WaveHunter

I have a 4tB computer hard drive loaded with business data files being readied to be shipped to me here in Thailand from the the United States. I want to know if there are going to any issues regarding duty or any other things to deal with. The drives do not at all look new and have plenty or ID labels and writing on them. They absolutely do not look like they are intended for resale. I don't imagine there should be any payable tax on them or other issues BUT in the past I have had some pretty weird experiences with Thai Customs resulting in delayed delivery to my door, once for over 4 weeks! I can't afford for that to happen this time. Are the any steps I should take to avoid such issues? Knowledgeable help would certainly be appreciated. Thanks

After writing my last reply, I just wanted to briefly go through your post, point by point Truth is, I have read countless research papers. It's true none of them have given the "gold seal of approval " to exercising in a fasted state" but many of them support the notion with sound scientific data. It is only when these studies are viewed as a whole, did I form the opinion that there was enough science-based information for me to believe in it, and worthy of doing a bio-hack to prove it to myself, which I have done, and found that is was beneficial to me, where the sedantary approach was a disaster for me. I disagree with you here completely about Verhoeven's knowledge or veracity as a researcher. Verhoeven's status as a PHD candidate and an active and published researcher in one of the cutting edge cellular biology labs in the US that actually is focused on autophagic response, make him imminently qualified on topics such as the underlying science of water fasting. Many of the "respected" authorities you regularly come across on YouTube, like Goldhammer for instance, are not truly research scientists, working full-time in labs, and they are often far-removed from cutting edge academic research. The duration of a water fast all depends on what your goals are. Most people only fast to lose weight, which I think is incredibly dumb and completely off the mark of what an extended fast can accomplish for optimal health. Water fasting is all about "resetting" the homeostatic state of the human body by accelerating the autophagic response, and nothing else. I'm not talking about the silly notion of ridding the body of environmental toxins or any of that other nonsense that health gurus love to talk about. We are in the midst of an obesity and Diabetes type II epidemic today, primarily caused by over-consumption of heavily processed foods, most of which are carbohydrates. Excess body fat should not be the concern since that is only about vanity, and it is only a symptom of a much bigger problem. The real issue is that such poor nutrition can cause irreparable damage to the intracellular proteins that allow our bodies to function optimally. "Dieting" to lower excess body only amounts to putting a band-aid on an infected wound. If the underlying issues are not resolved, the problem will not be solved. The underlying issue is metabolic, not caloric, so the concept of dieting to lose weight is simply flawed. Since there is now incontrovertible proof that fasting (along with other metabolic stressors such as exercise) causes an accelerated autophagic response, this accelerated response is really the major health goal of doing an extended fast. If you are seeking a source of research to serve as proof of this, I guess the Nobel prize winning research of Yoshinori Ohsumi is a good place to start. I fyu are not familiar with hsi work, here's a starting point: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2016/press-release/ To sum up, The duration of a fast really has to do with the accelerated autophagic response, and nothing else. Nobody can really say what the optimal duration of a fast should be. For me, I limit extended fasts to no more than 7 days. There are, after all, negative consequences of as prolonged fast. For instance, just as much as autophagy can reset dysfunctional proteins can replacing them, it can also do the same thing with cancerous cells, so it's not wise to look at only the positive aspects of fasting. I don't mean to come down on True North or Goldhammer, but quite frankly, he is a chiropractor (just like Dr, Berg). I don't consider his credential to be suitable for me to consider him an authority on the metabolic sciences. Like berg, he is a smart businessman who's very good at promoting himself and his clinic as far more than what they really are. They are certainly not involved in any legitimate science-based research. The only research papers I've ever seen published by them are statistics-based research, not actual science-based lab studies, and of the papers I saw, none of them seemed to be peer-reviewed in trusted publications like Lancet, or the New England Journal of Medicine. I'm sure they do well for their clients otherwise they would not be in business as long as they have been...but basically they are a for-profit business and nothing more...in my humble opinion, of course. Again, respected authority is going to endorse and unproven concept, but look at his personal fasting protocol, and you'll see that exercise is a very real part of it. You did not miss anything. I mention Cahill because he is like that father of the modern-day metabolic sciences being what they are today. Before him, the therapeutic concept of water fasting was not taken seriously in the scientific community. For his day, his work was groundbreaking, and really served as a foundation for all the notable researchers who followed. Again, what I was trying to say is you don't need to understand all the science-based details of a scientific paper to gain insight from it. Sometimes the concluding statement is simply enough because one research report is just a stepping stone to another one. For me, it's all about putting together notable bits and pieces from many different papers, and then over time, just getting a feel for what the larger truth may be. I just think it's a better approach to seeking the truth, than just to make an assumption of what the truth is from only one source or one person.. For a short term (72 hour) fast, I agree that electrolyte supplementation is not a huge deal for most people, but after that, imbalances occur, and it's simply better to be safe than sorry since the repercussions of an imbalance can be a very serious thing for some. I take all of this stuff real seriously, but at the same time, I strongly disagree that prolonged fasts should only be done under the direct supervision of a MD, unless there might be a metabolically related pre-condition. For every prolonged fast I undertake, I do a pre-fast blood test, and then a post-fast blood test, and have my doctor review them for me. That's the extent of the MD supervision of my fasts, and it has worked fine for me, and the reason for that (I think) is that I'm real careful about staying properly hydrated and supplement with electrolytes, and also psyllium (to keep the digestive tract active) , no thing more, no fancy fasting enhancers, no himalayan sea salt, no apple cider vinegar LOL (I'm think of Dr. Berg nonsensical fasting advice here...hahahaha). Regarding fast duration, like I said before, I think you should base it more on autophagy than anything, and to my way of thinking, anything longer than 7 days might be pushing things just too far. Again, prolonged fasting is a real frontier and science-based facts are a very gray area. I just think it's important to be as well informed as you can be from well-vetted and diversified sources, and then take an adventurous plunge in the form of a bio-hack to find out for yourself ???? My only input with #9 is what I already said, and that is to consider what your actual goal is with a fast, and then decide how long it should really take to achieve it. I mean, fasting, not matter how often you've done it before, is a major shock to your system, a definite inconvenience, and nerv fun or rewarding while you're doing it, so my mindset is "how short can my fast be", not how long.

My point is actually very simple. There are no studies currently that empirically confirm that exercising while fasting is beneficial. There are no studies that empirically confirm that being sedentary while fasting is beneficial. Much about fasting, autophagy, and metabolic sciences in general are still largely unexplored territory with mostly unproven concepts. Therefore, as a lay person interested in practising optimal health, we have several options to pick from: Take no action and wait for science to confirm the truth Listen to proponents of one side vs the other side, and take action based on which one you believe in more. Listen to proponents of BOTH sides, and then use their views to go on and do your own research of all the well-vetted studies. and then, after digesting as much information as you need, do a bio-hack on yourself, and then use the result of that to decide which view is the one to believe in I prefer #3. This is clearly the most difficult track to take. It's very hard to try and stay unbiased as you look at both sides of the question, and it takes a lot of time and effort, but I prefer it to the other two. It's like if you have ever watched a trial proceedings. You have the prosecutor laying out his/her version of what happened, and his presentation is very compelling. But then you hear the Defence's version of what happened and it is also compelling. You, as the jury, then have to decide which version YOU believe is correct. You may choose wisely, or you may make a mistake, but in the final analysis, you MUST make a decision that you feel best defines the truth. You can look at any / all scientific studies in the field of metabolic science and find things you believe are correct and things you disagree with, No single study can prove or disprove a concept when that concept has yet to be proven by peer review, so as a lay person who wants to optimize their health by fasting, you have to look at all the available and make that decision for yourself. That's really all that I am saying. I have a whole library of notebooks I've amassed over the twenty years, going back to when I first became curious about the metabolic sciences. I have explored and bio-hacked so many different concepts, I can't even keep track...Whole food, Veganism, Carnevor, Low Carb, OMAD, Water Fasting, Autophagy. Here's an example of just one of my Fasting / Keto notebooks for 2021: What I'm trying to say is that you really have to be your very own researcher when it comes to topics such as fasting and exercise. Nobody can tell you definitely whether dieting and exercise go together. You have to piece it together all on your own. So, when I say that I believe that exercise is important (even vital) for a successful fast, it is only MY opinion because almost all of the well vetted scientific research I've seen supports that view, even though there is no single study that I know of that makes that makes such a bold claim. More importantly, I believe it because it has worked well for me in practice, where a sedentary approach to fasting was a disaster. I mean, I guess it all depends on what you expect from a Fast. The majority of people's only goal is to drop some excess weight. To me, that is a dumb idea. "Water fasting" is just a nasty little catch-phrase used by YouTube gurus. In reality it should not be considered a weight-loss diet. The real goal of fasting should be to induce accelerated autophagy. Autophagy goes on in the human body 24/7 but when a person has a history of over-consuming carbs and heavily processed foods, the regular autophagic response can not keep up with the intra-cellular damage that occurs from poor nutrition. Intracellular proteins become irreparably damaged and began to accumulate. The goal of fast should very simply be to accelerate the autophagic response (which Ohsumi proved in his Nobel prize winning research). He proved that any type of metabolic stressors such as deprivation of food, or increased physical stress (i.e.: exercise) have a direct effect on the autophagic response. So, when you fast, and when you exercise, you increase this autophagic response. The big picture of fasting is simply this: Fasting and exercise induce accelerated autophagy, which is able to sequester those damaged intracellular proteins caused in part by poor nutrition, and pass them outside the cell membrane so that they can be broken down to amino acids. Then, when fasting ends and you resume eating, new intracellular proteins can replace the old, damaged ones, allowing the body to return to a more homeostatic state. That's it in a nutshell IMHO. The goal with a fst is to induce accelerated autophagy and nothing more. When the human body is in an optimal homeostatic state, there no need to go on a diet to lose weight. The body will take care of that all on its' own provided sound nutrition is practiced and one does not resume poor nutritional habits after the fast. Autophagy is now coming to the forefront of many prominent researchers such as Dr. Valter Longo, and Verhoeven (who I mentioned yesterday, and who's research work is laser focused specifically on autophagy). And of course there is Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi's ongoing work, for which he was awarded the Nobel prize in 2016. Anyway, as usual, I have gotten carried away in my writing. Sorry for being so verbose, but I hope it has some meaning for you ????

One thing I forgot to mention is that while exercise is good for an extended fast, it is not so good for the initial few days of starting a fast. During this time, until ketogenesis ramps up, the body has no alternative but to catabolize proteins, and exercise will only cause more catabolizing to occur. Not only that, but until there is adequate ketones bodies being released, the body will go into survival mode by decreasing the basal metabolic rate. So, the first 3 days of a prolonged fast, I take a brisk 30 minute walk daily, but that's about it until day 3. Regarding Goldhammer, I'm sure their clinic has helped many people but the research that comes from them is really as a sponsor of others' research, and that leads me to believe it may be a bit biased. What's more, the type of research papers that result are more related to clinical statistics as opposed to fundamental biochemistry and physiology. The only reason I mention Cahill is because his research provided the foundation for truly understanding metabolic biochemistry and how the body reacts to food deprivations, and their findings are as true today as they were when first published. You really do not need an academic understanding of biochemistry to understand Cahill's work, or any of the current research that's being done. You may need to familiarize yourself with real basic biochemistry; things like the Krebs cycle, for instance, but YouTUbe is actually your friend with this since there are plenty of really good videos that you can actually trust, written by academics. Actually one guy I religiously follow on YouTube is Nicolas Verhoeven. He is PhD Candidate in Molecular Medicine and a researcher in a molecular biology lab that is researching cell biology related to autophagy, and really is on the cutting edge of this, which is intimately related to water fasting. Though incredibly difficult to read for the lay person (me), here is his latest research paper, and I only link here so you can see this guy really knows what he's talking about: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350870898_Parkin-independent_mitophagy_via_Drp1-mediated_outer_membrane_severing_and_inner_membrane_ubiquitination My point is that in order to understand the link between fasting and exercise, the answers are not in a research paper but in understanding the metabolic processes that underlie both fasting and exercise, and people like Attia and Verhoeven provide the link between very difficult to understand research and the truth. I'm not saying their viewpoint is right or wrong, but what they have to say gives you a starting point that is firmly rooted in science so that you can further explore the topic on your own, and then have your very own viewpoint on it, instead of having to rely on others opinions. Verhoeven's YouTube channel is called Physionics (https://www.youtube.com/c/Physionic/videos), and he discusses a wide variety of topics related to his research, and many focus specifically on water fasting, all strictly from a scientific perspective. He also describes complex physiological and biochemistry processes in a way that anyone can easily understand. What's more, he provides very detailed "translation" of whatever scientific papers he happens to discuss in easy to understand language in his written "video notes" of his channel. I've gotten a working knowledge of some very complex biochemical processes through his simplified (but not misleading) explanations. He discusses water fasting as well as critiquing many f the proponents and that includes Goldhammer, Fung, including Valter Longo and his Fasting Mimicking Diet (which is very in-depth and fascinating). He also critiques (in a fair impartial way) people like Berg, Fung, etc... . He is literally a gold-mine of incredibly reliable and accurate information! Regarding refeeding, all the guidelines [put out by health gurus) is overkill IMO. I've used a simple protocol to end a fast and it has never caused me issues. Throughout the fast I take psyllium daily just to keep something running through my digestive tract (and that will not interfere with ketosis or autophagy), and water water mixed with electrolytes (Sodium, potassium, and magnesium). The electrolytes are not just to stave off headaches and "keto flue", but because those three electrolytes are seriously depleted in in a 72 hour fast. You might not feel any negative repercussions during your fast, but you could in a serious way afterwards. (Verhoeven did an excellent video on this on his YouTube channel BTW) On a 7 day fast, I do a 3 day refeed. I continue with the psyllium, and on Day one of the refeed I have one meal only, consisting only of soup (I like Minestrone best), and consume it very slowly over a one hour period, along with natural vegetable juices (not processed or with added sugar) On Day 2, the same thing, but two meals of soup plus a simple salad. On Day 3, I just go back to OMAD (one meal a day), keeping it light and low in carbs, and difficult to digest proteins. By day 4, I'm pretty much back to eating the way I normally would, and just being careful not to binge. The whole idea is simply to avoid shocking your metabolic system which is now fat-centric, no longer carb-centric, and it is really as simple as that. Bone broth and all the other things that health guru's suggest are fine if that's your thing, but they are certainly not necessary. All that's necessary is good common sense IMO. Regarding the duration of a water fast, I never go beyond 7 days. I did once as a bio-hack but really, form everything I have read, there is no point in going beyond 7 days. I only go for 7 days because of the effect it may have on autophagy, and even possible stem cells, but those are still very gray areas to me (which again is why I really like Verhoeven's videos since his research is specifically to do with these things. As for research I can point you to, again I have to say that I can not think of any specific papers I can suggest that support the link between exercise and fasting except the basic biochemistry concepts that come into play with the two. Attia and Verhoeven are my two "go-to" starting points I can suggest though.

I am familiar with Goldhammer and True North, as well as the clinic in Germany I think you are referring to which is the Buchinger Wilhelmi Clinic. The problem I have with such clinics is that they are obviously "for profit" institutions, and while I've never heard anything negative about either clinic, most of their PR efforts that you see on YouTube are seriously lacking in science-based information and they emphasize anecdotal information that celebrates the virtues of fasting. I particularly dislike the way they discuss prolonged fasting as a panacea for everything under the sun, stressing that that your protocol MUST be done under the direct supervision of an MD trained specifically in fasting protocols, which is just nonsense, and shameless self-promotion. I prefer to educate myself ONLY from science-based sources with no bias based on financial gain. My belief that "moderate" exercise while in a fasted state is based not only on such information, but it is backed up by personal experience. My first attempt at a prolonged fast (7 days) was a failure because I followed the common notion that being sedentary during the fast was a very important element of fasting. As a result, I had a horrible time of it. I felt lethargic which is a normal component of fasting BUT that should only occur until ketone body production begins to ramp up (i.e.: 72 hours into the fast). However, for me it continued until day 5 when I finally gave up. Worse, I didn't recover after I began eating again. My workouts (both resistance training and cardio) took about 3 weeks before before they were back to where they were before the fast. It was obvious to me that something was seriously wrong. That's when I got more serious about the underlying science to how the human body responds to being in the fasted state. Probably the most important work I read about were the studies by Dr. George Cahill's into the physiological changes that occur in starvation. I linked it below, and it is an excellent primer on the physiological stages that the human body goes through when deprived of exogenous nutrition. His research which was summed up in the paper, "FUEL METABOLISM IN STARVATION" was a landmark study that fundamentally changed metabolic science and laid the groundwork for safe and effective modern-day fasting protocols. It is essential reading if you are to really understanding what truly happens to the human body while in the fasted state, and some of those changes are complete unique to human beings, as opposed to animals in general. The problem I have with most modern-day proponents of fasting is that many of them don't have a clue of the actual biochemical and physiological changes that occur when the human body is deprived of exogenous macronutrients...and that includes many practicing MD's! As for clinical studies concerning the relationship of exercise to fasting, I have read many. You can as well by googling. I purposely don't like citing specific studies since you can't just look at one particular study to form YOUR OWN opinion. Usually when you want to effectively research a topic, you need to learn from many different sources (including the ones that you might feel a bias against) and only then begin to form YOUR OWN opinion Personally, I do not downplay any well-vetted sources. I have watched many interviews and speeches, ands read articles from Goldhammer, Dr. Jason Fung, Dr. Stephen Phinney, and a host of other noted authorities that study prolonged fasting. I even regularly watch YouTube videos by Berg and Ekberg, since all such sources often have some element of truth. But, in the final analysis, it's up to you the individual to decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong. Too many just a quick and simple answer to a very complex topic such as this and will usually only look to one source for that. A good place to start for me was with Peter Attia's blog simply because he is both an MD and a triathlete, and he has done extensive study of both fasting and exercise physiology, and practices prolonged fasting protocols on a quarterly basis every year, and considers exercise while in the fasted state to be an integral part of the protocol. I know he has vested financial interests with a few companies that make products for fasting, but still I find him to be honest, and most of his information led me to other sources and I was able to develop my own valid and actionable course of action. BUT...The real acid test for me is what actually works FOR ME. All I can say is that ever since I incorporate exercise into my prolonged fasting sessions (7 day fasts, 4 times per year), they have all gone very smoothly with minimal lean body mass loss, good blood tests after the fast, no need for an exotic refeed plan, and high levels of energy during and after the fast. Just a quick point: In addition to exercise, the other big mistake I made on my initial fast was not considering the importance of electrolyte supplementation, specifically sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Not only to it stave off headaches and the usual "keto flue" but it helps you sleep better and tolerate exercise better while in a fast. I hope some of what I said you an find useful ????

Proviron is pretty easy and inexpensive if you find the right pharmacy. I get Bayer very cheaply my my pharmacy in Pattaya, at about 1/10 the price a hospital pharmacy sells it for, and no it is not fake ????

It's all really "the luck of the draw", but it seems like some of the major players are aware of the issue and have been seeking ways so that the end-user is not so inconvenienced by it anymore. I have never had a problem with Amazon, but eBay was a complete nightmare earlier this year...but then they finally got their act together with 2-part authentication that actually works, and I have been trouble-free since July. Still though, a Thai IP address is like a red flag for may US-based servers. I can not log into most government sites at all, and when I contact them, they openly admit it is intentionally set up like that. The same issue occurred when I tried to log into my internet domain provider to pay my annual renewal fee (Verio), and had to do it with their assistance over the phone. The only solution I have come up with is to set up a virtual cloud computer and use that when I need to interact with these sensitive sites. It's really quite easy and cheap to do. I only use the virtual computer when I need to connect to a site that I know will treat my Thai IP as a red flag, which amounts to only maybe 15-30 minutes a month, and you are only charged for the time you are connected, so it costs me maybe $10 USD per month. best solution I could find, and I'm happy with it ????

There has been a lot of studies in the last few years (serious studies) that are proving that moderate exercise while in the fasted state is not only possible, but essential for protecting lean body mass. The consensus up until just a few years ago was that you should NOT exercise while fasting. It has pretty much proven to be completely wrong, and many who followed that advice (including me) lost significant lean body mass (LBM). Without going into the biochemistry of it all, exercise stimulates the body to release IGF-1 by dramatically increasing Growth hormone production, and indirectly reduces gluconeogenesis. In a sedentary state this will not happen, and that's why a sedentary faster can often lose a lot of lean body mass during a prolonged fast. If "moderate" resistance training and cardio training are conducted during a prolonged fast (greater than 5 days), LBM loss will be minimal; nothing you could not restore within a week of being in a gym. Read about Dr. Peter Attia as a starting point to learn more about this. I'm not going to reference these studies or defend them since that will always lead to a bunch of back and forth arguments and nonsense on a forum like this, but anyone that takes the time to do their own due diligence and become familiar with these studies, and also take the time to understand the ACTUAL metabolic changes that occur in the fasted state, will see that these studies make sense. These studies were carried out by very well established researchers from major universities, not silly YouTube Gurus spewing unsubstantiated pseudo-science.

I know you enjoy playing devil's advocate. All I have to do is mention certain keywords and it sets you off with rude comments like referring to what I say as B.S. . Seriously, you seem to place more importance in what you read on bodybuilding forums than what legitimate and well vetted scientists have to say...like NOBEL PRIZE WINNING scientists. You are WRONG about autophagy! Yes, it is a process that happens 24/7, and it is enhanced by exercise somewhat, but in a fasted state it is vastly accelerated...and that is what makes all of the difference! In a fasted state, autophagy is radically ramped up, and that is why all serious scientific studies of autophagy are done with subject in a fasted state. Why? Because in a fasted state, gluconeogenesis results in the breakdown of proteins into amino acids at an VASTLY accelerated rate! That does not occur with only caloric restriction or with exercise to the same degree! The accelerated state is what makes ALL of the difference! DO you even understand the basic biology of gluconeogenesis? You obviously know NOTHING about what ACTUALLY occurs in the human body while in a fasted state. You also do not seem to understand the SCIENTIFIC proof that links excessive carbohydrate consumption with dysfunctional changes to intracellular proteins, or the fact that accelerated autophagy brought on by being in a fasted state will break down those dysfunctional proteins so the body can replace them with fully functional ones. These concepts have been PROVEN to be true! They don't hand out Nobel prizes for unproven science! I don't pull these concepts I discuss out of thin air. I don't get my information from YouTube videos or BS sources like bodybuilding forums or short articles posted on the internet like on Healthline. What I know about metabolic sciences I get from foundational studies that are well vetted, like George Cahill's famous landmark studies into Diabetes, or his even more groundbreaking research into Liver and Kidney Metabolism in the fasted state. George Cahill is really the father of metabolic sciences. You probably don't even recognize his name, and think it is some biased, nutty advocate of fasting. The truth is that his work was done well before the idea of fasting was even mainstream. His work was directed at understanding starvation in underdeveloped countries back before the concept of therapeutic fasting was even a topic of discussion. His most famous contribution was his studies into starvation, where he defined for the first time, the precise endocrinology and metabolism of the fasted state via biochemistry. It was all summed up in his famous paper, FUEL METABOLISM IN STARVATION You can call such studies BS if you wish, but they are the foundation of modern scientific understanding of how our bodies work! You can call the Nobel-prize winning research into autophagy by Yoshinori Ohsumi "BS" if you want, and rely instead on your half-baked definition of autophagy that you pick up by stray articles on Healthline, and think you know all there is to know about Autophagy but that is just plain foolish, and therefore your views amount only to pseudoscience. You are a very smart man and I enjoy our discussions on a myriad of subjects, but you seem to be totally ignorant of the metabolic sciences, and seem to lash out at me whenever I reference LEGITIMATE SCIENCE! Perhaps instead of having that knee-jerk reaction to my references to metabolic science, maybe you should read about them FROM LEGITIMATE SOURCES Sorry, but I have no more patience to discuss this subject with you until you are better educated in basic metabolic science, instead of bro-science, and cherry picked, out-of-context tidbits of information.

So you are a cyclist? Me too! I used to live in Chiang Mai and miss my daily climbs on Doi Suthep so much! I envy you if you are still living there! Look, I am not criticizing you or your lifestyle. Bottom line is whatever works for you is the best way to do things...if they genuinely do, in fact, really work for you. Many people however, delude themselves into believing something works simply because a highly persuasive Guru told them it works. My problem with gurus like Berg and Ekberg is that they say a lot of things that are simply not the whole truth, from a scientific perspective, and they lead many people astray, particularly the ones that do not follow up with diligent vetting of what they have heard. You may feel comfortable discounting scientific research. I discount much of it as well, but what I do NOT discount is the "Scientific Method" since that has proven over time to be the ONLY way at arriving at the truth. So many people think of gurus like Berg as being the voice of gospel truth, when in fact, they are not really presenting the full picture. If you look at Berg's YouTube contents, so much of it touts completely unproven concepts like the virtues of apple cider vinegar, a myriad of different health supplements (many of which he sells), and a whole host of other notions that are highly questionable. His concepts regarding metabolic health are particularly troublesome to me because they are littered with half-truths, and out-of-context cherry picked facts that support his agenda, and rarely provides science-based sources to support his claims, or only sources with a vested interest. The main problem I have with berg and others "Gurus" like him is that most people who watch his videos are basically lazy people who will accept whatever he says, without doing their own research to see if what he says is actually true. I'm not saying his videos are worthless. he addresses a wide range of legitimate health concerns. My issue with him and others like him is he is not unbiased, and present only what support his biased narrative. However, his videos are good starting off points to explore a new topic you know nothing about, and then to go on and do your own research on Google, and for that purpose I subscribe to his channel and watch many of his videos. I'm just saying his videos should absolutely NOT be considered the final word on any topic.

I'm sorry, but the point you are making are not germain because you are only addressing the vanity aspect of losing weight, not the health perspective: Do you think that after cutting processed foods, and only eating healthy carbs there is an advantage to going keto or low carb. I am talking about lower then say 200 grams of carbs a day (of stuff like oats / sweet potato / rice berry brown rice / some fruits ect if so how many % more fat (not weight) will you lose then Do you think that on a diet as I described you cannot lose weight because im eating carbs What I am trying to say is that "fat loss" is not the real issue from a health perspective. It is only a symptom of a bigger problem and that problem is poor metabolic health. But OK, I will address your points. Cutting processed foods and only eating good carbs and limiting carbs to 200g is of course preferred to eating unhealthy, highly processed foods and over consuming . No question about it. So the question then becomes, how much body fat will be lost in adopting that sort of nutritional change? IMO, probably not that much if all you are doing is restricting some calories. 200 grams of carbs will still result in high insulin levels, and if you have been a habitual over-consumer of carbs prior to that change, your insulin response will remain low. Regardless of what you seem to believe, it is a basic scientific fact that if insulin levels are high, access to stored body fat for energy will be highly impaired. I mean, one of the main purposes of insulin is to determine whether energy should be used or stored. If insulin levels are high, it will be stored, not accessed for energy. Now, If you restrict calories enough to result in a body fat reduction of, say, 2 pounds per week, it will take you far longer to reduce body fat significantly than most people have the willpower to achieve. I know so many people that are otherwise healthy but wish to drop body fat percentage primarily for reasons of vanity (and there's nothing wrong with that). The problem is that most of those people have had that as a goal for years, and never achieve it! The simple reason is that the body does not like caloric restriction, and it does everything possible to remedy it. The body reacts to caloric restriction by reducing the basal metabolic rate firstly, so you may be eating fewer calories, but the body's response to lowering the BMR only results in a no-sum change since you are now burning fewer calories. That is an incredible uncomfortable state and so after a few days most people will abandon the diet. They may just think of it as a temporary thing (i.e. taking a day off from their diet), the same thing will happen over and over, and in the long run, no body fat will be lost. I mean, no offense intended, but in the three or four years we have traded views on this forums, you are always talking about wanting to shed a few percentage points of body fat. If you are still talking about this wish for over 3 years now, maybe you should reconsider your strategy. IMO, dieting to lose body fat is not a wise strategy. It is a goal based on the desire to look good, not a goal based on the desire to be healthy. If however, you look at excess body fat as a symptom of a bigger problem, namely a metabolic imbalance (i.e.: Metabolic Syndrome), you may realize that the real problem is hormonal, not simply too many calories consumed. The negative aspects of aging such as higher body fat levels and sarcopenia (loss of muscle due to aging) are not just due to inactivity and poor diet. They are most importantly the result of poor metabolic health. What I mean is that long-term poor nutrition and not enough physical activity results in negative changes to hormonal balance. This in turns leads to dysfunctional activity on a cellular level. For instance, within every cell are structures called "mitochondria". Basically they are what generate power for our bodies. They are like the power plants that power our bodies. Amazingly, they even resemble little electric motors! They generate power just like an electrical generator by physical processes, not chemical processes! Little structures within the mitochondria literally spin around when viewed under an electron microscope, resulting in the generation of ATP. Take a look at this: Screen Recording 2022-07-20 at 10.32.45 AM.mov (see the complete video here) Through habitual poor nutrition, these mitochondria can become dysfunctional from alterations in proteins, and the accumulation of these maladapted proteins. Even more impressive is the growing body of research linking these impaired proteins with disease states that include Alzheimer's, Parkinsons, general dementia, and even many forms of cancer! Believe it or not, excessive carbohydrate consumption is now thought to be a probable cause of these proteins becming dysfunctional. This notion is born out of the groundbreaking, nobel-prize winning work of Yoshinori Ohsumi, where he documented how these maladapted proteins are purged from within the cells, broken down to basic amino acids, allowing new fully functional proteins to restore proper functioning within the mitochondria. it is called "autophagy" And how was that accomplished...through a period of nutritional fasting! So, my point here is that your goal should not be to simply shed a few pounds of body fat for reasons of vanity, but it should be to improve your metabolic health which will take care of that problem for you WITHOUT the need to resort to ineffective fat-loss diets which have always proven to be ineffective in the long run. This is NOT just Health Guru speak. It is all based on Gold-standard scientific research of the Nobel Prize winning kind! I'm not a scientist, nor am I advocating fasting for everybody, but I have proven it to myself, that a intermittent, prolonged fast that results in autophagy is the easiest and most effective way to restore a healthy metabolic state where the mitochondria are functioning at full capacity, insulin sensitivity, as well as a whole host of other metabolic hormones are restored to their proper state. The vanity desire for fat loss will just be a by-product of that since the homeostatic state of the body is to have a HEALTHY level of body fat. TO sum up, the goal should be a healthy metabolic state, not merely to look good through a forced reduction of body fat.

First of all let me make a very simple point. Excess body fat is a SYMPTOM of something of much greater concerns. Too many people think of obesity as a disease, and seek to remedy it through "dieting" by caloric reduction. Obesity is only a symptom of a greater problem, and that problem is simply an imbalance of metabolic hormones caused by poor nutrition over time. Some refer to this as "metabolic syndrome". The chief cause is habitual overconsumption of carbohydrates, not too many calories. It is really as simple as that! If the cause was too many calories, then calorie-reduction diets would work just fine. They have been the mainstay of attacking obesity for over 100 years. If they worked, we would not be in the midst of an obesity epidemic right now with one-third of the population of developed countries being obese. Not everybody suffers from metabolic syndrome. When a person is young and quite active (up until your early 20's), they can eat practically anything. Their bodies can adapt to over consumption of carbs, BUT if they are inactive, or simply as a result of natural aging, their metabolic processes can lose that ability to maintain homeostasis, and that's where problems start. When that happens, you need to address the cause, and the cause is not too many calories consumed, it is the ineffectiveness of hormones such as insulin to function properly. Merely cutting calories will not fix the problem. The only answer is to restore to proper functioning of hormones, primarily insulin. To do that requires lowering insulin levels and restoring sensitivity of insulin receptors to insulin. That is NOT going to happen if you merely cut calories, but consumption of carbohydrates remains high. It's really that simple.

I fully understand what a calorie is, and yes if you eat more than you burn, you will gain weight. What you neglect to acknowledge is that accumulating excess body fat involves a lot more than eating excess calories, and that's where we always come into conflict. In all of our discussions you seem to put ZERO importance on metabolic factors that have a major bearing on whether a person accumulates excess fat, and seem to insist it is simply a matter of calories in vs calories out. What I am saying is the metabolic factors are crucial. If somebody habitually over-consumes carbohydrates, their insulin levels remain high 24/7. You seem to refuse to accept a basic concept that insulin is essentially an on/off switch for whether the body stores or burns body fat. That is really the main function of insulin; to tell the body when to store fat or when to access it. It really is that simple! If a person's insulin levels are continually high through overconsumption of carbohydrates, their body will NEVER be able to access stored body fat. My point is simply that up until the last decade or so, the prevailing notion of obesity is that it is the result of too many calories, and that is just not the complete picture. If it were that simple, then all of the popular diets that rely on caloric restriction would work...but obviously they do not work, otherwise we would not be in an obesity epidemic right now with over one-third of the population of developed countries being obese! Until people embrace the underlying metabolic factors involved in obesity, people will contnue to be obese.

You make some good points however I have issues with people like Dr. Berg simply because they over-simplify complex concepts and do it in a way to support their narrative. They are therefore not being truthful and lead people astray. I agree with you that what is scientific "fact" today can becomes a fallacy tomorrow. People used to firmly believe in the "food pyramid" concept from a few of decades ago in which carbohydrates were considered the foundation a healthy nutrition. Science has soundly disproven that today. Now the question is, will science again disprove the current view? Well, if you look back you can see that science NEVER supported the notion behind the Food Pyramid, at least not with empirical clinical studies, in the first place. If you discount the scientific method and only rely on clinically unsupported, anecdotal accounts, or cherry-picked bits of scientific research that's out of context (which is what Berg often does), then you really are flying blind if you embrace such notions.

Sorry to disagree with you but you are the one that is not looking at the big picture. You are completely ignoring the metabolic basis of obesity, and claiming that the antiquated view of "calories in vs calories out" is the cause. That notion died over a decade ago in the scientific community. There is indeed a metabolic basis for obesity and many other disease states that wasn't well understood until the last decade. Perhaps you should do some UNBIASED research to find that out. You can cite all the arcane studies you want. The truth is, neither you nor I are qualified to even interpret such studies to know whether they are valid or not. All that should really matter is to see that obesity IS INDEED at epidemic levels today, and the main tool up until now has been calorie-reduction diets. If those diets really worked, there would not be an epidemic. An epidemic is all the proof I need to know that something is ineffective. The research into the metabolic basis for obesity has resulted in many Nobel prize awards in the last decade. They do not award Nobel Prizes to researchers unless they have discovered something that is truly game changing! Perhaps that's a good reason to take such groundbreaking and well-vetted research much more seriously than you presently seem to do .

THere is no need to insult me by calling me stupid or claim that I ignore what you consider to be "facts". There is an epidemic of obesity in the world today. Caloric reduction diets have been the mainstay of weight control for over hundred years now. If they worked, there would NOT be an epidemic! How hard is that to understand? Every day a new fad diet appears that's entirely based on caloric reduction. Why does a new one appear daily if the basic concept were valid. I can't believe you actually mentioned "the twinkie diet" in one of your posts to affirm the validity of caloric reduction diets! I mean, seriously...! The inquiry into a metabolic basis for obesity has only existed for a little more than a decade, and the research findings are already completely turning around our understanding of how the body REALLY works. Much of that research has been game-changing...as in Nobel Prize type game changing! Of course, it's your right to ignore all of this new research that is gold-standard in every way, and just cling to antiquated and disproven beliefs that calorie-reduction diets really do work for the population as a whole, and that the obesity epidemic is just a myth.

I hate to burst your bubble but Dr. Berg, Dr. Berry, and Dr. Eckberg are really terrible sources for unbiased, science-based information on nutrition. Their basic message is honest and even valid to a point, but they all grossly over-simplify complex topics to the point where they are not giving an accurate picture of what they are talking about, and worse, making it seem that there is a "miracle food" or supplement for just about anything that ails you....and, especially in the case of Dr. Berg, he usually just happens to SELL a food product or supplement that will solve the problem he happens to be discussing. Essentially they are all producing these videos on an almost daily basis, which is highly suspicious. I mean, where does a reputable professional find the time to produce all of these videos anyway, if they are not gaining financially from producing them. BTW, it might surprise you to learn that Dr. Berg is a chiropractor, NOT a medical doctor, or licensed nutritionist. Dr. Eckberg is also NOT an MD. He is also only a chiropractor. Dr. Berry, while he is a licensed MD only has a small rural GP practice, so none of these guys are really credentialed in a way that makes them trusted sources. If I were you, I would look to more science-based sources for knowledge than these guys.

I need to buy "legal pads"...you know, the yellow note pads that lawyers always use. For some reason I can't find anywhere to buy them online except for exorbitant prices on Lazada, and they are not even good ones. Does anyone know where they can be purchased?

I need to buy "legal pads"...you know, the yellow note pads that lawyers always use. For some reason I can't find anywhere to buy them online except for exorbitant prices on Lazada, and they are not even good ones. Does anyone know where they can be purchased?

Sure, if you cut calories sufficiently you will lose body fat, BUT only in the short run. If you do not fix the underlying problem that causes excessive fat storage, you will only gain that fat right back, and science supports this notion up 100%. The human body in its' normal, healthy state is an incredibly well balanced machine capable of converting macronutrients we eat into energy that we need to survive and rebuild the body plus the necessary surplus needed as a reserve for when food is not available. It is stored as fat and typically should be between 10% and 20% (for men), AND NOTHING MORE. It's only when the metabolic machinery in the cells is compromised that things go awry. The most common way to compromise these metabolic processes is overwhelming them with excessive carbohydrates, and here is one of the main reasons why: When the human body is overwhelmed with carbohydrates, a process occurs within the cells called "glycation" Simply put, glycation is the bonding of a sugar molecules to a protein or lipid molecule, resulting in what's called Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs). As the acronym "AGE" implies, and countless studies have demonstrated, they cause an acceleration of the aging process. Accelerated storage of fat is a SYMPTOM of this. Don't take my word for this, Google "Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs)" and learn for yourself how real this is. My point is simply that "getting fat" is a SYMPTOM of dysfunctional metabolic processes (most notably AGE's), and merely cutting calories is NOT going to fix this. The only thing that will fix it is eliminating the cause, and the cause is NOT calories, it is excessive carbohydrates. If you cut the excessive carbohydrates out of your diet, you have eliminated the root cause of excessive weight gain, and the body will soon return to a homeostatic state all on its' own without the need for going on a "diet" However, merely cutting calories all by itself is like putting a band-aid on an infected would. You need to address the root cause to fix the problem, and it has been statistically proven that for most people, calorie reduction diets alone do NOT work in the long run. If they did work, there would not be epidemic levels of obesity today.

So....big picture wise, you really have to decide are you just a vain person who cares only about your looks as far as shedding excess fat, or are you someone who truly cares about your metabolic health. If you are the latter, you should be more concerned about WHAT you are eating, not how many calories you are eating. Excessive carbohydrates in the form of processed food laden with high fructose corn syrup and refined sugars is what's doing you in, not excessive calories. Forget about counting calories! That kind of dieting is just a big waste of time!

It's not so much that carbs per se are bad for you. It really is more a matter of what type of carbs you consume. "Natural" carbs in moderation do not make you fat or disrupt metabolic mechanisms (which is the real issue, since getting fat is only a symptom of a dysfunctional metabolism). The type of carbs that cause problems are man-made, heavily processed ones, like foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup, or refined sugar for example. Look at labels on foods you buy in the grocery store, and you may be shocked to see that almost all processed foods contain High fructose corn syrup and refined sugar, even ones where you wouldn't expect it like in salad dressings or unsweetened breakfast cereals...and almost any food that is labelled as "non-fat" "Non-Fat" processed food items are the biggest scam in the manufactured food industry! In order for processed "non-fat" foot products to have any flavor at all, lots of refined sugar and /or high fructose corn syrup must be used. Don't take my word for it, just look at the labels. Cut those out of your diet entirely, and your body will take care of itself as far as reducing excess fat. Many well-respected scientists firmly believe that refined sugars can actually be more addictive than heroin, and when you look at the underlying science that supports this view, it is both compelling and shocking. So really, the problem is that when you eat these kind of foods, you quickly become addicted to them, and THAT is where you get in trouble. An occasional indulgence is one thing, but when you become addicted to them, your satiety sensors are dulled and you will overeat them on a massive scale without even being aware of the damage they really doing to you. Again, getting fat from eating this way is not the real issue. The real issue is what it does to your metabolic health, and the very real damage it does to every single cell in your body. Getting fat is only a symptom, and any form of caloric reduction is not going to solve the problem unless you address the real issue of consuming processed foods.

What's right for one person may not be right for another. That's one thing I think everybody in this thread can agree on. The other thing I think everybody can agree on (if they really think about it for a while) is that it's very hard to accumulate excess fat if you ONLY eat when you are truly hungry. The human body is a remarkable machine that's evolved over thousands of years. If you stay away from junky processed foods that alter the body's natural satiety signals, it will regulate your appetite so that you consume only what your body actually needs to work optimally. You should NEVER have the need to go on any sort of weight loss diet, EVER. If you have a need for that then there is an underlying metabolic dysfunction that should really be addressed, and that is simply in your selection of foods. Historically speaking, obesity and resultant syndromes like Diabetes-2 were never at the epidemic levels that they are today. There's no mystery to that fact. The reason is simple. It's highly processed, carbohydrate rich foods that just did not exist until several decades ago! It's no coincidence if you look at the statistics of obesity and diabetes-2 that the epidemic rise started almost precisely when processed foods came into being. Such foods are intentionally designed to be addicting in the truest sense of the word. They are intentionally designed to be just as addictive as any controlled drug, and some scientists say even more addicting than heroin, in the case of refined sugar! Years ago, Lay's potato chips coined a phrase that many would come to recognize and never forget - "Betcha can't eat just one!" The advertising slogan referenced the addictive nature of potato chips and the unlikelihood that anyone would be satisfied with just one. The real health danger of excessive carbohydrates is not in getting fat. The real danger is what they do within each and every cell of your body. They damage cellular proteins like RNA and DNA within every cell in your body through a process called "glycation" Glycation is the most general term describing the adduction of a carbohydrate to another biomolecule, such as a protein, lipid, or DNA. This results in cellular structures that become sticky and brittle, with impaired function. These impaired molecules are called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. Glycation end products are believed to play a causative role in many diseases such as coronary diseases and diabetes type 2, and consuming an excessively high-carbohydrate diet is the main driving factor for out-of-control glycation and AGE accumulation in the body...PURE AND SIMPLE, and the scientific evidence of this is overwhelming! GOogle it and find out for yourself. I am a big advocate of periodic fasting for only one real reason, and it is NOT as a diet to lose weight. Instead it is an easy and efficient way to go "cold turkey" from highly processed foods, and secondarily, to repair the damage that has been done to your cells through glycation end products. Remarkably, simple water fasting allows this to happen in as little as 72 hours. I know this sounds like a wild claim,but it is soundly backed up by the Nobel prize winning research of Yoshinori Ohsumi It's actually so simple and intuitive once you understand what heavily processed foods really do to you, and how the body is designed to reverse this.

LOL, I agree with what you say for sure. I take so many "grains of salt" here in Thailand, that might turn into a health issue in itself! The Placebo effect of protocols like TRT are a real thing. When I read somebody saying their whole life turned around after their first shot of Testosterone always brings a smile to my face. From a physiological perspective though, It just ain't so. Still, if it makes them feel better, what's the harm? Just one thing...those are the same people who also believe that if a little bit of something is good, then more must be better. It's always best to just do what your doctor suggests and realize that TRT is a long term treatment, not a magic bullet.

I would be inclined to agree with you about a hospital-based clinic, but the proliferation of private clinics that promote TRT in a seriously unethical way are something else entirely. I admit I have no personal experience with Maximum clinic, but the very name of the the clinic makes me suspicious. As I said before, considering how mainstream TRT has become in the medical community today, many GP's can administer an effective and safe TRT protocol at very reasonable cost to the patient so why even consider a private clinic that advertises itself that way? A safe and effective protocol for TRT is not really rocket science for an experienced doctor. There's no need whatsoever for a specialist. Any well read GP can do it effectively. The problem with a lot of these private clinics is that they may have a licensed MD associated with the clinic in name only, but since Testosterone is not a controlled drug here in Thailand, it does not require a licenced MD to prescribe a treatment plan. That is the major issue I have with many (not all) of these private clinics, especially the ones that heavily market their services.