topic we’ll dive into here today we’ll be discussing water fast intermittent fasting one meal a day and the pros and cons of ketosis for Crohn’s [Music] disease hi I’m Dr Chan oser a surgeon who specializes in reversing complex inflammation naturally using the Mind gut immunity method we’ve refined our methodology over the past 12 years and have helped thousands of patients recover we look at conditions such as Crohn’s disease and solve the root cause and you probably know by now from the hundreds of research papers on the topic the gut microbiome plays a significant role in modulating the immune response in Crohn’s disease if you want to find out how we fix these issues schedule a discovery call with me and I’ll provide you with some helpful tips on how to get started here are a few studies that describe fasting and the setting of Crohn’s Disease here’s a 2023 study stud on food avoidance and fasting in patients with IBD inflammatory bowel disease here’s a 2020 study that questions the benefit for fasting for inflammatory bowel disease patients I’m going to break down these studies but also offer you some personal insights into how fasting plays out longterm for Crohn’s disease so let me start out by saying this 80% of the immune system is in the gut it’s called the mucosa Associated lymphatic tissue or malt for short it Harbors trillions of immune cells that that react to what’s in your intestines well the only thing in your intestines is food and microbes which include bacteria funguses and viruses the Flora will digest the food and create secondary and tertiary metabolites which can then trigger an immune response so it’s important not only to have the right kind of food but also have the right kind of microbiome to fix this issue take a look at my other video entitled ideal diet for Crohn’s disease and I’ll post a link in the description below in this video I discuss the four criteria that I use to to determine if a diet works or not and I’ll tell you right now I’m a strong proponent of the phytonutrient diet or phyto diet and we use it quite extensively in our Clinic to deliver results for our patients when combined with a Precision microbiome recalibration we see results fast with a majority of symptoms resolving in a matter of weeks in many cases so you can understand more about why phytonutrients in the diet are so valuable now the four criteria I use to determine if any dietary approach works are as follows and this also applies to fasting so listen up number one is phytonutrient density and diversity number two is macronutrient requirements number three is microbiome specificity and number four is food sensitivity if you want to know why these matter check out the video entitled ideal diet for Crohn’s disease again it’s linked in the description below but I’ll quickly recap here so you don’t have to go back and forth phytonutrient density and diversity phytonutrients are powerful micronutrients that reverse inflammation in humans numerous studies emphasize the role of phytonutrients in managing Crohn’s disease here’s a study on the gastroprotective effects of polyphenols and its impact on Crohn’s disease another 2023 study examines antioxidants in inflammatory bow disease and here’s one from 2018 discussing Prebiotic fiber and resistant plant starch as it relates to microbiome changes in Crohn’s disease phytonutrients are molecular compounds found mainly in plants and fungi that have a strong positive effect on human health these include superfoods micronutrients and antioxidants research consistently shows that phytonutrient supplementation helps alleviate Crohn’s disease symptoms phytonutrients fall into several categories tpin phenols chlorophyll thiocyanates phyto enzymes phyto oils prebiotics and alkaloids these groups are essential for health while there are other groups like betal Lanes from beets and hereson from mushrooms focusing on these main eight categories covers most phytonutrients deficiencies in these nutrients can disrupt the Mind gut immunity connection the goal is to maximize and optimize phytonutrient intake from everyday foods and by maximize and optimize I mean increasing the diversity and density of phytonutrients in your diet which is crucial for health a diet low in phytonutrients makes it hard to overcome inflammatory disease in terms of fasting we’re not getting sufficient amount of phytonutrients in the diet in fact we’re getting very little so typically what happens is that you’ll feel temporarily better but when there’s no food in your system your intestines are basically more empty less food means less things to digest what happens though is because there’s an absence of phytonutrients the immune regulation doesn’t happen so as soon as you stop fasting the symptoms will come back one suggestion I have is that if you are planning a water fast for several days or even intermittent fasting in an 8h hour or 6-h hour window you will want to add some herbal teas to get some of the phytonutrient benefits without any calories herbal teas are a great source of polyphenols and tpin which are quite helpful for solving inflammation next is macronutrient requirements for Crohn’s disease macro is short for macronutrients macronutrients are carbs fats and proteins and the body require these to function I have a great tool on my website called the macro calculator that allows you to check these and what your body’s maintenance requirements are it’s based on height and weight age and gender and activity level now it’s important to note that these macronutrient estimates are based on ideal physiologic function in terms of fasting you will not be getting these nutrients long term or you will certainly get a reduced amount so here’s an important time to discuss the various types of fasting number one you can have water fasts these can be 24 48 72 hours some people even suggest 5 to 14 days number two you can have total caloric restriction and now we’re talking about less than 800 to 1,000 calories a day you can have intermittent fasting so this is eating in a 6h hour 8 hour 10hour 12h hour window and they’re also proponents of one meal a day or omad whichever methodology you subscribe to the underlying benefit is ketosis where the body doesn’t use carbs for energy but relies on stored fat and muscle for sustenance proponents of this methodology describe a process of autophagy where the body digests old and decrepit cells basically cleans them up so it’s anti-inflammatory by its very nature now here’s the problem you might be able to use these strategies shortterm to alleviate symptoms but they invariably always come back so what happens the second time or the third time or long term if you try to do this well these problems related to fasting they develop and eating becomes more of a challenge you might feel very bloated gassy lethargic and low on energy after meals these symptoms can deter you from eating adequately in the future creating a vicious cycle that’s difficult to break especially if you’re underweight and being underweight means that you have a body mass index of 18 or lower and it can be particular ularly problematic you can easily calculate your BMI using this BMI calculator on my Clinic’s website by entering your height and weight if your body mass index is below 18 and you have Crohn’s disease you’re at serious risk I’ve treated patients with a BMI as low as 13 which is very severe and when you have that low BMI and Crohn’s disease it means your body is in a catabolic State breaking down protein rather than building it up which is detrimental to intestinal healing additionally these patients cannot tolerate food and struggle to eat requiring careful coaching through the process the reason I emphasize this is that the solution to dysfunctional gut microbiome should never be to stop eating or to avoid food even if fasting Feels Good short term I know because I used to do it instead the focus should be on fixing the inflammation first and then eating normally and when I started doing that and when my patient started doing that then Real Recovery is actually possible unfortunately many people have given up on trying to find what the ideal diet is for Crohn’s disease and may end up avoiding food altogether here’s a recent study that shows intermittent fasting for long periods of time actually increases the risk of cardiac death furthermore if you have caloric restriction for long periods of time we’re talking over days weeks and months of intermittent fasting various issues can arise number one you can have weight loss and muscle wasting number two you can have thyroid dysfunction number three you can have cortisol and sympathetic endocrine dysfunction number four you can have sleep disturbances and number five you can have protein calorie malnutrition which impedes wound healing and inflammation control number six you can have nausea reflux feelings of fullness and decreased appetite and number seven you can have severe intermittent fatigue you can also get brain fog with this the reason I emphasize this is that the solution to a dysfunctional gut microbiome should never be to stop eating or avoid food instead the the focus should be on fixing the inflammation first and then eating normally unfortunately many people have given up on doing this they don’t know what the ideal diet is for Crohn’s disease and many end up avoiding food altogether if you are trying to determine the ideal macronutrient balance for managing Cron’s disease you need to focus on fats carbs and proteins to reduce inflammation I recommend approximately 50% of your daily calories come from fats while carbohydrates and proteins each comprise about 25% the reason carbohydrates comprise a smaller index of the diet in the beginning is because gut bacteria and candida love sugar they love carbs and if you have a dysfunctional microbiome feeding it sugar can make the problem worse so essentially you have bad bacteria and fungus and you give it sugars carbs and fiber and it leads to inflammation this suggestion is based on my extensive experience working with thousands of patients rather than on specific scientific studies if your goal is to lose weight you might need to lower your intake of carbs and fats even more while increasing your protein consumption and reducing overall calories conversely if you’re trying to gain weight it’s important to increase your total caloric intake and find a more balanced ratio between carbs and fats simple sugars like glucose and fructose can stimulate the growth of both harmful bacteria and fungi similarly simple starches such as those found in processed flour can lead to bacterial and fungal overgrowth tracking these macronutrients can help you achieve your desired health goals it requires some effort but it’s well worth it this approach can significantly improve your diet balance and long-term Health like I said feel free to check out some of my other videos or refer to the description below for additional resources I have a link to a body mass calculator I have a link to the various types of phytonutrients needed to reverse Crohn’s disease I also have a macronutrient calculator to determine your carbs fats and protein needs each day and I have a fiber and starch guide to help you avoid the carbohydrates that make gut microbiome dun function worse and like I said earlier I help clients formulate their diets based on these principles and they do quite well the severity of their symptoms decrease substantially in a short period of time and many of them are off meds living healthy lives as I’ve said earlier I prefer the phyto diet and I use it routinely for my clients it’s a diet that works well for microbiome recalibration and fixing issues related to phytonutrient deficiency it also avoids food sensitivities and meets nutritional requirements long term this typically means that if you’re under eating you’ll be eating a lot more and you’ll be eating more foods that will not only help you gain weight but also heal inflammation the right way it means that you can avoid many of the consequences of undereating for long periods of time sometimes it’s hard work to reverse the effects of fasting but it can be done so just a recap the criteria I use to judge whether a diet will work for reversing the inflammation longterm in patients with Crohn disase are the following phytonutrient focused meeting nutritional requirements micro biome specificity and avoiding food sensitivities okay one last thing I would love to hear your thoughts below comment on the types of foods that exacerbate your inflammation and what you’ve done to avoid them and finally if you like this video please like And subscribe and be sure to share this video with someone you think it can help this is Chan oser with the Mind gun immunity clinic and I’ll see you next time