Category Archives: intermittent fasting

Making coconut milk yogurt

Calories, coconut milk yogurt, diabetes, Fitbit, intermittent fasting, lactose intolerance, Medication, Myfitnesspal, Uncategorized, , , , ,
Image. Coconut Milk Yogurt, luvele.com

I recently discovered I am lactose intolerant. I just bought a yogurt maker and was making yogurt with half and half, which was a simple recipe, but now I am trying to switch to coconut milk. So far, I have had little success. I have made gelatin, which tasted okay but was definitely not yogurt. I had a batch that did not set and one that turned out sour. I used them in smoothies. They are fine to eat, but not what I am looking for.

I am using this recipe https://www.luvele.com/blogs/recipe-blog/best-dairy-free-gut-loving-coconut-yogurt-recipe. It does not seem too complicated but I am having trouble. I have a new batch going now. Fingers crossed it works. They have a different recipe that uses coconut cream that I will try next if this fails.

I probably would give up and just buy non dairy yogurt, but I want to use the maker. I don’t know what else it could be used for.

I have been making green smoothies, too. I drink them most mornings now. Our blender died after 20 years so we got one that makes smoothies and is durable. I put in ice, soy or coconut milk, spinach, cucumber, coconut milk yogurt, ginger, chia seeds, plant protein powder and blend. It is pretty filling.

Image coffee mug with coffee and coconut milk, green smoothie

My weight has been stalled since I had a medication change in June, but my glucose is good and I am in ketosis (on ketogenic diet). I had been logging my food on Cronometer but I think it was overestimating my energy expenditure so I switched to myfitnesspal. You enter your foods and it calculates the calories, carbs, fats, protein etc. I am not perfect at logging but it gives me an idea of where I am at. I have it linked to my Fitbit and scale.

I am still doing 14 hour fasts. It is not too difficult for me. I have not noticed any changes with fasting. I do feel a lot better now that I am not having much dairy.

Intermittent Fasting (IF) and Stigma in Plasma Donation

anxiety, Calories, depression, diabetes, Donation, intermittent fasting, keto, life lessons, Marrow, Medication, mental health, mental illness, schizoaffective, schizophrenia, stigma, Weight loss, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Image of insulin and glucagon levels over time source Digbi Health

I saw the image above of how insulin drops between meals and while fasting. While insulin is low, glucagon can burn body fat. I was intrigued. I am 10 lbs away from a healthy BMI, but still have abdominal fat. I am type 2 diabetic and asked my doctor if fasting would be safe. My glucose is pretty well controlled and I don’t have hypoglycemic episodes. She said it is fine, but recommended 12-14 hour fasts. Which is mainly cutting out the nighttime snacking and eating breakfast later.

So far, no change. My weight has been stalled for awhile. My diabetes medication was reduced in June and my biometrics went south. Glucose up, ketones down, weight up. Thankfully, that stabilized but I can’t get my weight to go down. I log my food on an app (Cronometer) but sometimes I estimate weights. I am going to have to get better at calorie counting to start losing again.

So I am gung ho on intermittent fasting. Watching Dr Fung YouTube videos. Then, I saw this study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34135111/
A randomized controlled trial to isolate the effects of fasting and energy restriction on weight loss and metabolic health in lean adults

All I can see is the abstract and I heard a review but this is what I got out of it. There were 3 groups. One calorie restricted, one calorie restricted (same as group 1) but alternate day Fasting and a third group with no calorie restriction. The calorie restricted groups both lost the same amount of weight but the non fasting group lost more fat.

It was a short study 4 weeks, I think, and these were lean adults. Also, they were doing longer fasts than I am. But, I don’t know what to make of it. I would have expected the fat loss to either be similar or more for the fasting group since they have lowered insulin during the fasting period. if anyone has any insights let me know in the comments. I will stay with 12-14 hr fasts and keto diet for now.

I tried donating plasma at a donation center. I tried calling ahead to ask about restrictions but they do not give that information over the phone. And, they don’t take appointments for first time donors so I had to walk in and wait. For what it was it was not too bad. First someone checked my veins, which are fine. Then I had to fill out a bunch of paperwork. Then, I watched a video on plasma donation and read through a manual for first time donors.

Then, a woman, I don’t know her title, took me to an office to go over my paperwork. She got to the medications and asked what each was for and looked them up in a huge book. I take 7 medications for various conditions. After she goes through the medications she goes over them with me.

Most were fine. I take antidepressants but as long as anxiety and depression are under control it is fine. But, I take metformin for diabetes. She said that is a temporary deferral. If I was off it for a year I could come back. I don’t know what the likelihood of me maintaining my diabetes by diet alone is, my husband is able to, so possibly. Then she got to abilify which is an antipsychotic although it is sometimes used along with an antidepressant for depression. But, I told her I take it for schizoaffective disorder. That is a permanent deferral.

Bone marrow donation has the same policy. It is not the safety of the product. They consider me a safety hazard. I have been stable for 15 years but still people are afraid of me because of a diagnosis. They should have a sign out front: schizophrenics need not apply. So, I would not have had to waste my time.