Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HERE
What if everything you’ve been told about muscle loss and prolonged water fasting isn’t the full story?
Dr. Katie Deming welcomes back Dr. Christy Kesslering, a fellow radiation oncologist who left conventional medicine to focus on metabolic health. Christy didn’t just complete a supervised 14-day water fast. She tracked what happened before, during, and after it.
She collected DEXA scans, body-composition measurements, toxin testing, insulin levels, cholesterol markers, and inflammation data. She wanted to understand what her own clients experience during an extended fast and see what the numbers could reveal about what was happening beneath the surface.
The results challenged one of the biggest fears surrounding prolonged fasting.
As a 58-year-old postmenopausal woman, Christy lost body fat while her follow-up DEXA scan showed an increase in lean mass. But the numbers are only part of the story. She also walks you through the difficult middle of the fast, including back pain, aching tissue, skin changes, shifting inflammation markers, and the gradual return to normal during refeeding.
Dr. Katie and Christy also explore why rest is an essential part of a supervised fast, what happened to Christy’s triglycerides and cholesterol-related markers, and why changes during fasting need to be interpreted differently from routine lab results.
Chapters:
00:05:00 - Escaping the Workaholic Hamster Wheel
00:05:42 - The Health Data She Tracked
00:09:21 - What Happened to Her Muscle Mass
00:11:07 - Losing Fat While Gaining Lean Mass
00:16:11 - Why Fasting Differs From Calorie Restriction
00:23:53 - Disconnecting From Fight or Flight
00:28:13 - What Hunger Felt Like After 14 Days
00:28:56 - The Detox Symptoms Began
00:30:25 - Her Inflammation Markers Rose
00:31:24 - Why Triglycerides Changed
00:33:30 - What Fasting Can Do to Cholesterol
00:36:54 - Temporary Inflammation During Healing
00:39:11 - Healing Can Look Messy First
00:41:14 - What Her Toxin Testing Revealed
00:45:01 - How Insulin Shifted During the Fast
00:46:36 - The Possible Autophagy Turning Point
00:48:59 - What Happened to Her Liver Markers
This conversation offers a rare look at prolonged fasting through the experience of two physicians examining both the physical process and the laboratory data.
You’ll learn why rest may matter as much as not eating, why temporary lab changes can be misleading without context, and what Christy’s results suggest about the fear of losing muscle during a properly supervised fast.
Press play to hear the data that challenged the muscle-loss narrative.
Connect with Dr. Christy Kesslering: https://www.kessrx.com/
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DISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.
A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophagy, and detox, while weighing fasting benefits against chemo side effects and radiation side effects, sharing stories of a cancer survivor navigating chemotherapy, natural medicine, holistic healing, and even spiritual healing on the path toward cancer remission and holistic health.
