My holistic approach to health, performance and longevity

These are some of my underlying principals and ideas.

Nutrition - You are not what you eat. You are not what you absorb. You are the result of your epigenetic interactions of that what you absorb.

Metabolism - The main fuel of your brain and muscles is glucose (glucogenises). Right? Wrong. Ketogenesis, not to be confused with keto acidosis (Diabetes I), is a natural metabolic state where the liver produces energy in the form of ketone bodies, which is readily available as fuel for the body and brain. Ketogenesis is increased when we fast or when we greatly reduce carbohydrate intake. In fact, humans are genetically adapted through evolution through fasting. We fast every time we sleep. And not to long ago, in human history, eating 3 meals a day or more, everyday, was not the normal situation. In fact there is a lot of research that indicates that fasting represents a vital role in our health. Therefore I practise various forms of fasting.

Fasting and eating patterns

1. Intermittent fasting. I usually have my first meal of the day between 12-14 and usually after a walk or workout. 
2. Time-restricted eating. It goes hand in hand with intermittent fasting. I strive to minimize the window of time when I eat. That is the time between when I eat breakfast and the time when I have my last meal of the day. An optimal day may be eating breakfast at 12 and dinner at 16. It all depends on my situation. Once a week or so I only eat one meal a day at dinner time. And once every second week I do a whole day fast. Typically I break the fast in the morning around 10 those times
3. Prolonged fast. Every second month I do a prolonged water fast between 2 days and 5 days.  
4. I'm not yet convinced that I need to radically increase my water/fluid intake. I do increase my water intake a little and make sure I get some extra minerals and salt though. I try to be cogniscent of how much fluid I loose and how I feel and test for performance and adjust my water and mineral intake based on that.
5. When I do eat. I eat a low carb high fat diet. I am somewhat more liberal with the amount of complex carbs, low glycemic carbs, and fiber rich foods. But my diet probably fits the ketogenic diet pretty well or at least overlap to a great degree. I do however not take a dogmatic approach to nutrition. I think it is much smarter to strive for an individualized and flexible approach. In doing that I have actually done gene tests (23andme and others) and analyzed my genotype on number of SNPs to be able to optimize my epigenetics and in particular my nutrition. Some genes are of particular interest when doing ketogenic diet and fasting. Like PPAR-alpha and PPAR-gamma. My genotype in regards to these indicates that I am very well suited for ketogenesis and preserving lean mass while fasting. 
6. I strive to restrict my protein intake somewhat. Protein, like carbs, trigger insulin. It also burdens the liver to be broken down. There are also studies indicating positive correlations between restricting protein intake and longevity. Correlation is not causation of course. But my sense this far is you'd be wise to look in to some restriction on protein given my style of nutrition. 
7. Purposeful eating strategies. When breaking a fast I try to do this by including something that will set a good start for my gut microbiom. Prebiotics and probiotics. If a prolonged fast, I would probably also include a soup with bone broth in the breaking of fast. If I for some reason want to gain weight or increase my apitite I break my fast with a bit more carbs. Most likely complex carbs. Like broccoli, kale, onions etc or perhaps even blueberries. This will likely make me a bit more hungry and will increase my appetite. I also try to optimise my energy. Since I am metabolically adapted to burning fast. I would start my morning sometimes with a high fat meal and very low or no  carbs. I would, in particular, include MCT-oil (medium chain triglycerides). This is good if I for some reason need a lot of energy but don't have time to eat lunch. The high fat meal suppresses appetite and being in a ketogenic state I can readily utilise this for pure energy during the day without a problem of loosing energy. In the evening I include blueberries or something containing tryptophan but relatively low in sugar. I want to increase melatonine production so I sleep better. I use timing of when I drink and eat to set some circadian rythm support. I never eat at a time I would normally sleep. When I travelled to New York, I juggled with this by fasting and eating during certain times to smoothly adjust and reset my internal time to mitigate jet lag. It worked relatively well. My fluid intake should be higher in the first part of the day and lower in the later part of the day. The reason why is sleep. Urination - wakes you up and interrupts sleep, reducing sleep quality. I also try to thing about this when eating what. Foods that bind more fluid later and foods that contain more fluid earlier. 
8. Coffee. I drink 1 cup each day. Early in the morning. Before breakfast. It is good to know your coffee metabolism genotype. AHR (marker rs4410790, chromosome 7) and CYP1A2 (marker rs2472297, chromosome 7). AHR regulates the CYP1A2 so both are relevant. They can also be regulated epigenetically through other factors. I modulate these as well. I have a highly active polymorfism for certain AHR SNP:s and a medium slow heterozygous CYP1A2. My guess is I do relatively well regular but low caffeine consumption. The caffeine stays a while and doesn't interrupt my sleep when I stick with just one cup in the morning. Caffeine has many good sides to it. In my case, I believe it keeps my dopamine levels at a good high but not too high level given I stick with my caffeine intake. Caffeine also speeds up metabolism, in my case that means increases ketogenises.
9. Dietary flexibility. I had the idea not so long ago, that eating needs practise. What I mean by that is your body is a system that needs to be trained to adapt to the food intake you want.The gut will communicate with your system to promote various eating habits and cravings or loss of cravings depending on how you fuel it. You use this to your advantage strategically. 
10. I do not restrict calories. I don't believe in fix value caloric restriction value. I think it is more complex than that. There are studies that show that caloric restriction decreases metabolic rate. The effect being when the caloric restricted individual reverts back to prior caloric intack they usually gain more than before as a consequence. Same studies also show that fasting individuals don't get a reduced metabolic rate as a consequence of their fasting when they revert back to eating normally. I am certain I at least as much as when I didn't fast. I just eat more when I do eat. I listen to my body and how hungry I feel and don't restrict any calories, When I fast, I fast. When I eat, I eat til I'm full.
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