A quantified self story of ketosis: fasting and its affect on heart rate, ketones, and my microbiome (before/after).

1. Adventures in Fasting
May 7, 2020
Seattle Quantified Self Show + Tell #43
@spragu
e

2. Fastingis good for you
Humans in the
wild don’t eat
24 x 7
Every religion
mandates
regular eating
restrictions
Zoo animals
do better when
feeding is
randomized
Resets your
microbiome

3. What is fasting
“INTERMITTENT FASTING”
BETTER TERM IS
“RESTRICTED FEEDING” OR
“TIME-RESTRICTED EATING”.
WATER FAST
NOTHING BUT WATER
FASTING MIMICKING DIET
(FMD)
MAXIMIZE BENEFITS, MINIMIZE
DISCOMFORT

4. Ketosis
• Natural body processunder conditions of low availableglucose
(carbohydrates), your fat and liver make ketone bodies to fuel the
brain.
• Well-established treatment for epilepsy and type 2 diabetes;
promising for metabolic conditions, cancer, and more.
• Associated with high energy, alertness, and overall body and brain
wellness.
• Measurable by a ketone meter
$65 meter (plus $1/test)

5. A lifetimeof perfect healthexcept…
Surgeryon the five-year-oldme
Left me with adhesions that strangled myintestines
April3, 2020

6. Another way to fast
(not recommended)

9. S. pneumoniae,
Klebsiella species,
H. influenzae,
S. aureus (penicillin-
sensitive and penicillin-
resistant),
Group A beta-hemolytic
streptococci
Escherichia coli,
Proteus mirabilis,
Kills:

10. SIBO Symptoms
• Bloating
• Gurgling
• Always feeling “full”
Too manymicrobes in theupper intestine
generatemethaneand hydrogen gas as
byproducts.
Solution
• Don’t feed the microbes
• Low-carb FODMAP diet

14. https://exploratory.openhumans.org/notebook/124/
Why is my average HR climbing?
Note the clear increase since April
Hospitalization?
COVID19?

15. Phylum Species %
Proteobacteria Leclercia adecarboxylata 3.6
Firmicutes_A Roseburia inulinivorans 2.8
Bacteroidetes Parabacteroides distasonis 1.3
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium animalis 0.8
Firmicutes_A KLE1615 sp1 0.7
Firmicutes_A CAG-65 sp1 0.6
Proteobacteria CAG-495 sp 0.6
Bacteroidetes Odoribacter splanchnicus 0.5
New Microbes
Phylum Species %
Bacteroidetes Bacteroides_A plebeius_A 2.08
Firmicutes_A CAG-83 sp3 1.91
Bacteroidetes Bacteroides caccae 1.31
Firmicutes_A Agathobacter rectalis 1.13
Firmicutes_A Coprococcus eutactus_A 1.04
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium stercoris 1.04
Firmicutes_A Ruthenibacterium lactatiformans 0.96
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium adolescentis 0.84
Extinct Microbes
Before/After Microbiome Metagenomic Sequencing

16. Phylum Species %
Proteobacteria Leclercia adecarboxylata 3.6
Firmicutes_A Roseburia inulinivorans 2.8
Bacteroidetes Parabacteroides distasonis 1.3
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium animalis 0.8
Firmicutes_A KLE1615 sp1 0.7
Firmicutes_A CAG-65 sp1 0.6
Proteobacteria CAG-495 sp 0.6
Bacteroidetes Odoribacter splanchnicus 0.5
New Microbes
Phylum Species %
Bacteroidetes Bacteroides_A plebeius_A 2.08
Firmicutes_A CAG-83 sp3 1.91
Bacteroidetes Bacteroides caccae 1.31
Firmicutes_A Agathobacter rectalis 1.13
Firmicutes_A Coprococcus eutactus_A 1.04
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium stercoris 1.04
Firmicutes_A Ruthenibacterium lactatiformans 0.96
Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium adolescentis 0.84
Extinct Microbes
Before/After Microbiome Metagenomic Sequencing

17. Leclercia adecarboxylata
Shares many features with E. Coli so is
probably regularly misdiagnosed.
Rare, and often serious pathogen
sometimes found in immunocompromised
people
May harbor antibiotic resistant genes

18. Current Status
• I feel great! Nodigestive issues for the past month.
• Time for another microbiome test
• Stay tuned.

19. Thank you
@sprague
https://personalscience.com/
https://medium.com/microbiome
https://richardsprague.com

20. Valter Longo, Ph.D
https://prolonfmd.com/
5 days’ worth of plant-based foods specially formulated to
put your body ina fasting state—even though you’re
eating. Threecycle-fasting benefits:
• a reduction of excess fat (especially stubborn belly fat)
while preserving lean body mass
• metabolic balance, which includes maintaininghealthy
blood pressure
• cellularclean-upand renewal (autophagy

21. • 1100 calories (about half my normal)
• I felt no significant hunger

22. Morning ketones are 0.9 mmol/L, or GKI = 4.88
Evening ketones are 0.6mmol/L, or GKI =7.69

23. Ketones are 1.2mmol/L, or GKI =3.56
• Brain fog and fatigue
• Some annoying back pain

24. • Bad back pain but it disappeared suddenly
Ketones are 1.4mmol/L, or GKI =2.74

25. Evening ketonesare 1.7mmol/L, GKI =2.52
Morning ketones are 1.2 mmol/L, or GKI = 4.34

26. GKI = Glucose Ketone Index
A broader, more actionable
measure of metabolic health.
Lower is “better”
Results
I feel great!