It's that time: time to test your blood. Most blood tests include a fasting lipid panel to assess one's risk of cardiovascular disease. A lipid panel is a test that measures fats and fatty substances used as a source of energy in the body. Lipids include cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

Triglycerides are a powerful cardiovascular risk marker. Elevated triglyceride levels are a hallmark of too many carbohydrates in the diet.

60 percent of fructose is shunted toward the liver, where it is converted to triglycerides (which causes heart disease) (Gundry, 2017). In fact, fructose, which is the sugar found in most processed foods (often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup) can only be metabolized by your liver. If you eat a typical Western-style diet, you consume high amounts of it. The overload of fructose ends up damaging your liver in the same way alcohol and other toxins do (Mercola, 2017).

Our culture is obsessed with cholesterol levels, to the point that one in four adults in the U.S. take a statin drug to lower cholesterol levels. Nevertheless, elevated cholesterol levels are rarely a risk factor for heart disease, although elevated triglycerides clearly are. Fortunately, elevated triglycerides can easily be corrected and lowered to an ideal level of below 75 with the proper lifestyle interventions. The following tests can give you a far better assessment of your heart disease risk than your total cholesterol alone:

• HDL/Cholesterol ratio: HDL percentage is a very potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your total cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 24 percent.
• Triglyceride/HDL ratios: You can also do the same thing with your triglycerides and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.
• HS-CRP: This test measures the amount of a protein called C-reactive protein (CRP) in your blood. CRP measures general levels of inflammation in your body. There are two types, the regular test and the high sensitivity test (HS). It is best to get the more sensitive HS test done to measure CRP levels, which ideally should be below 0.7 mg/L.
• Your fasting insulin level: Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar.
• Your fasting blood sugar level:  Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 100 to 125 mg/dL had a nearly 300 percent higher risk of having coronary heart disease than people with a level below 79 mg/dL. This is easily monitored at home using a blood glucose meter.
• Your iron level: Iron can be a very potent driver of oxidative stress, so if you have excess iron levels you can damage your blood vessels and increase your risk of heart disease. Iron levels can be monitored by testing blood levels of ferritin; ideally, your level should be between 60 and 80 ng/nl.
  

High triglyceride levels (over 100 mg/dL) is known to cause leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone located in fat cells, and like most hormones, it's function is complex. Leptin is tied to the coordination of our metabolic, hormonal, and behavioral response to starvation. Leptin essentially controls mammalian metabolism. Leptin decides whether to make us hungry and store more fat or burn fat. In other words, when your stomach is full, fat cells release leptin to tell your brain to stop eating. This is why people with low levels of leptin are prone to overeating.

One study observed participants with a 20 percent drop in leptin experienced a 24 percent increase in hunger and appetite, influencing their cravings for calorie-dense, high-carbohydrate foods, especially sweets, salty snacks, and starchy foods. The researchers discovered the drop in leptin was caused by sleep deprivation.

Leptin is also a pro-inflammatory molecule - it controls the creation of other inflammatory moleciles in your fat tissue throughout your body. This explains why overweight individuals are susceptible to inflammatory problems. Leptin is ranked highly on the body's chain of command, so imbalances tend to spiral downward and wreak havoc on virtually every system of the body beyond those directly controlled by leptin. Leptin, like insulin, is negatively influenced by carbohydrates. The more refined and processed the carbohydrate, the more imbalanced leptin levels become. When the body is overloaded and overwhelmed by substances that cause continuous surges in leptin, leptin receptors begin to turn off and you become leptin resistant. So even though leptin is now elevated, it doesn't work - it won't signal to your brain that you're full so you can stop eating.

Not a single drug or supplement can balance leptin levels. But better sleep, as well as better dietary choices will (Perlmutter, 2013).

Preventing cardiovascular disease involves reducing chronic inflammation in your body, and a proper diet is an absolute cornerstone. Although saturated fat has taken the blame for causing heart disease for the last several decades, the primary culprit in heart disease is sugar consumption.

A 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that there is " a significant relationship between added sugar consumption and increased risk for cardiovascular mortality." the 15-year study, which included data for 31,000 Americans, found that those who consumed 25 percent or more of their daily calories as added sugars were more than twice as likely to die form heart disease as those who got less than 10 percent of their calories from sugar. On the whole, the odds of dying from heart disease rose in tandem with the percentage of added sugar in the diet regardless of the age, sex, physical activity level, and body mass index (Dhurandhar & Thomas, 2014).

A 2014 study came to very similar conclusions. Here, those who consumed the most sugar - about 25 percent of their daily calories - were twice as likely to die form heart disease as those who limited their sugar intake to 7 percent of their total calories (Yang et al., 2013).

A 2013 study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, looked at the differing effects of high-fat diets versus low-fat diets on blood lipid levels. The study included 32 studies and found that high-fat diets resulted in significantly greater improvements in reductions of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides and benificial increases in HDL cholesterol (Schwingshackl et al., 2013).

Of course, the choice to take medications, if referred by your physician is, and should, always be your choice. However, you have the right to be fully informed of the side effects of consuming anything. With this in mind, it is important to be aware of the unintended side effects of taking statins.

A study published in Clinical Cardiology concluded that "Statin therapy is associated with decreased myocardial [heart muscle] function," which often leads to heart failure. The  study did not address causes, but it's widely known that statins lower your CoQ10 levels by blocking the pathway involved in cholesterol production -- the same pathway by which Q10 is produced. Statins also reduce the blood cholesterol that transports CoQ10 and other fat-soluble antioxidants. The loss of CoQ10 leads to loss of cell energy and increased free radicals which, in turn, can further damage your mitochondrial DNA, effectively setting into motion an evil circle of increasing free radicals and mitochondrial damage (Mercola, 2011).

Moreover, for those at risk of heart disease taking statins who are unwilling or unable to bring down their cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels naturally with dietary changes, the potential for liver or muscle damage should be acknowledged. In addition, the potential for brain-related side effects, such as memory loss and confusion, as well as Parkinson’s-like symptoms is of concern. Statin drugs also appeared to increase the risk of stroke and developing diabetes. In 2013, a study of several thousand breast cancer patients reported that long-term use of statins may as much as double a woman's risk of invasive breast cancer.

There are 71 diseases that may be associated with these drugs, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are actually over 900 studies showing the risks of statin drugs, which include:

• Cognitive loss
• Neuropathy
• Anemia
• Acidosis
• Frequent fevers
• Cataracts
• Sexual dysfunction
• An increase in cancer risk
• Pancreatic dysfunction
• Immune system suppression
• Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)
• Hepatic dysfunction

Plant-based diets have been shown to lower cholesterol just as effectively as first-line statin drugs, but without the risks. In fact, the "side effects" of healthy eating tend to be good - less cancer and diabetes risks and protection of the liver and brain (Gregor, 2015).

Baker, A. (2012). What's the real driver of elevated cholesterol? hint: it's not saturated fat! - Nourish Holistic Nutrition. [online] Nourish Holistic Nutrition. Available at: nourishholisticnutrition.com/whats-the-real-driver-of-elevated-cholesterol/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Dhurandhar, N. and Thomas, D. (2015). The Link Between Dietary Sugar Intake and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality. JAMA, 313(9), p.959. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.18267 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Gregor, M. (2015) How Not to Die. London: Pan Books

Gundry, S. (2017). The Plant Paradox. New York, NY: Harper Wave

Hyman, M. (2016). 7 Ways to Optimize Cholesterol. [online] Dr. Mark Hyman. Available at: https://drhyman.com/blog/2016/01/14/7-ways-to-optimize-cholesterol/ [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Mercola, J. (2017). Fat for Fuel. Carlsbad, CA: Hayhouse Inc.

Mercola, J. (2011). New Study Shows Using Statins Actually Harms Heart Function. [online] Mercola.com. Available at: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/22/new-study-show-using-statins-actually-worsens-your-heart-function.aspx [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Mercola, J. (2015). Conventional Heart Disease Advice May Make Matters Worse. [online] Mercola.com. Available at: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/08/02/heart-disease-risk-factors.aspx [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Perlmutter, D (2013). Grain Brain. New York, NY: Little Brown

Ray, K. et al. (2010). Statins and All-Cause Mortality in High-Risk Primary Prevention. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(12), p.1024. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2010.182 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Rubinstein, J., Aloka, F. and Abela, G. (2009). Statin Therapy Decreases Myocardial Function as Evaluated Via Strain Imaging. Clinical Cardiology, 32(12), pp.684-689. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/clc.20644 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Schwingshackl, S., et al. (2013). Comparison of Effects of Long-Term Low-Fat vs High-Fat Diets on Blood Lipid Levels in Overweight and Obese Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(12), pp. 1640-61. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2013.07.010 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Wallerwellness.com. (2019). Understanding Triglycerides. [online] Available at: https://www.wallerwellness.com/health-and-aging/understanding-triglycerides [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Williams, J. (2017). How To Lower Dangerously High Triglyceride Levels. [online] Renegade Health. Available at: http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2017/03/31/how-to-lower-dangerously-high-triglycerides-levels [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Yang, Q., et al. (2014). Added Sugar Intake and Cardiovascular Diseases Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(4), pp.516-24. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13563 [Accessed 8 Feb. 2019].

Despite food manufacturers claiming that refined vegetable oils were healthy, Americans experienced an up-rise in heart disease during the early 20th century. Like many new inventions, few questions were initially posited. Unfortunately, an alternate nutrient took the blame due to the research of a single scientist.

In 1951, American physiologist and professor Ancel Keys went to Europe in search of the cause of cardiovascular disease. In his quest, he went to observe the eating habits of individuals living Naples, Italy due to reports of a low prevalence of heart disease.

During this time, post-war conditions resulted in finite and unusual circumstances in regards to agriculture and infrastructure. Therefore what Keys perceived as a cultural tradition was dubbed the "Mediterranean diet".

Keys observed the residents in Naples consumed primarily pasta and plain pizza, with vegetables, olive oil, cheese, fruit for dessert, a moderate amount of wine, and very little meat (except among individuals belonging to a higher socioeconomic status).

Through an informal study measuring cholesterol serum levels among Rotary club members (those who could not afford meat, but could afford cheese) conducted by Keys's wife, whom at the time was a medical technologist, Keys deduced that avoiding meat resulted in a lower incidence of heart attacks.

Ancel Keys continued on his biased search for proof that a diet high in saturated fat is correlated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. He eventually compiled data from six more countries with high rates of heart disease and diets typically high in saturated fat. At first glance, Keys's research seemed logical and compelling. The evidence was based on the premise that individuals in America, who consumed high amounts of saturated fat, died from heart disease at a higher rate than individuals in Japan, who consumed low amounts of saturated fat.

Unfortunately, Keys had gained the interest of people in positions of power. Upon President Eisenhower's heart attack in 1955, Keys proposed his theory to the president's primary care physician, Paul Dudley White. Days following, White began to advise to the public to reduce the consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease.

Through his connections and influence, Keys soon joined the nutrition committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) which, based on Keys's research, released a report in 1961 that advised patients with a high risk of cardiovascular disease to reduce their consumption of saturated fat. (Interestingly enough, the AHA began its rise to prominence in 1948, the same year Proctor & Gamble donated over $1.7 million to the organization - resulting in the AHA indebted to Crisco.)

In 1961, Time magazine placed Ancel Keys on the front cover touting him as "the twenthiest century's most influential nutrition expert."

By 1970, Keys published the Seven Countries Study, which detailed his original research - this study has now been cited in over a million other scientific publications. While Keys associative observations between saturated fat and cardiovascular disease never proved causation, he had won the battle of public opinion.

With the help of Ancel Keys, the American medical community and mainstream media has advised consumers to stop eating the animal products that have been consumed for centuries, replacing them with bread, pasta, margarine, low-fat dairy, and vegetable oil. This was the dietary shift that was codified by the United States government in the late 1970s.

Central Committee for Medical And Community Program of the American Heart Association. (1961). Dietary Fat and Its Relation to Heart Attacks and Strokes. Circulation [online] 23, pp.133-36. Available at: https://circ.ahajournals.org/content/circulationaha/23/1/133.full.pdf [Accessed 26 Jan. 2019]

Keys, A. (1953). Atherosclerosis: A Problem in Newer Public Health. Journal of Mt. Sinai Hospital, [online] 20(2), pp.118-39.

Keys, A. (1970). Coronary Heart Disease in Seven Countries. Circulation. 41 (1), pp.1186-95.

Keys, A. (1995). Mediterranean Diet and Public Health: Personal Reflections. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, [online] 61 (6), pp.1321S-1323S. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/61.6.1321s [Accessed 26 Jan. 2019]

Marvin, H. (1964). The 40 Year War on Heart Disease. New York: American Heart Association.

Mercola, J. (2017). Fat For Fuel. Carlsbad, California: Hay House.

Teichholz, N. (2014). The Big Fat Surprise. New York: Simon & Schuster, pp.32-33.

A leading cardiovascular research scientist upends the low-salt myth, proving that salt may be one solution to—rather than a cause of—our nation’s chronic disease crises.

Sure to change the national conversation about this historically treasured substance, The Salt Fix elegantly and accessibly weaves the research into a fascinating new understanding of salt’s essential role in your health and what happens when you aren’t getting enough—with far-reaching, even heart-stopping, implications.

We’ve all heard the recommendation: eat no more than a teaspoon of salt a day for a healthy heart. But there’s one big problem with this: the vast majority of us don’t need to eat low-salt diets. In fact, for most of us, more salt would be better for our health, rather than less. (Not to mention, much tastier.) Scientific research suggests that the optimal range for sodium intake is 3 to 6 grams per day (about 1 ⅓ - 2 ⅔ teaspoons of salt) for healthy adults. Now, Dr. James DiNicolantonio reveals the incredible, often baffling story of how salt became unfairly demonized—a never-before-told, century-spanning drama of competing egos and interests. Not only have we gotten it wrong, we’ve gotten it exactly backwards: eating more salt can help protect you from a host of ailments, including internal starvation, insulin resistance, diabetes, and even heart disease. (The real culprit? Another white crystal—sugar.)

Dr. DiNicolantonio in The Salt Fix shows how eating the right amount of this essential mineral will help you beat sugar cravings, achieve weight loss, improve athletic performance, increase fertility, and thrive with a healthy heart.

James J. DiNicolantonio, Pharm. D., is a respected cardiovascular research scientist, doctor of pharmacy at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri, and the associate editor of British Medical Journal's (BMJ) Open Heart. He is the author or coauthor of approximately 200 publications in medical literature. His research has been featured in The New York Times, ABC’s Good Morning America, TIME, Fox News, U.S. News and World Report, Yahoo! Health, BBC News, Daily Mail, Forbes, National Public Radio, and Men’s Health, among others.

Physiologically, fasting:

• Stabilizes blood sugar
• Reduces insulin levels and improves insulin resistance
• Recovers and regenerates the gastrointestinal and immune system
• Increases ketone production
• Increases metabolic rate
• Removes damaged cells
• Reduces hunger
• Reduces excess body fat
• Reduces level of hormones thought to promote cancer
• Reduces the rate of aging
• Sheds excess body fat
• Protects brain function

The only other strategy that has so many research-baked benefits for longevity is long-term calorie restriction, which requires a significant long-term reduction in the amount of food you eat so that you are essentially living on the brink of starvation. Compliance with calorie-restricted diets is abysmal. Fortunately, there are many ways to fast, and there is likely a form of fasting out there that you will be able to tolerate and incorporate into your life. It's important for you to remember that fasting can provide nearly identical benefits without the pain, suffering, and compliance challenges of calorie restriction.

Instead of regulating how much food you eat, as with long-term calorie restriction, you only need to modify when you eat - and of course wisely choose the foods you do eat.Simply cycling between periods of eating and fasting on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule has been shown to provide many of the same benefits as long-term calorie restriction. Choosing when to eat and when to fast in this way is known as "intermittent fasting."

Intermittent fasting is rapidly growing in popularity for the simple reason that it works. It does so whether you're trying to loss excess body fat or improve biofeedback for optimal health. As a general rule, intermittent fasting involves cutting calories, in whole or in part, either a couple of days a month or a week, every other day, or even daily.
 
There are many ways to fast, from consuming nothing but water for two to three days each month to eating a normal amount of calories every day but during a restricted window of time so you still get a good long stretch without food intake during each 24-hour period.

Here's a brief overview of a couple of different options:

2- to 3-Day Water Fast
It is generally not recommended to go without food for any period longer than about 18 hours. However, if you are overweight and have serious health challenges, a medically supervised water fast may be appropriate.

A water fast consists of consuming nothing but water and some minerals for a finite period of time. This type of fast can give you a shorter transition into fat burning because the body will rapidly burn through glycogen stores and begin using fat for energy.

This fast may be appropriate if you have just received a very serious diagnosis, such as brain cancer. Although if you are limited by any of the following conditions, consult with your health care practitioner before embarking of this type of fast:

• Already underweight
• Nutritionally compromised
• Taking diuretics or blood pressure medications
• Have low blood pressure
• Have diabetes, thyroid disease, chronically low sodium levels, or cardiovascular disease

5-Day Fast
This fast consists of spending five consecutive days of each month on a modified fast. You do not abstain from food entirely during these days. On the first day, you eat about 1,000 to 1,100 calories, followed by 725 calories on the remaining four days. As with all fasting options, the foods you do eat should be low in net carbohydrates and protein, and high in healthy fats.

Researchers have observed when people who have fasted five consecutive days once a month for three consecutive months saw improvements in biomarkers for cell regeneration. Risk factors for diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease., and aging also declined (Brandhorst et al., 2015).

Beware that is can be quite challenging to go for a full five days with very little food, especially if you've never fasted before, so you may want to work your way up slowly to this type of fast. Remember, "low and slow."

1-Day Fast
With this fast, you skip eating for one day of every week, consuming only water on that day. Your fast should be broken with a regular-sized meal, and you can maintain your regular exercise program without any special diet recommendations for workout days.

Fasting for 24 hours can be rough for some people, but eating a high-fat low-carb diet can make a 24-hour fast easier, as a higher fat diet will tend to normalize your hunger hormones and provide improved satiety for longer periods of time. You can also fast from dinner to dinner, skipping a full 24 hours of eating while still eating each day.

Alternate-Day Fasting
This program consists of eating on one day, and not eating on the next. During fasting days you restrict your eating to one meal of about 500 calories. On nonfasting days, you can eat normally.

When you include sleeping time, your fast can end up being as long as 32 to 26 hours. According to Krista Varady, Ph.D., author of The Every-Other-Day Diet, alternate-day fasting can help you lose up to two pounds of body fat per week.

Another benefit to alternate-day fasting is that your body tends to adapt to the regularity of the program. In clinical trials, about 90% of participants were able to stick to alternate-day fasting, whereas the other 10% dropped out within the first two weeks.

Peak Fasting
This form of fasting is by far the easiest to maintain once your body has shifted over from burning sugar to burning fat as its primary fuel, and it also appears to support steady circadian rhythms.

Peak Fasting is done every day rather than a few days per week or month. However, you can certainly cycle in off days to suit your schedule or social commitments - this flexibility is another major benefit of Peak Fasting. If circumstances allow, it is recommended implementing this type of fasting about five days a week. The process is quite simple.

The crux of Peak Fasting is to restrict your eating each day to a 6- to 11-hour window. As a result you will avoid eating for 13 to 18 hours every day. The simplest way to implement this type of fasting is to stop eating at least three hours before bed and then delay your first meal of the following day until at least 13 hours have passed since you last ate.

This may seem like an awfully long time to go without eating on a daily basis, but once you have transitioned to burning fat as your primary fuel, you won't experience those frequent hunger pains. Another benefit of Peak Fasting is that you will be able to go hours without a dip in energy because fat provides a continuous source of fuel. This is in contrast to glucose, which triggers glucose/insulin spikes, frequent hunger pains, and energy crashes as cues to consume more high-carb foods.

Regardless of the fasting program you choose, or even if you choose not to adapt any formal type of fasting, you should stop eating at least three hours before you go to bed. This simple change can help optimize your mitochondrial function and prevent cellular damage. Many factors influence why you will reap health benefits if you develop the habit of not eating within three hours of bedtime:

• When you are sleeping, your energy needs are at their lowest, and providing excess fuel at this time will result in the production of excessive amounts of damaging free radicals.
• Sleep is your body's time for detox and repair, and needing to digest a meal during sleep will impair these important processes.
• Nighttime is a common time for your body to use ketones for energy, since glycogen stores are typically depleted within 18 hours (13 hours if you are eating low quantities of carbohydrates), and eating too close to bedtime can replenish glycogen stores and prevent the body from burning fat for overnight fuel.
• Not eating for at least three hours before bed enables you to extend that period of time without eating food on a daily basis.

A compilation of scientific literature published in 2011 provides much of the experimental work supporting the advice from eating too close to bedtime. The message is clear: since the body uses the least amount of calories when sleeping, eating close to bedtime adds excess fuel which will generative excessive free radicals that will damage the tissues, accelerate aging, and contribute to chronic disease (Pamplona, 2011).

Although intermittent fasting, particularly Peak Fasting, is a powerful way to improve your physiological function all the way down to the mitochondrial level, it is not for everyone. Individuals taking medications, especially those with diabetes, need medical supervision; otherwise there is a risk of hypoglycemia.

If you have serious adrenal challenges or chronic renal disease, are living with chronic stress (adrenal fatigue), or have cortisol dysregulation, you would likely need to resolve these issues before implementing intermittent fasting. Also, if you have a disease called porphyria, you should not fast.

If you goal is to build large muscles or engage in competitive sports such as sprinting that require glucose for anaerobic fast twitch muscle fibers, intermittent fasting is not likely to be your best strategy.

Pregnant women and nursing mothers should not practice intermittent fasting, as the baby needs a wider range of nutrients during and after birth.

Children under 18 should also not fast for extended periods. Moreover, anyone of any age with concerns of malnutrition, or who is underweight (with a BMI less than 18.5), or who has an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa should avoid fasting.

When implementing intermittent fasting, keep your eye on any signs of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which include:

• Light-headedness
  
• Shakiness
  
• Confusion
  
• Fainting
  
• Excessive sweating
  
• Blurred vision
  
• Slurred speech
  
• Feelings of an atypical heartbeat
  
• Pins and needles sensation (neuropathy) in the fingertips
  

If you suspect that your blood sugar is low, make sure to eat something that will not impact your blood glucose levels, such as foods with a lower glycemic index quantity, including coconut oil in black coffee or tea.

The most challenging part of any intermittent fasting plan is getting through the initial transition, which can take anywhere from a week to two months. In some people this transition may take even longer, depending on how insulin resistant they are and other factors such as weight, blood pressure, and how consistent they are with their fasting regimen.

Roughly 10% of people report headaches as a side effect when they first begin fasting, but the biggest complaint is hunger. This is why it is so important to remain hydrated, especially while adding extra magnesium. It may be helpful to remember that one reason you're craving food is because your body has not yet made the switch from burning sugar to burning fat as its primary fuel. As long as you're running on sugar, frequent hunger pains will be the norm. Fat is far more satisfying, as it's a much slower-burning fuel.

Another factor that can cause disruption during the transition period is purely psychological. If you're used to grazing in the evenings, it may take some time to break the habit. One trick is to make it easier to go longer periods of time without eating is to drink more water. Oftentimes people mistake thirst for hunger.

It typically takes a few days to work up to 13 hours of fasting, but once you start activating your fat-burning system you will easily achieve this. The most effective way is to keep to your fat-burning plan by limiting your net carbs to under 40 grams per day and not exceeding more than 1 gram of protein per kilogram of lean body mass.

In 1965, researchers conducted an experiment on rats exploring the health effects of sugar and fat. The rats were divided into two groups: one group of rats was a fed diet containing 75% fat and no sugar, while the other group was fed a diet containing 15% fat and 60% sucrose. The results of this experiment led the researchers to believe that rats fed sucrose, a simple carbohydrate, developed thiamine deficiency, often leading to cardiovascular disease, while more complex carbohydrates helped create gut bacteria that synthesized thiamine (Nutritional Reviews, 1965). Based on internal documents, the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) has discounted evidence linking sucrose consumption to cardiovascular disease.

This research prompted funding, among the SRF, to understand the relationship between sugar and any metabolic effects related to chronic disease beyond its caloric effects. The foundation (which has organizational ties to the Sugar Association, the International Sugar Research Foundation [ISRF], and ISRF's successor, and the World Sugar Research Organization) led a group of researchers, referred to as Project 259, to study the effect of sugar on gut bacteria in 1967. The researchers observed a positive association between rodent sugar-rich diets and triglyceride levels, which contributed to higher urinary concentrations of beta-glucoronidase, a well-established  marker of bladder cancer (Paigen, Peterson and Paigen, 2017). Albeit, the Sugar Association has consistently denied that sucrose has any metabolic effects related to chronic disease.

In 2016, the Sugar Association issued a press release criticizing findings from a study published in Cancer Research using multiple mouse models that suggested that dietary sugar induces increased tumor growth and metastasis when compared to a nonsugar starch diet. The Sugar Association stated that no credible link between ingested sugars and cancer has been established. In contrast, evidence suggests that that the sugar industry terminated funding of an animal study that was finding unfavorable results with respect to the association between dietary sugars and cancer, with possible translational importance to humans (Sugar Association, 2016).

Researchers have discovered internal documents that suggest the sugar industry muffled research indicating a significant relationship between sugar and adverse health effects including, heart disease and cancer (Kearns, Apollonio & Glantz, 2017). And this isn't the first time the sugar industry has been caught in the act. Researchers uncovered evidence suggesting the sugar industry systematically misrepresented research linking sugar to cancer, obesity, and heart disease (Kearns, Schmidt and Glantz, 2016).

In response to the study, the sugar industry released a statement, saying: “The article we are discussing is not actually a study, but a perspective: a collection of speculations and assumptions about events that happened nearly five decades ago, conducted by a group of researchers and funded by individuals and organizations that are known critics of the sugar industry” (Foley, 2017).