Melanie Avalon
Welcome to Episode 420 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, founder of AvalonX, and author of What, When, Wine. Lose weight and feel great with paleo-style meals, intermittent fasting, and wine. And I'm joined by my co-hosts, Barry Conrad, actor, singer-songwriter, and creator and host of Banter with B.C. For more on us, check out MelanieAvalon.com and BarryConradOfficial.com. You can submit questions for the show by emailing questions at iapodcast.com or by going to iapodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. Please remember, the thoughts and opinions on this show do not constitute medical advice or treatment, 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. Hi, everybody, and welcome. This is episode number 420 of the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. I'm Melanie Avalon. I'm here with Barry Conrad. Barry, how are you today?

Barry Conrad
I'm doing great.

Melanie Avalon
What is new?

Barry Conrad
Melanie, so much is new. I've shared this with you before, but I am so excited because after a year-long process of working on this, and it's been so hard, so tedious, so nerve-wracking, I found out that my green card application has been approved.

It's been approved, so I get to finally live up my dream of living in America, working in America. I'm so stoked. I'm so excited.

Melanie Avalon
Oh my goodness. I'm so excited that we're sharing this.

Okay, friends, actually, Barry, you didn't get to see my reaction because you told me in a voice message, like I wasn't talking to you in real time. I, I audibly gasped. Like, you know, like when you open your mouth wide and gas very dramatically, I did that, but it was genuine. I was so excited.

Barry Conrad
I'm still on cloud nine. I just I can't believe it.

It's it's it's such a hard feat to achieve and it's the odds are against you. They're not in your favor. So for this to happen and Melanie, you even know I've talked about this forever. Like I want to live in America. It's my New York's my favorite city and for this to be happening. I'm so grateful. So excited beyond.

Melanie Avalon
I am so proud of you. So excited. We're going to be on the same time zone. You're going to take over America. America needs Barry Conrad. I think that's how I ended my letter of recommendation.

Barry Conrad
Listeners, we can talk about this now, but Melanie very kindly wrote me a letter of recommendation and she actually did say that. American is very kind.

Melanie Avalon
It's the truth.

Barry Conrad
But I like you just said it, just said what you wanted to say.

Melanie Avalon
Oh, man. This is so exciting.

Like, so like when you move here, because you do so much creatively with, you know, your podcasts, your acting, other adventures, all the things. Do you have a sense of what you're going to like focus on here in the US or

Barry Conrad
I do and it's still taking shape, but I definitely have a sense of what I want to do and what I want to focus on. I think as well what I'm doing here and just being based over there is a good starting point.

Like not trying to break the mold of what works for me. It's just exploring new territory. It's a whole new kettle of fish for me, which is so exciting. It's not scary for me at all. It's just inspiring really. So yeah, the world's my oyster literally, even though you don't like oysters.

Melanie Avalon
I know we got to work on that phrase. The world is your.

Barry Conrad
Steak tartar? No, it doesn't. No.

Melanie Avalon
The world is your carpaccio.

Barry Conrad
The world is your kapachiyo.

Melanie Avalon
I'm going to start saying that.

Barry Conrad
You should start saying it and see if it catches on.

Melanie Avalon
I'm just going to say it like it's normal and see what people say.

Barry Conrad
But Melanie gets with this also means what we get to meet in real life. We get to do our restaurant segment in real life.

You know what would be really cool is one time actually doing it. Being there in real time, that'd be an experience. Imagine that.

Melanie Avalon
A podcast, like record the restaurant part. Yeah. Record the restaurant part at the restaurant. Yeah. That sounds so complicated. I support.

Barry Conrad
But even like we get to eat together in any case.

Melanie Avalon
You know, I'm already uncomfortable about eating. Like, I cover my mouth when I eat in front of people, so this is a lot to take in.

Barry Conrad
Your listeners i've asked about this and like are you cuz i've been on some dates in the past where.

I'll cover the mouth of look away or tell me to look away like we cut this is not gonna work if you got in front of me.

Melanie Avalon
I was like, I might casually look away, but I will not tell you to look away.

Barry Conrad
Do you cover your mouth so well after how many bites do you, how does this work?

Melanie Avalon
It's like you eat the bite and then you, you kind of like, I'm like reenacting it right now in real life to see what I do. You know, you put the bite in and you kind of just like cover a little bit and then you, and then you're chewing. So then it's okay.

Cause like, there's the whole moment of, I don't know, there's just a lot. You got to have a good like mise-en-scene of the scene and like everything. And you don't want to distract people with the food in your mouth. Mise-en-scene? Yeah. Like, like the setup of the, of the, of the scene needs to all be good. Read the room.

I had another thought about that really quickly. What, what was it? Okay. Wait, the world is your Carpaccio. Oh, can you please, can I make a request of you? Can you please do something on Broadway?

Barry Conrad
I would actually love to do that and that's actually i'm putting it out there in the universe right now when you ask me this question just before would you like to focus on one of the things i definitely want to be able to say that i've done. At least to at least do one broadway show i would love that and it's doable i can do it.

Melanie Avalon
I will be there front row, center.

Barry Conrad
You'll be there.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, and and my second request, can you please so much stuff shoots in Atlanta? Can you please book a project in Atlanta?

Barry Conrad
I can't wait to and you know what all these things are like so much more realistic once you're there It's just so much harder to do from here

Melanie Avalon
Oh my goodness, what if you book like a series that shoots in Atlanta and then you just like live here?

Barry Conrad
That's very possible. It'll be wild. A friend of mine was on, have you heard of Dynasty?

Melanie Avalon
Yes. Is that shoot here?

Barry Conrad
Yeah, and they're shot there for like five seasons and he lives in LA, so.

Melanie Avalon
Uh-huh. See? Well, did he move to Atlanta for that or did he just like...

Barry Conrad
Yeah, he was a serious regular, so every season he'd have to relocate down there, then go back in between. Yeah, crazy, right?

Melanie Avalon
lots of stuff shoots here like a lot of stuff so you could get an atlanta agent once you're here not like your only agent but like a agent here you know

Barry Conrad
So many things.

Melanie Avalon
I feel like things coming through. I gotta give you one other thing. Oh wait, so Broadway, Atlanta.

Barry Conrad
And three, I like that.

Melanie Avalon
art just our dinner where I will taste an oyster and then never have an oyster again.

Barry Conrad
You know what, it might change your life, but anyway, what were you going to say I interrupted you?

Melanie Avalon
Oh, that was it. That's the third thing is getting dinner.

Barry Conrad
Well, yeah, that's a that's a given we have to what do you mean? I think we that's that's how I know

Melanie Avalon
Oh, I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. It came to me. Okay.

Number three, can you please perform at Epcot as a celebrity guest in the Christmas candlelight processional that they do? And I will come to that as well.

Barry Conrad
I would love to do that. I need to remember all these things. Well, I'll write it down afterwards because they all sound exciting and within my reach, I reckon.

Melanie Avalon
Yes. Okay. I'm pumped. Listeners, I hope listeners are pumped too.

Oh, and then also the exciting thing is Barry will get to try out more of our products on the show because shipping to Australia is crazy sometimes.

Barry Conrad
Yep, that's definitely a bonus.

Melanie Avalon
send you all the things. Okay.

Barry Conrad
What about you? I haven't asked you how you are. I've just been talking.

Melanie Avalon
I am, no, no, I am good. Even better now after talking about that because it makes me so happy.

I'm actually, so this is way in advance. We're recording this way in advance, but I am launching next week my EMF blocking product line that I talked about last week, I think, or I think I talked about recently. So listeners, friends, check that out. It's at avlonxemf.us. And I have rose gold and black air tubes, which are basically headphones, they are free of EMF, they stop EMF from going from your phone to your brain, because the IARC does classify EMFs as a group to be carcinogen. Yes, I'm really excited about that. That's so exciting. That's amazing. Yeah, I'm really excited about that. I'm also really excited because come May, when this airs, hopefully we'll be closer to launching my glow coffee line. So listeners, stay tuned.

Barry Conrad
So many things, Melanie. And also you've been talking about your creation for so long, right? And now it's finally coming to fruition. So that's amazing.

Melanie Avalon
I know it's so nice to iterate on something and dream it up in your head and then finally have it materialize in the physical form. It's exciting, especially if it's something that you want personally in your life, which everything I make is things that I want personally in my life.

Also one other thing before we jump into fasting stuff, although this does relate to fasting, we have a new sponsor on the show and I haven't told you this yet, Barry, I am a bit obsessed. I didn't think I would be. I've kind of been shying away from all the supplements all the time. I don't have my own line, but there's kind of like could be like an overload of supplement feeling in the world and it can be a little bit overwhelming. But this brand reached out, they're called Timeline. They make products powered by this ingredient called Midopure. And what Midopure is, is actually an absorbable form of urolithin A and urolithin A is something I have been, I keep reading about it in a lot of the books that I read, like the biohacking world, I keep seeing this word and I hadn't really looked into it too much. But what's really important about it, it's the compound itself, urolithin A has so many health benefits. I started looking up the studies and it's an overwhelming amount of trials for so many things like inflammation, longevity, mitophagy, which is breaking down old dysfunctional mitochondria and making new mitochondria. There's just so many health benefits to it. And what's really interesting is whether or not you create it in your body, it's created by our gut microbiome, it's created by our microbiome from foods we eat, but you have to have the microbiome to create it and not everybody does. So it's this really potentially powerful longevity ingredient that you actually might not be getting because you just don't have the gut microbes to make it, which is so sad. So what timeline is doing is they make it in a supplemental form and I have noticed, I think it's really affecting my sleep. I have noticed... Really? Yeah. Like actually. I was not anticipating that. Now I wake up more because I take it at night and I wake up more with like a much more rested feeling. You know that feeling when you feel rested versus not? Like I wake up with that and I used to take a nap daily and I haven't been doing that much anymore either. So that's something I've noticed. It's interesting because I looked up the connection to sleep and there's not a lot of research on it for sleep, which I thought was interesting, but I'm just excited because it's a great longevity supplement. It's endorsed by so many of my friends. When I first went to the website, it's like so many guests I've had on the Melanie Avalon biohacking podcast. So listeners definitely check it out. I now plan to take this for the rest of my life and the code I have podcast. We don't have the actual code yet, but the code I have podcast should give you a discount. So check that out, friends. And Barry, once you come here, we'll get you some.

Barry Conrad
You know what you said, Melanie, especially because you, I know historically you really prioritize your sleep. Like you're on top of like your routine winding down. So for you to say that timelines impacted your sleep even more in a good way is huge.

So that's exciting.

Melanie Avalon
I feel weird saying it because like I said, I really have noticed it and that's the thing I've changed. I'm really confused why I couldn't find more studies like looking at sleep. They need to do them because that's what I'm noticing. Yeah, it's just great for energy, longevity, all the things.

So okay, now shall we jump into fasting related things?

Barry Conrad
We'd love that. Let's do it.

Melanie Avalon
Okay, so I found a study for today and it's called The Effect of Fasting on Human Memory Consolidation. And it was published very recently, March 2025, in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Yeah, it's actually one of the most recent studies that's been published. What I thought was really interesting about it was they were looking at fasting and how it affects memory recall. And they talk about how like consolidation of memory, like they were specifically looking at how it affects consolidation of memory and then memory recall. And they talked about how that typically relies on sleep, but they're positing or proposing that maybe fasting also is involved in like memory encoding formation and recall.

And so they did two different experiments, both experiments had 16 men in them and they looked at the effects of doing a facet period. So like in the experiment one, they did an 18.5 hour fast and looked at how it affected recall with encoding like word related memories. And they compared that to the fed state. So in the second experiment, they also looked at fasting versus fed and they looked at a different type of memory, which is an episodic memory. It's more related to events and episodic like moments in your life compared to just like word recall. And what's really interesting about what they found, they found for the first experiment that the participants performed better and fasting helped their word related memory. But for the second experiment, it actually impaired it. And then they looked at another type of memory called procedural memory and that had no effect either way. So basically what they concluded was that fasting does seem to affect memory, but it depends on the type of memory as to whether you're going to be benefited by fasting or if it's better to be fed. I thought that was really interesting.

Barry Conrad
Interesting. That's really interesting. So hold on. So what you were saying about the episodic memory improved, but the procedural memory? No.

Melanie Avalon
other way around. So the the word related recall memory, that improved. The episodic memory got worse when they were fasted.

And then the procedural memory, which was where they were like tapping with their fingers and things that did that just didn't affect it either way.

Barry Conrad
Hmm interesting. I wonder I wonder why that happens though. I wonder how that works mechanically

Melanie Avalon
They said the results suggest that fasting in humans preferentially supports the consolidation of semantic-like memory representations involving neocortical rather than hippocampal networks. So basically, memory related to a certain part of our brain, the neocortex, that seems to be benefited by fasting, but not ones more related to the hippocampus.

Barry Conrad
I wonder what a scenario could be to break down for a listener's like between those two, the one that was improved and the one that was not, that one that was made worse, like in everyday life. Do what? Like, you know, what a scenario would be to demonstrate that. So episodic, so something related to a moment in your life and then word related. So word related, yeah.

Do you think you have a scenario that you could share that might paint that picture for listeners or for me?

Melanie Avalon
The one that got better is when you think of like memorizing a list of words type thing. And then the second one was more about remembering a memory associated with space and time. So like this happened at this time, this happened here.

Barry Conrad
It's interesting because when when I'm learning lines, for example, especially if I'm in the fasted state, I'm so razor focused and my mind so sharp and I can retain things so easily. Personally speaking, and I think I've mentioned that is one of my benefits as well, just that razor sharp focus.

So that tracks from what the study is saying.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, no, I'm thinking about it more so, because for my own personal experience, and if I were to like need to memorize like a list of words or lines or something like that, it would like facet would be so much better for me, like 100%. I would not want to memorize things in the in the fed state.

But if you think about a more experiential, and I hope I'm saying this correctly from the study, but maybe like a memory where you're having dinner with friends, like compared to a fasted walk with friends, like maybe you would remember the dinner situation more.

Barry Conrad
Yeah, I totally get that. Because like what you're saying, Melanie, as well, like, I know, and I think now only on reflection, I can say this, I just habitually don't eat and then go to learn lines or anything because I know I'm gonna feel more sluggish because my body's processing the food. It's more like a winding down kind of vibe. Do you know what I mean?

So I'll wait to stay in that, that fasted state so I can focus and then after that's all done, then I'll start eating and relax. Isn't that interesting how that Yeah.

Melanie Avalon
It's it's so interesting. So I hope they do more studies on it.

And I also find it really interesting how they were comparing it to to sleep and saying basically that historically we thought sleep was where all the memory consolidation happens and encoding but maybe some of it happens in the fastest state to

Barry Conrad
That's so interesting. Very unexpected. I wasn't expecting you to bring that study on memory.

Melanie Avalon
I know. I wasn't expecting what they found because when I saw the title, I was like, oh, yeah, it's going to say fasting helps, always helps memory. And then, nope. It depends on the type. But I wouldn't just as a disclaimer, I wouldn't be worried about this.

It's not like you're not going to remember stuff in the fasted state. I don't want to freak anybody out with that. This was looking at very subtle nuances and testing people with memory tests.

Barry Conrad
Mm. That's an awesome study, Mel. Killed it. It was great.

Melanie Avalon
Thank you, thank you, thank you. All righty, shall we jump into some listener questions?

Barry Conrad
Let's answer some of your questions, listeners.

Melanie Avalon
So, the first question comes from Chrissy and we got this question on Facebook and Chrissy says, is there any benefit to doing higher protein, low-fat, low-carb days and then higher carb days, etc.? So I think she's asking about higher protein with low-fat, low-carb and then probably higher protein, wait, so low-fat and low-carb and then higher carb. I'm not sure if she's asking like a very specific protocol or like, you know, changing these macros around like this, but in any case, what are your thoughts?

Barry Conrad
OK, well, Chrissy, hey, how's it going? Hope you're having a good day. Thank you for your question. I love this question because it taps into what's sort of called nutrient periodization. So that means adjusting your macros, protein, carbs, fats, for anyone who doesn't know that. And based on your goals, activity, your fasting schedule, the short answer, I personally think there can be benefits because it just depends whether it's right for you and what you're trying to achieve.

Let's break it down. So people who do higher protein, lower fat, lower carb days, it's almost like a lean protein fast to help with things like satiety, calorie control, muscle preservation. Personally speaking, I've done this as well myself, especially if you're trying to cut or focus on fat loss. I've done that short term to prepare for acting roles and photo shoots. And protein is the most thermogenic macronutrient. And for people that don't know what that means, it's basically more energy to digest and keep you fuller for longer, which helps with fasting. But if you go too low, Chrissy, on the fats for too long, you might start messing with hormonal balance because fats do play such a massive role in things like estrogen, testosterone, and overall metabolic function. With higher carb days, those tend to be pretty useful for people who do a lot of high intensity workouts or endurance training because carbs refill glycogen stores in the muscles, helping with recovery and performance. So some people find that cycling the high carb day can help them feel more energized or improve their sleep. Even things like thyroid function, which can slow down if you're in a calorie deficit or fasting for too long. So a lot of people who do IF, they'll cycle through their macros based on their workout intensity. So for example, on heavy training days, for example, resistance training, HIIT training, long cardio sessions, they might eat more carbs. While on lighter or less days, they might go lower carb and higher fat. So that way, your body's always getting what it needs, crispy without overloading on the energy when it's not necessary.

Again, from personal experience, I'd take in more carbs on those bigger training days. So for today, after I finish the podcast, I'll be heading to the gym later, have more carbs afterwards when I eat. And if you're playing around with this approach, listen to your body, pay attention to things like your energy levels, recovery, muscle weight tension, and your hunger cues. Because I reckon some people thrive on that higher protein, lower fat days. But again, it's quite individual. Other people feel better with more balanced macros across the board. So if your goal is fat loss while maintaining your muscle, the biggest thing I'm going to keep on saying repetitively is hitting your protein, your total protein target, and making sure you're fueling your workouts properly. So macros can be, macrocycling can be beneficial. But it's not something you have to do, I reckon, to see results. It's just a tool like anything else.

But keep us posted, Chrissy. Let us know how you go. Melanie, what do you reckon?

Melanie Avalon
Awesome. You touched on so many incredible, amazing things.

This actually reminded me because I saw a question in Facebook yesterday, and somebody was asking when I talk about these different macros, and I talk about like high carb or low carb, am I referring to vegetables? And I was like, that's actually a good clarification to make. So when I'm talking about, and I'd be curious, bear your thoughts, when I'm talking about high carb or low carb, I'm primarily talking about starchy carbs, fruit, not like lettuce and spinach and things like that. Although I will say like something like broccoli, I mean, that's probably always going to be like really low carb, unless you're eating like pounds and pounds and pounds and cooking it really well, then it actually is pretty sweet, which wouldn't really matter unless you're, you know, doing a super, super low keto diet. But in general, yes, like green veggies, I'm not including in the carb thing. Are you the same?

Barry Conrad
Definitely for me, how I classify high carb to me is when I'm getting into those potatoes and lots of rice, even bread sometimes, which is pretty rare, but potatoes, rice, that's what I classify as sort of high carb for me.

Melanie Avalon
Awesome. Yes. So yes. And so Chrissy, I agree.

I agree literally with everything Barry said, I find it so interesting because I don't know if we're ever going to escape this ongoing debate that we have about do macros actually like affect weight loss? Or is it always just calories? I think that's going to be the ongoing debate. Some people will say that, well, maybe maybe macros do have a metabolic effect, but the metabolic effect actually makes you, you know, not burn as many calories or, and it's so like confusing with all of the debates. But I think regardless, even if it does come down to calories, the metabolic effects from switching things up do lead to a different output or input of calories. Barry touched on a lot of these things for your metabolism, for example, some people might find that especially doing the higher protein low fat, low carb, like Barry said, that is sort of like a protein sparing modified fast, the protein is supportive of your metabolism. At the same time, if you're doing that a lot, you know, your your metabolism might adjust a little bit and having those higher carb days can have a metabolic boost for you. They can help especially for like women, they can help with thyroid hormones. Definitely. Some people sleep fine on low carb ongoing, but others don't. And they really find that those carbs help them sleep. So I'm glad that Barry touched on that. He's the expert on like working out and fueling activity with carbs. So I won't speak to that. But everything he said about that, I agree with. There's so many different like approaches to this. And like one thing that people will do, who came up with the one where you have like the one refeed a week with carbs?

Barry Conrad
Oh, I've heard about this. Yeah.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, I did that for a while. And it can be really powerful for people because basically you do like six days of low carb, you're in a fat burning mode. And then you have this like carb up day and the big hack there because some people will be like, Oh, it's a cheat day eat all the things like all the fat eat all the carbs, all the things. True, maybe you won't make up for it in one day only. But a lot of calories can be consumed, especially if you're having carbs and fat together on that up day, you know, you're probably just gonna store a lot of that fat and it might create slower progress.

So I think the biggest hack there is if you're doing that sort of approach, you go six days low carb and then on your carb up day, you don't add a lot of fat. So you just do like high carb and eat like all the high carb things and then literally you're just getting the metabolic boost, you're helping your your satiety hormones, your sleep, all the things and you're not also even if you like went crazy and ate all the things, if you keep it lower fat, it's unlikely that you're actually gonna even gain much fat from that up day, even though you might probably you're probably gonna put on a bit of water weight. But you know, I definitely think I think listening to your body seasonal eating can be really helpful for people. So some people do while eating lower carb and the like in the winter and then having higher carb in the spring and summer, I do think eating in line with the seasons, just naturally it makes sense for our bodies. I think it can have really helpful effects. But yes, it really is very individual. So you have to see how you react.

But if you ever find yourself on a plateau or switching up your macros, I think can be really helpful. Oh, and also some people, they get on low carb keto and then they get like terrified of carbs. And I had that experience in the past, like I was low carb for a long time and I was terrified. I thought if I brought back carbs, I would gain weight. And this was like a decade ago. Interestingly, I actually lost more weight when I brought back carbs.

I switched from like a higher fat, low carb to a higher carb, low fat. I realized I preferred it. I will occasionally do a low carb night. I do one like the other night, but yeah, I like my fruit too much now.

Barry Conrad
You love your fruit.

Melanie Avalon
I love my fruit, yeah, my blueberries.

Barry Conrad
Yeah, blueberry is the best for the win. What is your definition for you for like your high carb days versus not like to eat more?

Melanie Avalon
Like how many carbs do I eat?

Barry Conrad
Or not even just the counting the macros but what sort of carbs like sort of what sort of vegetables or yeah.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, so I'm crazy and very regimented. So I basically always eat, as listeners probably know by now, lots of cucumbers, lots of protein. That's like my staple.

So like lots of cucumbers, lots of protein. And then usually I have lots of fruit with it as well. If I'm doing a low carb day, I just don't eat the fruit and have a little bit more protein. It might have a little bit more fatty meat, but I don't really, there's not a lot of swapping out. It's kind of, it's more the presence or absence of the fruit.

Barry Conrad
Right. Okay.

Melanie Avalon
Okay.

Barry Conrad
I bought, I bought one cucumber last night, like a, like a big continental cucumber. And that's probably like one of like a billion that you have that you consume, but I just bought one.

Melanie Avalon
I know I see people. So when I go buy my cucumbers, I see other people like buying their cucumbers and they buy like one or two. I'm like this, I just and I'm doing it today. Because people will spend so long trying to find like the perfect cucumber, but I'm buying like 30. So I don't have time for that. I just I'm just like grabbing all of them.

Barry Conrad
The thing is that i think they pretty feeling like it fills you up like to you know.

Melanie Avalon
It's so hydrating. I just love it. And I eat the majority of it. So I juice it, I drink the juice, and I eat the pulp.

Barry Conrad
Oh wow. I like it with salt and pepper, just like the crunch. I like that.

Melanie Avalon
You said continental cucumber? You mean, are those like the, what are those? Are those the long ones?

Barry Conrad
Is this another one of those geographical divides?

Melanie Avalon
We've got, but it starts with a C, I think. Oh, no, we have.

Barry Conrad
They're the long ones. So not the Lebanese ones. So the Lebanese ones are, I think, smaller. Listen, as we're trying to differentiate how we say it in Australia versus America. Okay.

Melanie Avalon
Oh, yeah, you're right. Okay, so continental cucumbers, known as telegraph or burpless cucumbers, long, thin, dark green. I gotta look at a picture.

Barry Conrad
Because maybe I'm having different ones to you.

Melanie Avalon
Okay. Yes, that's the type. That's the type I eat.

Did you know that there are lemon cucumbers? What do you mean? I grew one once in my arrow garden. It only produced one fruit, but it produced it. It was so cute. It's like a little it's like a round cucumber.

Barry Conrad
I'm gonna look it up. Hold on, 11k power?

Melanie Avalon
It's like a round cucumber that looks like a lemon, but the inside is like a cucumber. It's so cute. I need to try to grow it again.

Barry Conrad
It looks like an orange, but if you cut people half it, it looks like the inside of a cucumber. That's wild.

Melanie Avalon
It was so cute. My cucumbers are going crazy right now. They're growing like they're doing well. Do you grow stuff in your apartment?

Barry Conrad
I don't I don't but you know what when I do move to New York I'm gonna endeavor to try to grow some things because I do I'm around a lot I have a lot of mates and family who have gardens and grow vegetables and I think it's great I know how to harvest them pick them and stuff so I think it'd be fun.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, that'll be better than me. I don't, I don't grow in like the dirt or anything. All mine are hydroponic.

Barry Conrad
Of course they are.

Melanie Avalon
I like no mess and I like the machine just taking care of it. But I do give it water and I do talk to them.

Barry Conrad
You talked though?

Melanie Avalon
Yeah.

Barry Conrad
What do you say?

Melanie Avalon
I just talk to them. I'm like, Oh, how are you doing? And then sometimes they sometimes they go rogue and they try to grow up the wrong areas. I'm like, No, no, no, we need to grow over here.

And then I moved them. Like, can you just please grab this window pane? Don't suffocate that other plan.

Barry Conrad
Melanie giving her vegetables pep talks. Like, no, no, no, not like that, like this. Come on.

Melanie Avalon
They're so alive once you start growing them, you'll see they're like they're alive They're so cute because they said you know how they send out the tent the tendrils Yeah It like the plants like send out little tendrils that like grab things like arms and they wrap around and they're very intelligent

Barry Conrad
I do know that's true, but it's just funny to hear you vocalize this up to where you talk about this before.

Melanie Avalon
I don't actually, I feel bad now because I only talk to the cucumbers. I don't talk to the flowers or the cilantro.

They don't have like personality. They're not trying to grow up thing, like grow up my windows.

Barry Conrad
By the way, another thing that's different, cilantro, we call that coriander in Australia.

Melanie Avalon
Coriander for us is the seed of cilantro. What do you call the seed of cilantro?

Barry Conrad
Yeah, there's coriander, but we just, like, grab a bunch of coriander. When I went to the States one of the first times, I'm like, I wanted to make some guacamole.

And I said, you guys have coriander? What? Like, coriander. Uh, we don't, we don't have that.

Melanie Avalon
Because we do have coriander, but it's a seed. It's like a spice.

Barry Conrad
Yeah. And she's like, ah, cilantro. Yeah, we have cilantro. Yeah.

Melanie Avalon
Yes. One other thing Barry just learned, he learned about Sarah versus, what do you call it, Shiraz?

Barry Conrad
Shiraz that's that blew my mind all this time. I didn't know you called it that

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, you've never heard of Surah?

Barry Conrad
I'm sure I've heard that, but I just, I'm surprised. I didn't, I wasn't expecting that because yeah, I've never seen that on a shelf in a wine shop or anything in the States.

So I don't know. That's surprising.

Melanie Avalon
You're gonna see it tomorrow, I bet, because now your brain's looking for it.

Barry Conrad
Mmm. Syrah.

Melanie Avalon
Sarah.

Barry Conrad
So S.

Melanie Avalon
Y-R-A-H

Barry Conrad
It's Y-R-A, oh okay, wow, okay.

Melanie Avalon
So tangents, but yes, Chrissy definitely let us know how it goes with switching up the days.

Barry Conrad
Please let us know, Chrissie.

Melanie Avalon
Shall we answer another question?

Barry Conrad
Martin asks, I monitor mine daily with a glucometer. I want to try a continuous glucometer. Which one do you suggest? How long should I use it to get a good sense of its value?

I'm curious about what goes on for the 12 hours after my one meal a day at night, and understand the dawn effect a little bit more. Yeah, what do you think, Mel?

Melanie Avalon
So, continuous glucose monitors, CGM's, they are sensors that you put onto your arm and then they measure your blood sugar 24 seven. We actually, if you check out episode 409 of the show, we had Kara Collier on the show. I've had her on a few times and she is a co-founder of Nutrisense, CGM, which is my, I love that brand so much. But by putting on a CGM, you can definitely get a good sense of how your blood sugar is responding to your meals.

So, if you want to check out Nutrisense, you can go to nutrisense.com slash ifpodcast and use the code ifpodcast that will get you a discount. I think it's $30 off and a free month of nutritionist support. And what's really great about Nutrisense is it helps you make sense of the data and really understand it. So, you're not just looking at numbers and not knowing what it means and you can chat with them in the app. You'll learn so much. The Dawn Effect, what Martin is referring to, it's basically this effect where we naturally get a boost in cortisol in the early morning, which releases glucose into the bloodstream from glycogen in the liver. And so, you can get a spike in your blood sugar levels when you wake up, even though you're fasted. I mean, I personally notice this when I wake up for sure. It's good to note, be aware of it because you might think that you're having a problematic rise in your blood sugar level when really it might just be from this Dawn Effect, which is actually a natural part of the body or like a natural process. You haven't worn a CGM, right? Or have you?

Barry Conrad
I haven't yet, but I really plan to, again, another thing that I can add to the list when I'm in America, and they're shipped to it.

Melanie Avalon
All the America things!

Barry Conrad
I want to be swamped today. I tried to see GM today. I tried this too. I said, yeah, it's going to be like Christmas.

Melanie Avalon
Do you have access to CGMs? Can you get them with a prescription or over the counter?

Barry Conrad
I don't know, but over the counter, I think with a subscription. I think you can prescription.

Melanie Avalon
Okay. Yeah. Cause I know some countries are opening up and actually I think they opened up here. I think now you can actually get them without a prescription, but really, I think so.

I think we talked about that with, with Kara, but going through Nutrisense, it's just so great because like I said, they make it easy, seamless, and they really help you make sense of the data. You know, you, you get way more information than you would from just if you were to buy one over the counter and the support's amazing.

Barry Conrad
what did you find when you used a CGM mill? Was anything surprising that you found?

Melanie Avalon
I think I was surprised a few things. I was surprised that the first time I ever did it, I was happy to see that my exuberant amount of fruit that I eat every night actually wasn't creating problems with my blood sugar. I would get a spike, a decent spike after it, but it would go back down. I did an experiment where I had a CGM and I ate some gluten-free cereal. That was so eye-opening, I was like, whoa, okay, now I know.

How high my blood sugar went was insane. I don't remember what it was, but it was very high. I was like, wow, this is so telling. That was the moment where I was like, wow, if everybody, because what I ate was like normal, standard American diet with people eat, and this was like a paleo-gluten-free version from Whole Foods, it really made me realize if people could just do this once where CGM and see this, it would, I think it would have a massive effect. Another amazing thing I saw was I saw just how powerful my Avalon-X Burbrane was because I'd been using, well, eight Burbrane in general. Before ever using Burbrane, and then I started using Thorn Burbrane, and I saw a nice effect with the CGM, and then I saw an even better effect when I started using my Avalon-X Burbrane. So yeah, it was nice to see.

Barry Conrad
I wonder what I'd find if when I use it, like what would be, like what I might be surprised to find moving here. I know I'm dying to know.

Cause I eat a lot of protein. I don't eat a, I don't eat a whole lot of carbs. I do sometimes, but not really. It's pretty high protein diet. So I don't know what I'd find.

Melanie Avalon
you might find it's also nice to see what alcohol does too. Alcohol actually stops the liver from releasing glycogen into the bloodstream. So it can actually reduce blood sugar levels. So that's the reason I find it really beneficial with meals.

So good. All right, speaking of meals, should we have our hypothetical proverbial, not real fake in our minds, but still fun, fast breaking?

Barry Conrad
Let's do it, all of the above.

Melanie Avalon
Yes, so the purpose of this friends is to showcase fun restaurants and also emphasize just the true importance of what you eat and breaking your fast is just as important as the fast. Because if you just do the fasting, you actually are not going to get the benefits. You need that feeding period to build the muscle, restore the immune system, actually grow stronger. So the magic happens in both the fasting and the feeding.

Exactly. What restaurant did you pick, Barry?

Barry Conrad
Drumroll. So today's restaurant is called Keene's Steakhouse. And Keene's Steakhouse is in my favorite city, New York, New York City. And a little bit about Keene's. It survived the prohibition, two world wars, the Great Depression. It's one of New York's most unchanged historic restaurants.

It's also, Melanie, you'd like this. It was the go to spot for Broadway actors and playwrights back in the day. Theater stars would sneak out during intermissions for a quick meal there. The walls are lined with like vintage playbills.

Melanie Avalon
Wait, wait, wait, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause. Performers would be performing during intermission would go have a meal.

Barry Conrad
Yeah, before heading back on stage, yeah.

Melanie Avalon
I can barely have time to go to the bathroom during intermission.

Barry Conrad
Must be close to must be right there the other walls are lined with vintage labels and theater memorabilia so it's it's right deep in there also another thing that's interesting was for decades it's the only it was a man only establishment so women weren't allowed to die in there but. A british actress lily landry took them to court after they refused her entry she won the case and then now it's open to females but so many facts about it it's amazing and the menu looks delicious i'm gonna send you the links you can check it out i thought you like this one.

Melanie Avalon
I found it. You found it? Yes.

That reminded me of two mind-blowing facts that we recently shared on my other show, the Mind Blown Podcast. Would you like to hear them really quickly? Tell me. Did you know the prohibition laws did not actually ban the consumption of alcohol? Just the selling of it.

Barry Conrad
I did not know that. Okay, so the people who had a whole stash were good.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, or like if you were a patron in a speakeasy, I guess you wouldn't get in trouble, but the establishment would. Interesting. Yeah. What else?

The other one. So that one was on the episode. We did an episode on common misconceptions, like things people just think but they're incorrect. The second one was really interesting. It was about Rosa Parks. She actually was not in the like the white section of the bus. She was in the colored section and then the bus got too full and they wanted her to move so that a white person could sit there. And then that led to everything. It doesn't like change the amazingness of what she did and everything. It's just another like common misconception that's incorrect. So yeah, she was at the front. I guess she was at the front of that section. But that episode, we went into so many crazy like historical misconceptions. It was really fascinating.

Barry Conrad
That is really fascinating i also have to share another thing about kim's it's the only one of the only restaurants in america still serving true mutton to mutton.

Melanie Avalon
Really? Lamb?

Barry Conrad
Yeah, because back in the 1900s, like the early 1900s, mutton was actually a symbol of luxury, so only the elite, really wealthy dined in it.

So, yeah, it's pretty rare to just find it any common restaurant eating mutton, mature shape here.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, I don't see it now that I think about it. I don't I do not have a memory.

Speaking of memory, I don't have a memory of speaking of the memory, the type of memory that is Oh, this is a good example of the type of memory that's not helped by fasting. I don't remember having seeing mutton on a menu before.

Barry Conrad
There you go.

Melanie Avalon
So, okay.

Barry Conrad
Should we jump into this menu?

Melanie Avalon
Yes, what are you going to get? Are you going to get something from the raw bar and door appetizers?

Barry Conrad
I feel like you already know that I'm going to order something there. So looking at the raw bar here, I'm going to get... Oh man, I'm going to get Lincoln's Oysters 30.

Melanie Avalon
30 oysters. That is a lot of oysters.

Barry Conrad
Melody, you're yelling at me, you're yelling at me in front of all these people.

I would do the 30 oysters and I'm also going to get, because that doesn't really, it's not really that filling for me, so I'm going to get a crisp calamari salad. I love calamari sidebar, love it.

Melanie Avalon
Okay, excellent choices for you

Barry Conrad
I like how you said for you.

Melanie Avalon
I would like the shrimp cocktail, the iced shrimp cocktail, and that's what I want.

Barry Conrad
That sounds delicious.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah. And then I might have to save one for dessert, another shrimp cocktail for dessert, because that sounds like a good dessert. And I will try one of your oysters, if you will like.

Barry Conrad
me. Or more. Not just one. There's 30 there. So there you go. I'm trying to picture the plate, like the platter, how big that's going to be.

Melanie Avalon
The last place I went, it was one oyster. What? The one that, yeah, it was massive though. And I had a tiny little nibble and then I had no more.

Barry Conrad
No, this is the thing. The way you consume it, you've got to just have it all at once. Just have it. You can't have a little teeny.

Melanie Avalon
oyster was too big for that. It was huge. When I posted it, a lot of the comments were commenting on the size of this oyster.

Barry Conrad
Okay.

Melanie Avalon
So, these must be little, little oysters, maybe?

Barry Conrad
Oh, maybe not. Maybe not. I don't know.

But I'm going to migrate to the the mains over there because I see a lot of good steaks and meats. And I think because this is known for mutton, I'm definitely have to get the our legendary mutton chop. So I'm going to have that as one situation. But then I'm also going to get a prime New York sirloin as well.

Melanie Avalon
Cooked how?

Barry Conrad
Medium rare, rare to medium rare.

Melanie Avalon
You don't have to adjust it to rare for me.

Barry Conrad
I was adjusting it for you. I actually do like Rare, by the way.

Melanie Avalon
You do. Okay. Yeah.

Oh wait. So you're not going to, you're not going to choose from the tank, the steamed whole main lobster. You may, it says, quote, it says, quote, you may choose from our tank. I didn't see that.

Barry Conrad
Okay, hold on. I'm adjusting my order. So I'm going to do that.

Our legendary mutton chop is a shoe in that's happening. And then I'm going to definitely, definitely get a steamed whole main looser. And I'll point out as I often do the biggest one. Yeah. Like, that's the one.

Melanie Avalon
Yeah, we've talked about this before, right? Like when I was a server, I had to get the lobsters out of the tank.

Barry Conrad
I don't know if you did tell me this, tell me.

Melanie Avalon
I remember the first time it happened because I was I worked at ruse chris and beverly hills and nobody had taught me how to get the Lobster out of the tank before and um, I remember the first time that happened. I was like, I don't know what to do like I don't what I was panicking Because I was like, I don't know what to do I had to like go like get the thing and like try to get it out and it's like a really big spider Like all of its little legs and you put on a tray and then they say like cover it up with a cloth So it doesn't move around too much and then you had to like carry it to the pack alive

Barry Conrad
Were you scared? Was it scary for you?

Melanie Avalon
Yes, it was a very scary experience. Every time people ordered it, I was like, oh no, no, don't make me do this.

Barry Conrad
I would have loved to watch this happen.

Melanie Avalon
Oh man, yeah. Yeah, so.

Barry Conrad
PTSD from the lobsters

Melanie Avalon
Yes. I have a question. Can I just have like a bite of your oyster? Because I don't want a whole oyster, but I do want like a bite of it.

Barry Conrad
Melody, if these are like the oysters that I'm used to having, which had

Melanie Avalon
Oh, sorry, no, you're a waster, you're a lobster. Wait, I said lobster, right? Did I say lobster?

Barry Conrad
Okay Lobster, of course you can have a bite of the Lobster.

Melanie Avalon
Thank you. Because I don't want the whole lobster.

Barry Conrad
You might eat it and go, oh, actually, it's the server. Can I please get one as well? For dessert. For dessert. And then can I please grab it out of the tank? Because I used to.

Melanie Avalon
Oh man. Okay, so I am also getting the legendary Mutton Chop. How can I not? Thank you for finding this restaurant that has this. I will get it as rare as they will give it to me.

Blue, if possible. And then I think, okay, I know what I'm getting for dessert. So I'll get that for, or just go ahead and get another entree. Then I'll also have, what is that Chateau Brion steak?

Barry Conrad
That sounds pretty good. What does that mean? I don't know. Chateau beyond. Give me a Google. I will have a look.

Melanie Avalon
It's a luxurious center cut beef tenderloin roast, luxurious, a filet mignon roast and truly a magnificent cut of meat. The most decadent tender beef roast?

Barry Conrad
This place is awesome. It's all the meat that you could want really.

Melanie Avalon
Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. Listen to what Wikipedia says. This is so confusing to me.

Chateaubriand is a dish that traditionally consists of a large front-cut fillet of tenderloin grilled between two lesser pieces of meat that are discarded after cooking. What? That is such a confusing process. Why would you throw that away? Oh, so I know what I'm going to do. Can I have that? I'll be like, for the lesser pieces that you're cooking it between. Can you put those to the side and I'll have those for dessert.

Barry Conrad
Oh my gosh, Melody, that's hilarious.

Melanie Avalon
The thing is, you know I would actually ask this.

Barry Conrad
The lesser pieces, can you just not throw them away, I'll have them for dessert. That's really funny.

I forgot, real quick, I forgot to add milk, I forgot to add a side dish. I'm definitely going to get some sauteed mushrooms and some boiled baby potatoes, love potatoes, on the side. I can't just have the...

Melanie Avalon
But I'll have some steamed spinach. Mm-hmm. Dessert, yeah. I'm like confused about what I've actually ordered at this point.

I think for dessert, if they'll give it to me, I would like some authentic Dover sole. That one's low mercury and it's very light. Or a shrimp cocktail. You know what? I'll get a shrimp cocktail, again, for dessert.

Barry Conrad
I really want to try, I can't wait to try Shrimp Cocktail for the first time ever, can't wait.

Melanie Avalon
Right, that blows my mind, wow. You can have Syrah and a shrimp cocktail and I'll have an oyster and you'll walk away happy and I will not be happy.

Barry Conrad
I reckon you, well, you may, I still, I'm holding, I'd hope that you might just find a good experience, oyster experience.

Melanie Avalon
We shall see.

Barry Conrad
My dessert will be definitely crème brûlée and the New York cheesecake. Done. Boom. Easy. Oh, they have a lot of desserts. They do.

Melanie Avalon
Wow, I'm going with another ship cocktail.

Barry Conrad
We can actually go here, you know that, right? Everything is so much more realistic now. We can go.

Melanie Avalon
Oh yeah, wow.

Barry Conrad
Look down the bottom of, you know, pass with the desserts and stuff. There's a photo of like the wine glasses. Do you see that? Next to daily specials.

Yes. I feel like that's a very Melanie photo, like.

Melanie Avalon
Like that photo, that vibe, like that's on my Instagram, like that's what I put on my Instagram.

Barry Conrad
Yeah, waiting for the discarded pieces of meat for my dessert from the...

Melanie Avalon
from the lesser, the lesser pieces of meat.

Barry Conrad
That's funny.

Melanie Avalon
Well, awesome, great find. Thank you for the history of it and everything. I love that. I like the story about the woman who changed things.

Barry Conrad
I thought you'd like that.

Melanie Avalon
I wonder if they have smoking still because the, um, like cigar smoking, cause isn't the, is that a cigar in the logo or maybe not.

Barry Conrad
This place has over 50,000 clay church warden pipes hanging from the ceiling, which is the largest in the world. So it's still there. Crazy. Looks interesting, right?

Melanie Avalon
Oh, they have a gift shop.

Barry Conrad
You love a gift show.

Melanie Avalon
I don't even know what that is. They have like a meat stamp so you can stamp Keens into your burgers. Oh, wow. Cool. Yeah.

Barry Conrad
P.S. I do love a burger I do love burgers by the way just for future reference.

Melanie Avalon
Burgers are, burgers are good. You know what, you know what burgers would be good? Ground Maui Nui, venison burger. Cause they make, they make ground venison. I am so obsessed with that company.

Quick link for listeners. Their company in Hawaii, they support our show and they are helping address the overgrowth of axis deer in Hawaii, which is wrecking the ecosystem. And so they, it's very sustainable. It's stress-free for the venison. It's a delicious lean red meat, super high in protein. It's great. And they have a ground version if you would like to make burgers. So listeners for that can go to MauiNuiVenison.com slash IF podcast. So that's M-A-U-I-N-U-I-V-E-N-I-S-O-N dot com slash IF podcast. And that's a special link for us to secure your access, like your ACCESS, but also your access, like your AXIS deer. Well, thanks for finding that, Barry. This was so, so fun. So excited about you coming to America.

Barry Conrad
So excited!

Melanie Avalon
Yes, and I guess anything from you before we go.

Barry Conrad
Thank you once again for tuning in listeners. We love all your messages and your questions. Have an amazing day and we'll catch you next time.

Melanie Avalon
All right, I will talk to you next week. Bye.

Bye. Thank you so much for listening to the Intramusian Fasting podcast. Please remember, everything we discussed on this show does not constitute medical advice, and no patient-doctor relationship is formed.

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