Episode 371: IF Mistakes, Constipation, Sleep, Snacking, THC, Hunger Suppression, Magnesium, Serrapeptase, Spirulina, And More!

Intermittent Fasting

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May 26

Welcome to Episode 371 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast, hosted by Melanie Avalon, author of What When Wine Diet: Lose Weight And Feel Great With Paleo-Style Meals, Intermittent Fasting, And Wine and Vanessa Spina, author of Keto Essentials: 150 Ketogenic Recipes to Revitalize, Heal, and Shed Weight.

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SHOW NOTES

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Listener Q&A: What was a mistake you made with intermittent fasting?

Listener Q&A: Rudy- What do you think about using alternatives like THCV for hunger satiation during the fast?

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TRANSCRIPT

(Note: This is generated by AI with 98% accuracy. However, any errors may cause unintended changes in meaning.) 

Melanie Avalon:
Welcome to Episode 371 of The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. If you want to burn fat, gain energy, and enhance your health by changing when you eat, not what you eat with no calorie counting, then this show is for you. I'm Melanie Avalon, biohacker, author of "What, When, Wine" and creator of the supplement line AvalonX. And I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Spina, sports nutrition specialist, author of "Keto Essentials" and creator of the Tone Breath Ketone Analyzer and Tone Lux Red Light Therapy Panels. For more on us, check out ifpodcast.com, melanieavalon.com, and ketogenicgirl.com. Please remember, the thoughts and opinions on this show do not constitute medical advice or treatment. To be featured on the show, email us your questions to questions@ifpodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. So pour yourself a mug of black coffee, a cup of tea, or even a glass of wine, if it's that time, and get ready for The Intermittent Fasting Podcast.

Melanie Avalon:
Hi, everybody, and welcome. This is episode number 371 of the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon, and I'm here with Vanessa Spina. Hi, everyone. How are you today, Vanessa? I am great. How are you? I am so good. Let's see. This episode comes out. Oh, my goodness. Okay. So when this episode airs on the 27th, I will literally be probably at the biohacking conference in Dallas, which is...

Vanessa Spina:
Oh wow, it's already that time.

Melanie Avalon:
Yeah, that's so crazy to think about. Friends, I highly recommend if you are into all of the crazy biohacking stuff that I talk about, or if you listen to our other shows where we interview different guests and such, and even guests on this show, the biohacking conference is really cool because I get to finally meet in person all of these different people that I found the show. Like I think this year there's speakers include people like Paul Saladino and Dr. Mercola and Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Sarah Gottfried.

Vanessa Spina:
I would go just for Dr. Joe Dispenza. I saw him speak when I was in college in university and I asked him if I could be his intern. What did he say? He was like yeah he was like email me and he gave me his email address.

Melanie Avalon:
Oh my goodness.

Vanessa Spina:
I don't know what happened. I think his like assistant blocked me or something because she like was like Dr. Spence is very busy. And I was like, no, like I met him. He said he said I could intern for him. No one really knew who he was.

Melanie Avalon:
then. That's so funny. I remember my first internship I had, which was it was my dream internship. It was for Jerry Bruckheimer and who did like all the parts of the Caribbean movies and all the things. And was it the HR woman who told me this? I had like no experience. I don't remember if she told me this or if somebody else told me this, but it was the quote of something to the effect of like combat over experience with enthusiasm or like enthusiasm can trump experience. But basically like being enthusiastic and showing up is like you're way ahead of a lot of people.

Vanessa Spina:
positive mental attitude is like everything and just

Melanie Avalon:
showing up. Like, just showing up. That sounds like something I would do. Incredible.

Vanessa Spina:
I was in awe of him. Anyway, that sounds like an amazing lineup.

Melanie Avalon:
Yeah, and that's just some of them. There's like so many more beyond that. So I'm really, really excited. And then not only are these speakers, but then there's this expo where it's literally all of the brands I talk about all the time. They're all there. So you get to experience the technology, you get to, you know, try supplements, see all the things. It's just, it's really fun. And then there's a dance party, which speaking of I've been thinking a lot about dancing recently. I don't know if I've talked about this on the show. Have I talked about this? So like, growing up, were you a dancer? Like, oh, although, okay, wait, you had an interesting school life. So like, you're schooling when you were young, like in Asia and stuff. Did you go to private schools?

Vanessa Spina:
I went to private international school but I did eight years of ballet and I was like did a lot of dance and theater just like you.

Melanie Avalon:
Oh, okay. I'm so jealous of you because I don't have many regrets in life, but one of my regrets is that I never did formal dance training and I always felt so awkward. So did they have like school dances at your, where you went?

Vanessa Spina:
Yes, we had all the.

Melanie Avalon:
So like, did you dance at the dances? Mm -hmm. Okay, see, I did not dance at the dances. I, like, I thought they were so awkward, and I wanted to dance, but it was so, like, socially awkward. And so now I feel like... Okay, so last episode, we were talking about how... I think you were talking about how you were making up for... You said you were, like, making up for something from...

Vanessa Spina:
I'm not going to amusement parks when I was growing up.

Melanie Avalon:
Yes, that was it, not going to amusement parks. So for me, I feel like I have to make up for dancing because now I just love, I love like, like this upcoming weekend, we have a wedding and I'm just so excited for the dancing portion. I feel like I can finally let my spirit out. And so at the biohacking conference, there's a dance, it's based cowboy themed this year. So I'm working on my outfit. All of that to say friends, it's probably too late now. If you are not there right now, but if my code is the same next year, the code is BC Melanie to get a discount on tickets and I highly recommend it. Oh, and this is Dave Asbury's conference. I don't think I mentioned that. So he is there as well. Yeah, that's all the things. Oh, I will say really quickly. So hopefully, oh, announcement. I hope I do this. I hope I follow through because we're still getting the final details, but we are planning to launch my third podcast, the Mind Blown Podcast, June 1st. That is the plan. So that should be hopefully coming out in a few days. We're going to air it on Saturdays. It is with, it's me and Scott Emmons, my fantastic partner at MD Logic. And it's my first non -health related podcast. In every episode, we just talk about mind blowing topics and it is so, so fun. It's so fun. So I'm really excited for listeners to check that out. It's going to be called the Mind Blown Podcast. So subscribe on Apple podcasts and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully we launch in a few days from now, June 1st.

Vanessa Spina:
Okay, before we get into questions, I have to ask you, did you see the video that Dr. Peter Ortea did about how he distains biohacking?

Melanie Avalon:
Oh my goodness, how did I not watch it yet? Okay, so many people sent it to me. Okay, here's the thing. So many people sent it to me and it got sent to me during my like wind down time. And I was like, I cannot engage with this right now. Like I cannot watch this right now. And then I forgot to watch it. What does he say?

Vanessa Spina:
It was interesting, you know, because he said that he really thinks that biohacking is like a big distraction to the simple things that don't cost a lot of money, that are science backed, like exercise, mostly exercise. And he said kind of a lot of contradictory things in it, like, he doesn't think that people should. But I agree with his point that it can be a distraction because it's like all these sort of glitzy things like my red light mask, like a red light mask, whereas like maybe just taking care of your skin every day is like really what's going to move the needle over time or like, you know, I can see how some of these things distract from like, just eating well, whole foods, prioritizing protein, exercise. But he kind of was saying things like, you know, I don't really believe we should be focusing on all these supplements, but he recommends a lot of supplements. And then he's the reason I got into like, some aspects of biohacking, like he's one of the him and Dr. Dom D 'Agostino were the first doctors I heard on podcasts talking about keto. He was the first one I heard talking about rapamycin, I listened to every single episode he did on rapamycin. So rapamycin is like, is a huge biohacking staple. It's huge in the biohacking space. I think a lot of his like followers or fans, you know, got into biohacking because of him. So I think he should make maybe a clear distinction between some so in the in this video, who's specifically talking about this one biohacker who spent like $700 ,000 to have this gene therapy done that basically like suppresses mTOR and is going to help him live longer, which okay, is problematic in its own. But he wasn't really addressing that he was just saying, you know, this makes it seem like biohacking is, you know, this really expensive sort of unreachable thing. But you know, that's, that's like kind of an extreme example. And I do agree there are some aspects of biohacking that I think are just like a necessary, overly expensive, like are really not going to do much for you. But I think he could point out those critiques without just across the board being like, I have a disdain for biohacking, like all biohacking, I don't even like the term and I get filled with rage when people bring up the term biohacking, because like I said, a lot of people got into biohacking because of him, because of him talking about things like rapamycin or keto or whatever intermittent fasting or fasting, which he used to be huge on. So I found yeah, like it was interesting because I agreed with one part of it, but the other part of it I was kind of rolling my eyes like, okay, you're saying all this, but you do recommend supplements and you do talk about rapamycin, you do all this stuff too, right?

Melanie Avalon:
It's so interesting. I really think it comes down to a terminology and a language thing. It's like, what do we mean by this word biohacking? How do you define it? And yeah, thank you for saying everything that he said. And it's kind of like the issue with dietary fat versus body fat and how we use the word fat to mean both of those. And so people confuse eating. They think fat makes you fat. Like they're just like an issue. I think terminology and language is so important. And I agree. I think we need more defined definitions of biohacking or we need when people are addressing it to make it more clear what they're specifically addressing. It's funny. I was thinking about it. I'll have to watch that video because I just, I would do anything. I would sell my soul to have him on my show. Not really. I would not sell my soul, but I would, I know you wouldn't. I would go to great lengths. And so I was thinking, I was like, maybe I should pitch him and I should say like, listen, I know this is the title of my show. I will change the title of my show the week you're on it.

Vanessa Spina:
That's probably why he said no.

Melanie Avalon:
Yeah. It might be. Oh man.

Vanessa Spina:
the video, you will be laughing because he's like, he's basically saying he gets filled with rage. Filled with rage, okay. When people mention biohacking. So every time you email him, you fill him with rage. He's like,

Melanie Avalon:
like he's going to be filled with rage. I mean, I'm just honored that he rejected me that I personally got a rejection from him. That was like the best day of my life. I was so excited that I got an email from Peter, like not his assistant, Peter, saying no. Maybe you should invite him on to say how does he feel about intermittent fasting though? Isn't he like,

Vanessa Spina:
He used to be the biggest proponent of both fasting and intermittent fasting and then he saw one study, I think, where he believed that muscle mass was lost or something, but they weren't counting total body water, so it was probably just water. But he used to be such a big proponent of it and I don't know how he feels about it, because it seems to go back and forth.

Melanie Avalon:
I it just came to me how I'm gonna get him. Yeah, cuz I thought about that I was like, oh, maybe I should pitch intermittent fasting, but I feel like he's So that's why I was thinking what if I literally say listen, I will change the name of my show that week It'll just be the Melanie Avalon podcast that week that you're on it. I Like changed the artwork like I will do everything for you Maybe It wants the mind -blowing podcast launches and hopefully gets takes off. Maybe I invite him on that to talk about formula one Which he's obsessed with I feel like he would do that. You think so? Okay I'm gonna build up that show and then I'm gonna invite him on to talk about formula one That's it. That's it. I'm doing it friends. Okay. I don't know if there's mind -blowing stuff before Mila one. I've never watched it. I'm There probably is we'll find out. Yes, so goals so we shall see how that manifest friends Okay moving into intermittent fasting related stuff So last week in the past three weeks we've been making our way through this really wonderful post in my Facebook group where I asked people for a Mistake that they made with intermittent fasting and there are a few more answers so I was just gonna read through them and Give our thoughts about it. So Kathleen said it's hard to say as if has radically changed my life and health I'm two years in and I'm still making small changes But I've maintained a 15 pound weight loss and medical blood markers have greatly improved Maybe the mistake was thinking it was a quick solution This is a lifestyle a way of living who I am. The first few months were tough now. It is easy I wish I had realized early on to just do it and relax the results years later. It would be worth it. Oh I love I just that's who I just love reading this Kathleen. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, cuz I think so many people Will a yes, they think it'll be a quick solution, which To me I do think it's a lot quicker than like the the calorie counting and the chronic dieting and it actually works So in that regards it kind of is Quick compared to everything else, but it's not it's not gonna happen overnight And it is a lifestyle it is a way of living and like she talks about with just doing it and relaxing I think people kind of they can get stuck in paralysis by analysis, you know If there's information overload and you want to do it Perfectly and you want to find, you know the right thing for you and that can be really overwhelming Like you can just try it and see what works and stick it out and like Kathleen said so many people Really experience benefits especially once you start training your metabolism to easily switch into fat burning Your hunger hormone levels adjust accordingly. So you're no longer hungry during your fast and It's just really wonderful. So I really like that mistake that Kathleen shared So and then we have some more so Ann said not fasting clean Flavored coffee, for example, this is funny because I feel like we don't we haven't talked recently as much about Fasting clean or not fasting clean back in the days when I had Jen Stevens on that was like we had so many questions about That but it really can make a difference having flavors during your fast and things that are giving your body Contrary signals to the fasted state can really think they can really be a hurdle and people really Connecting into fasting and experiencing the benefits and it being easy and people often hold on to these crutches thinking they're making them easier When when you finally let go it can just be really amazing. So yay for fasting clean Holly said eating too fast and too much when my window opens and then she put a little poop emoji I don't know if that's supposed to mean that it was giving her digestive distress but this is an interesting one because on the one hand one of the great things about intermittent fasting is We know that you can see changes incredible beneficial changes without actually changing what you eat or Quote restricting, you know limiting the amount of food you eat all that to say I think people can experience even more benefits when they do make healthy food choices within their window and also Get past the need to perhaps like ravenously like Holly said eat too fast and too much I think especially in the beginning when people are trying intermittent fasting they may Feel like they need to just eat all the things and you know that they're gonna be fasting and they're gonna be hungry so they've got to really stock up and it can be really nice to work through that and become more in tune with A more mindful approach in your window where you are, you know, hearing your satiety cues and not feeling the need to rush through your food and stopping when full. So thank you for sharing that, Holly. Kristi also said not clean fasting. Christine said her fasting window was too long. It was 16 .8. She said, I could not eat the proper nutrition in that time. Now I do 13 .11. I'm stronger and feel great. I'm 56. And I started fasting at 52. Yes. So this is another example of finding the window that works for you. And different windows work for different people. And some people may need to fast a little bit longer. Some people may need to fast shorter. For Christine, she found that she couldn't get, you know, enough of her nutrition in her window. So I find it really interesting when people say they can't fit in nutrition into eight hours. And that's just coming from my perspective and how much I eat in my short window. I'm really intrigued by that. Like, I'm always really curious, like, what are they eating? And is the reason they can't get in enough? Is it because they get prematurely full? Like, are they eating multiple meals within that window? Either way, I love people to find what works for them. But I always am really interested in what people are actually eating when they feel like they can't get enough nutrition within, like, eight hours, for example. Alani said, not listening to my body and being miserable for the last few hours instead of just breaking my fast and eating, trying to do a certain amount of hours instead of listening to my body. Oh, I love that. So it sounds like Alani was doing what we were calling what Jen used to call white knuckling it. So white knuckling the fast. You know, this is something where I mean, if you're new to fasting, you know, in the to do the longer fasting and you might have to, you know, push through and then eventually your body will get more more adapted. But I think it's really important to be intuitive and know when maybe you should just be having a certain fast or when you should just be opening your eating window. And I really love that Alani came to that place of understanding that. Barb said eating too many calories. So again, this goes back to what I'm saying earlier, where you fasting does not mandate that you restrict your calories. That said, you might find that you're eating too many calories in your window. I think both of those concepts can exist. Some people do find more benefits when they do take a look at, you know, how many calories they're actually consuming and they're eating window. And a lot of times what you can do is not so much change calorie counting per se, but just the types of foods you're eating. So, you know, switching to whole foods only from processed foods can have a massive effect on calorie levels without even having to consciously count calories or playing around with macros might have the same effect. So I think there are a lot of different approaches you can take. If you do feel the need to try to consume less food in your eating window for whatever reason, it doesn't necessarily have to be focusing on calories. Some people focus on calories as like what they like to do. And that's what works best for them. So again, it's all about what works for you. Colleen says not being able to sleep from fasting and constipation. She never had those issues before she started fasting. So sleep and constipation. It's funny, like for me, fasting helps my sleep so much because I fast during the day then I eat a massive dinner and then I sleep and it just really helps me. Some people going to bed on a full stomach like that does not help their sleep. And on the flip side, some people, if they're having an earlier eating window, they might not sleep well in the fastest state, which that is for sure me, like I cannot sleep on an empty stomach, but it's really interesting because I, Dr. Huberman, Andrew Huberman has been doing a sleep series on his podcast with Matt Walker. I've been really, really loving the interviews and made me so happy. Matt Walker talked about what the studies actually show about going to bed on a full or empty stomach. And he made a very strong case that this idea that you should go to bed on an empty stomach is not accurate. Like basically you can eat before bed and it's okay. I think there was a window of, I don't remember, I'd have to recheck. There was an ideal window where you would stop eating, but it wasn't like hours and hours before bed. It was not three hours before bed, like is often recommended.

Vanessa Spina:
That's interesting. Yeah, I personally find that when I have one meal a day, when I have like my dinner meal as my meal a day, I sleep way better than when I have two meals a day. And I just have, I think because I do high protein, like it's just easier. I don't wake up to pee. Like I just sleep through and I love it. Like I have some of my best sleeps, but I agree with you. It's not the same for everyone. Like, and that's why it goes back to trying different things, figuring out what works best for you. And it's only through that experimentation, you know, of changing it up that you can see when you do sleep better and when you don't.

Melanie Avalon:
Yeah, it was so exciting to hear him say that because you just so often hear all the time, stop eating three hours before bed, stop eating three hours before bed. And he was like, no, it doesn't, the studies don't really show that. And I actually did see a study on my own looking at this and it found, and this actually speaks to kind of what you're talking about with finding what works for you. It found that eating before bed did affect sleep negatively, but only for people that weren't doing that normally. So people who were normally eating for bed, it didn't have a negative effect. So it kind of goes to what your body's accustomed to and what's working for you. So I think adjusting your fasting window and your eating window to best support your sleep is awesome. I also felt super validated in those interviews because he is a very firm believer that we have different chronotypes when it comes to sleep. And some people are just naturally night owls, which I really, really am.

Vanessa Spina:
You're a night owl? I think I would be naturally, but I love the morning. I both love late nights and the morning. They have similar qualities in that it's just quiet. And more than anything, I love a sunrise. And I love being up while other people are sleeping, which is really great in Europe because I'm usually up for like eight hours while everyone is sleeping in the US. But in the morning, it's just such a peaceful, beautiful time, especially right now. Like the birds are chirping. Like I love going outside, having my coffee, greeting the sunrise. Like it's just for me, it's the ultimate experience every day. So I love being up late and I used to do it a lot, but the morning definitely trumps it for me. So I like going to bed early now.

Melanie Avalon:
Oh my goodness, I would love to be you. I would love to be that person that feels that way in the morning. I really don't think I, I really don't think I can. Like I really think it's, I do not have a memory ever of waking up early like that and feeling that I was supposed to be awake at that time, if that makes sense.

Vanessa Spina:
Yeah, I was gonna ask, did you ever wake up early?

Melanie Avalon:
No.

Vanessa Spina:
Never. Then maybe you don't know what you're missing.

Melanie Avalon:
No, I know. Oh, like, have I been up early? Yes, I have. I'm sorry. I thought you meant like, naturally, like, in the vibe of what you just expressed. Oh, I've woken up early a ton, especially when I, well, I mean, school. And then when I was doing like, background on all these different TV shows, I was waking up at all different times. I have never had the experience of feeling that way in the morning. And so something you talked about even was he said, if a person like me, like a night owl, if they get the same amount of sleep, but they go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, they don't feel as rested compared to the same amount of sleep going to bed later and waking up later. And then on the flip side, like a morning person, if they get the same amount of sleep, but they go to bed later and wake up later, they feel less rested than if they went to bed earlier and woke up earlier, even though it's the same amount of sleep. So there's something about that, that rhythm. I was the night guard, like back in the evolutionary days, like I was, I was like making sure we weren't being attacked by wolves and stuff. That was my role. I'm serious. I'm joking, but I'm not joking that they think that's the reason that we have these different chronotypes is because somebody needed to be awake at all times for the tribe. So we develop different rhythm. So some people were, you know, awake at different times, keeping everybody safe. But like you, I love that being awake when the world is well, I guess the whole world is awake at some point, but the world that you're in is asleep. And so you're you can just have an uninterrupted time and moments. So yes, that was a whole tangent constipation. A lot of people do experience changes in digestion with fasting might be bloating, diarrhea, constipation. A lot of it can just be from having larger amounts of food at once and not being able to digest it properly. And that's where things like HCL and digestive enzymes can be really, really helpful. I hope to be launching my version of those in the future, as well as looking at your food choices. And also taking magnesium supplement can be amazing for constipation. So I have a full body magnesium blend called magnesium eight. I would take that also specifically for constipation, you can get something like natural calm. Or there's something called mag O seven, which I really want to make my own version of and it's only magnesium oxide and it really helps move things along. So those types of magnesiums can really help with constipation. Okay, Vanessa said, eating chips after her dinner with two emojis, the ones that are like, like, this is kind of sad. I'm wondering if she's from the UK and she's talking about cookies, although it might be chips, actually might just be chips.

Vanessa Spina:
You mean chips, like, chips and fries?

Melanie Avalon:
Oh, that's biscuits. Wow. Okay. That's how savvy I am with international gastronomy.

Vanessa Spina:
I only know that because my mom's side of the family is British, so I know like they say chips instead of fries.

Melanie Avalon:
chips is fries, you're right. Yes, biscuits are cookies. And football is soccer. I'm tracking. Okay. So eating chips after her dinner. So that sounds like something where probably was just a comfort habit. And she probably found that, you know, can't eat just one, as they say. Emily said taking a liquid sleep aid at night that had sugar and alcohol. I was reading that at first. And I thought she meant an actual supplement, but she's probably talking about having an alcoholic drink at night. So that was not clearly working for her. Becky said she quit and she gained 50 pounds back after losing 72 stress crept in. So something inspiring I'll say here is I think people can get really nervous or fearful about, you know, falling off the wagon or how will you maintain? And one of the great things about intermittent fasting is it works so beautifully for a lifestyle and for maintenance of your weight loss. And I think people who are accustomed to dieting, they really can dread that, that regain. And I understand Becky did intermittent fasting and did gain it back. It sounds like she, oh, she quit. Sorry, she quit intermittent fasting. So I'm not laughing at her. I'm just saying like, one of the nice things about intermittent fasting is it can be sustainable and you can keep doing it. And it really can help with the maintenance and the maintaining of your, the goals that you reach. And you can always start back, you know, cause I think it can feel really horrible if you quote, fall off the wagon or gain the weight back, but there's always a new tomorrow. There's always that bright morning that Vanessa is greeting in the morning. So I just encourage people not to be too hard on themselves and have grace and things will be okay. And then Amy said the same IF window every day, even before shark week. I'm just thinking about that. The same IF window every day, even before shark week. Oh, wait. Oh, I'm, oh, I wonder if shark week is a code for a woman's cycle that I have never heard of. Let me look that up. Okay. I just learned listeners that shark week means of woman cycle did not realize that for anybody interested in Amy's response, definitely check out our last episode that we did, which was I a podcast episode three 70, because we talked all about intermittent fasting for your cycle. We personally don't do it, Vanessa and I, but there are approaches and Dr. Mindy pelts, for example, has a book fast, like a girl where she talks a lot about this. So if that's something of interest, definitely check out Dr. Peltz's work, check out that other episode we did. I'll also be having Mindy on the Melanie Avalon biohacking podcast so you can check that out as well. So there's a lot of options. Sophie said watching the clock, having a rigid window, five years into it, I eat when I'm hungry. If I'm hungry in the am I eat, I'll skip dinner. Instead, I have settled into a natural 12 to 6pm eating window, two meals a day. The weight loss benefits were early in the five years. Most of the COVID and menopause in the last five years happy to maintain. So this kind of goes back to one of the earlier answers about, you know, being too rigid or having these rules or not being able to, you know, not listening to your body about when to break the fast. And I just think it's so important to be really intuitive with everything and know that you can try different things and different things work for other people is like the takeaway of hearing all these comments. And then one last one from Tricia, she says, I truly don't think I've made any mistakes. I've just learned and adjusted along the way. I definitely know my body even better than ever now, now that I've been fasting for almost two years. She said I know exactly how to lose a few pounds if I want to, but mostly now I'm using fasting as a way of life to maintain health and weight and just feel better. And this is so incredible. It's an incredible way to end this whole section. I'm just so happy because I feel like I couldn't have picked this any differently. But basically, yes, that vibe of there are no mistakes. Like you're not failing with fasting, you're just finding what works for you, trying different things. There's always potential for, like Tricia said, losing those last few pounds, making the changes and the experiencing the benefits that you want to experience. So I really, really love that. That was a great way to end this section about the mistakes. Okay. And so a little, little note for the audience. So Vanessa. she has a beautiful baby boy, Damian, and he is a new baby boy. He's crying a little bit. So she's going to be muted and I'm probably going to finish out this episode. We actually had a question I wanted to talk about, which it comes from Rudy. And Rudy asked, what do you think about using alternatives like THCV for hunger satiation during the fast? So I was really excited to dive into this. I had not heard of THCV, but apparently it's a thing. So there are multiple compounds in cannabis, which CBD oil and things like that are now, I think they're, is that legal everywhere in the US? I'm not sure. We've had feels as a sponsor on this show in the past. And I personally love CBD oil. It really helps my sleep, my mood. I've just experienced massive benefits from it. And the reason I really love feels so, so much is they were the first CBD oil I could find that met all my stringent criteria. So I wanted one that was full spectrum that was made with just MCT oil as the carrier that was tested for purity and potency. So I love that. So if you go to, I think feals.com/MelanieAvalon and use the coupon code Melanie Avalon, that should get you a discount. In any case, with their multiple compounds in cannabis that have different effects. And so a lot of people are familiar with THC, for example, which is one of the main cannabinoids in cannabis. And it does have psychoactive effects. And it's usually not present in CBD oils or in very small, minute amounts. So I think feels does have a very tiny bit of it. This other compound THCV is also a cannabis derived compound, but it has different properties. So there's been quite a few studies on it when it comes to appetite and people often associate cannabis with increased appetite and even weight gain. And this is cannabis, not CBD oil. THCV a receptor called the CB1 receptor, which stimulates appetite. So if THCV is blocking that receptor, it could be reducing appetite. The studies on it. So there was a 2009 study that suggested THCV may reduce food and food intake and weight gain. 2013 study found it may reduce glucose intolerance related to obesity. There was also a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. And they found that purified THCV and doses of five milligrams twice daily for 13 weeks, decreased fasting, plasma glucose, improved pancreatic beta cell function, adiponectin and April lipoprotein a and people with type two diabetes. But there was no impact on appetite or body weight in those patients, which is interesting. A 2015 study looked at a single dose of 10 milligrams of THCV. And this one was really interesting because they were looking at it for a food reward and food aversion. Interestingly, it actually did make people crave chocolate more, which is kind of the opposite of what we were thinking, but it also made them feel more averse to rotten strawberries, which is really interesting. So basically the good food looked better and the gross food looked grosser, but it also didn't seem to affect pleasantness or desire for the food. That's really weird to me. It's really weird that the patients said that the chocolate seemed more alluring and the rotten strawberries seemed worse, but they didn't have any changes in whether or not they desired that food. That's a little bit weird, a little bit conflicting. There was also a 2015 trial and they found that THCV actually might combat some of the negative effects of THC. So for example, it might help with increased heart rate and the subjective feeling of intoxication and verbal recall issues from THC. So basically overall, a lot of the studies in THCV are in animals. There are some in humans. Some of them are mixed. It does seem like it potentially has the potential to reduce appetite. I did look online for sources of this, like how do you get this? And there will be cannabis oils that are sold, CBD oils that are sold that are high THCV. I'm not sure if you can get just isolated THCV. I think you can. Regardless, the question is what do you think about using alternatives like THCV for hunger satiation during the fast? One is that If you are experiencing chronic hunger during fasting and that's ongoing and you're white knuckling it or you're always hungry, you probably need to make bigger changes to your whole approach because when you actually find the intermittent fasting protocol that works for you or the meal intake that works for you, the macros, the lifestyle approach that works for you, you shouldn't be experiencing that hunger during the fast. Or if you do, it shouldn't be a hunger that feels like it's controlling you, if that makes sense. It should be more of a feeling that your body is fasted and could be eating, but it shouldn't be overwhelming and taking you over and distracting, kind of like the feeling that you get when you're on, if anybody knows, calorie restricted diets and dieting in general. So, I think stepping back is that taking a... a broader look at your overall diet and fasting approach is probably a good place to start. From there, there are great tweaks and adjustments that you can make. I'm not saying to drink all the coffee, but for example, we know coffee pairs really well with fasting, helps actually not only reduce appetite, but actually helps, quote, unlock those fat stores. It helps stimulate lipolysis, which is fat burning. So that might be something to try. But then as far as these compounds like THCV, so I don't think the actual, depending on the ingredient, well, that's the problem. It's probably pretty hard to get isolated THCV as just a compound. It's probably often in a supplement or in something. So you would need to look at the other ingredients and see, are those ingredients, do they have flavors? Do they have additives? Because that might be, quote, breaking your fast. The actual THCV compound itself should not be breaking your fast. And if it helps you with suppressing your hunger, I mean, I can't tell you what to do or not to, but I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with using, smartly using compounds to help us achieve our goals in ways that are sustainable and in ways where we are still nourishing our body and honoring all of that. What I get nervous about is relying on pills or relying on supplements or relying on things to power through signals that are telling us that we actually do need to eat or that we do need to rest because I just think it's so, so important to be intuitive with that. So that is my answer there. And I will go ahead and answer Candice's question as well. So Candice wanted to know, what is the difference between the two magnesium supplements you make? Thank you in advance. So back to speaking of supplements. So my Avlonix line, I created it because I am neurotic about what I put in my body and I just want to put the best of the best in. And I really couldn't find for a lot of supplements that I take versions that I felt good about. And it all started with my supplement seropeptase, which is a proteolytic enzyme created by the Japanese silkworm. And when you take it in the fasted state, it actually breaks down problematic proteins in your body. And it can really help. I mean, it clears my sinuses like none other. That's why I was so obsessed with it for so long. And actually Jen Stevens, the OG host on this show, she took seropeptase for quite a while to get rid of her fibroids or her hemorrhoids, one of those. It's an amazing wonder supplement and it's a really delicate enzyme. And so all the versions on the market had problematic coatings basically to help with the absorption. So I made a form that has just a cellulose resistant coating essentially that is completely benign. And it's just so amazing. I promise you, if you have allergies, this will get rid of it. Every time I meet somebody who's like, has allergies, I'm like, you need seropeptase. So point being, that was my first supplement. And then I made two magnesiums, getting to Candace's question. So I have magnesium 8. That is a full spectrum magnesium blend. And by full spectrum, there are more than eight magnesiums. But what I mean is it has a lot of different types of magnesium. And most people are deficient in magnesium, really. And that's because historically, our main source of magnesium was through our food, which came from our soils. And our soil is so magnesium depleted today. So like when they measure the soil today compared to times past, I think it's like an 80 or 90% difference in a lot of the mineral levels, including magnesium, which is just really, really shocking. And so a lot of us aren't getting magnesium. And magnesium is depleted by things like stress and exercise and lack of sleep and our modern environment. So supplementing with magnesium is just, I think, I don't like to make blanket statements, but I do think most people can benefit from a magnesium supplement, especially a full spectrum one like I have. So if you take magnesium 8, that's really for everything like your whole body, your muscle recovery, your energy, your sleep, bowel movements, it's all the things. The second form of magnesium I have, so that's magnesium 8. Then I have my magnesium nightcap. That is a special type of magnesium that actually crosses the blood -brain barrier. And there are a lot of studies on it. It contains magnesium 3 and 8, magnesium L3 and 8. And that magnesium has been shown to boost memory, to help with mood, potentially help with sleep. So I love taking that before bed. I think it's really wonderful. So I take both of those supplements every day. You can get them at AvalonX.us. The coupon code MelanieAvalon will get you 10% off. You can also get a 20% off one -time coupon code if you text AvalonX to 877 -861 -8318. That's AvalonX. Can you tell I'm going into my commercial mode? That's AvalonX to 877 -861 -8318. And you can also get a 15% off one -time use coupon code if you sign up for email updates. That's AvalonX.us/email list. And I'm really excited because my next supplement is coming out soon. It's spirulina. Oh my goodness. I love spirulina. So spirulina is a blue -green algae. I don't like the term superfood, but it's essentially a superfood. It's the most nutrient -dense thing ever. It's just basically pure nutrition when you look at the label, and it's high in B vitamins and vitamin A and iron, and it also has really cool things like glutathione and GLA and superoxide dismutase. So it's a really amazing way to boost your energy, fight oxidative stress, support optimal metabolic health and wellness for longevity. And the reason, friends, that it took me so long, because I know I've been talking about it for so long, the reason is because I wanted to have a single ingredient spirulina tablet, and because there are single, well, there are supposedly single ingredient tablets on the market. And so I kept working with my supplement partner trying to create it, and we would create all these different forms. And we could make the tablets with just one ingredient, but it was really dusty and there wasn't good quality control, and it didn't have that firm tablet feel to it. But I was like, it has to be done because they're out there on the market. I don't understand. How can we not do it? The reason is because the ones on the market are not just one ingredient. I tested them, or we tested them. So the reason you can do that is because if there's an inactive ingredient that is below a certain percent, like a very, very small amount, you don't have to disclose it, and you can say it's one ingredient. So that's what's happening. That's what's happening. If you see spirulina tablets and they say they're one ingredient, they're probably not. Again, I haven't tested every spirulina tablet on the market, but probably that's the case. So we are actually going to make ours with a very, very tiny amount of silica, which actually has all of these incredible health benefits. Not that it really matters because it's such a small amount that I don't know how much of it you're actively getting, but silica is amazing for your hair, skin, and nails. It has so many benefits. I actually just, I learned a lot about it when I interviewed a company called Aquine Springs on my show on the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast. They have a high silica, low deuterium water, which is amazing. I'm actually, friends, if you're wondering if I actually do the things I talk about on the show, I do. Like I drink that water every day. It's so good. I'm actually talking to them right now because I want to order a pallet because shipping's really expensive for it. So I was like, can I just order like a massive shipment and, you know, get a bulk discount and help with shipping? Point being, I learned a lot about the benefits of silica interviewing them. So there'll be a little bit of silica in the spirulina and we finally got the final version and oh my goodness, it tastes so good. I like the taste of spirulina. Some people don't. That said, this, my Avalonic spirulina tastes, I think, objectively way better than anything else I've tasted on the market. It's just an amazing way to get in those, fill in the gaps of this nutrients that you may be missing. It's also a complete protein. That said, you're eating really tiny small amounts, so it's not like you're going to use it for filling up your protein quota, but it is a complete protein, which is super cool. So that will be coming soon. Make sure you get on my email list so you don't miss updates about that. That will be at AvalonX.us/emaillist. We're hoping to launch in July, so fingers crossed, fingers crossed. And we're going to do an amazing launch special and we have amazing pricing on it. I'm so excited. It was really important to me because I know that spirulina on the market is, it can be really expensive. And so it was really, really important to me to make it as affordable for you guys as I could. And so I'm really happy with where we landed with the pricing and for the launch special, we're going to have like an incredible discount that you're not going to want to miss. So don't miss that. But yeah, so this was my first time actually, I think in six or seven years of podcasting, I know I finished out a podcast by myself before for like the last five minutes, but I think this is my first time doing it this long. It's kind of a vibe. I miss Vanessa, Missy, Vanessa. So yes, if you enjoyed the show, you can directly email questions at I have podcast .com to submit your questions, or you can go to I have podcast .com and you can submit questions there. The show notes for today's episode will be at I have podcast .com slash episode 371. I think that's all the things you can also follow us on Instagram. We are I have podcast I am Melanie Avalon and Vanessa is ketogenic girl. Oh, and as a reminder, hopefully we're launching the Mind Blown Podcast in a few days. So definitely subscribe and check it out on Apple podcasts. I really think you guys are going to enjoy it. It's so, so fun. It's so fun. The first episode we talked about the Mandela effect, which is like so mind blowing. If you remember, do you remember friends when you watched the Disney movies and Tinkerbell and the logo, like there was like the White Castle and like Tinkerbell would fly out and dot the I that never happened. Nope. Never happened. If you can find it, a video of that, you'll be, I mean, you probably be rich because everybody's looking for this video and it doesn't exist. So on that note, check out the Mind Blown Podcast and definitely tune in next week. Thank you so much guys. Thank you so much for listening to the intermittent fasting podcast. Please remember everything we discussed on this show does not constitute medical advice and no patient doctor relationship is formed. If you enjoyed the show, please consider writing your review on iTunes. We couldn't do this without our amazing team administration by Sharon Merriman, editing by podcast, doctors, show notes and artwork, library on a joiner and original theme composed by Leland Cox and recomposed by Steve Saunders.

Melanie Avalon:
Thank you so much for listening to the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. Please remember, everything we discussed on this show does not constitute medical advice and no patient-doctor relationship is formed. If you enjoyed the show, please consider writing a review on iTunes. We couldn't do this without our amazing team. Administration by Sharon Merriman, editing by Podcast Doctors, show notes and artwork by Brianna Joyner, and original theme composed by Leland Cox and recomposed by Steve Saunders.

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