As a low-carb eater, I recently tried adding a noticeable amount of carbohydrates to my refeed (via beets, potatoes, and buckwheat). and you know, I felt pretty good - there was no cold, which usually overtakes me after the first meal, I felt energized and at the same time calm (usually these states are incompatible). Slept even better than when I was fasting(probably the time when I sleep the most soundly).
In this regard, I became enthusiastic about experimenting with carbs a little earlier than I had planned.
Therefore, will raise the question of the appropriateness of combining the raypeat diet and IF.
Ive already had experience with such diet. Been eating like this for 2 years without realizing it (came intuitively, just because I felt good), but nevertheless.
it was a small amount of fat, mainly from dairy products, moderate protein, from dairy/eggs/fish, an absolute absence of PUFAs and a large amount of carbohydrates from sweets, cereals, fruits, etc.
Switched to keto after facing candida overgrowth.
AFAIK, Ray Peat does not recommend intermittent fasting because it slows down the metabolism.
However, back then I ate no more than 2 meals a day - early and late in the morning. and it seemed like everything was fine.
But it's worth considering that at that time I was a very inactive person, due to the specifics of my job and lifestyle.
Now I am much more active and I have to deal with quite large amounts of physical labor on a daily basis.
So, how good do you guys think it would be to combine this kind of eating with OMAD?
Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
In my experience with that, your stress and caffeine tolerance in the fasting part of the day is lowered significantly, if you are running on carbs.
Fully ketogenic or carnivore is a wholly different story and (feels) much easier.
FWIW, the Renegade Diet is very aligned with what you described. Flexible IF part, one small meal, one major meal with appropriate carb amount for goals. They seem to sustain it well.
Tim Berzins from Amplified Vitality does something similar, but has small amounts of fruit throughout the day to keep glycogen topped up, and then one larger meal at night.
Fully ketogenic or carnivore is a wholly different story and (feels) much easier.
FWIW, the Renegade Diet is very aligned with what you described. Flexible IF part, one small meal, one major meal with appropriate carb amount for goals. They seem to sustain it well.
Tim Berzins from Amplified Vitality does something similar, but has small amounts of fruit throughout the day to keep glycogen topped up, and then one larger meal at night.
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
Hmm, thanks for the tip, it sounds really similar.
Also, while searching for information about renegade, I found something median between my current regime and the aforementioned diet, the "Warrior diet".
20:4 fasting with several courses of food with short breaks in between, courses are moving from more digestible to less foods.
It doesnt restricts macros much, afaik.
And i think this is really something I would like to implement for now - a median option between no carbs and a high-carb diet, which would get advantages from both sides.
Its been just a couple of days with a small intake of carbs, and Ive already noticed a huge simplification in thermoregulation.
Yesterday it was -30 Celsius in the morning and wind. I ran in a t-shirt, feeling no discomfort - even my hands remained warm.
Remembering myself, not so long ago, trying much harder to keep warm when running at -25, this is a pretty good improvement.
also, comparing the daytime, when I was also wearing a t-shirt, with what it was before, I can note that it looks like less energy is spent on thermoregulation and it is easier for me to move without taking a break.
There was also no usual trouble, when I went into a warm place from the cold, I felt like ice and when I came back out, returned to normal.
Id clearly like to keep it.
However, Im not sure how bad it would be to just add some carbs to a keto-like diet.
yesterday I tried adding honey, around 100g (it felt fine), instead of buckwheat, ate with cheese and beetroot.
Was less calm than usual at night, and I definitely felt the increased hr. there was also some anxiety getting up to drink.
I'm not sure what exactly this is related to.
Yannick mentions increasing the amount of protein and fat before bedtime, as well as avoiding long fasting during this time, in an article on glucose oxidation, in the "Bad Sleep" section.
I obviously have enough protein and fat in my diet and there only were 2 hrs before i went to bed, so dont think it will help. An increase of salt intake is also mentioned.
I ate a rather unsalted meal, because I somehow forgot about salt after refeed.
so maybe this will help.
It was the same at the time when I broke keto a bit, the only difference is that it happens noticeably later in the day.
Well, it definitely requires more experience and comparisons. so I'll continue, I think such approach may has its advantages.
At a minimum, in theory, stress levels should decrease, while avoiding severe losses in fat adaptation.
Also, while searching for information about renegade, I found something median between my current regime and the aforementioned diet, the "Warrior diet".
20:4 fasting with several courses of food with short breaks in between, courses are moving from more digestible to less foods.
It doesnt restricts macros much, afaik.
And i think this is really something I would like to implement for now - a median option between no carbs and a high-carb diet, which would get advantages from both sides.
Its been just a couple of days with a small intake of carbs, and Ive already noticed a huge simplification in thermoregulation.
Yesterday it was -30 Celsius in the morning and wind. I ran in a t-shirt, feeling no discomfort - even my hands remained warm.
Remembering myself, not so long ago, trying much harder to keep warm when running at -25, this is a pretty good improvement.
also, comparing the daytime, when I was also wearing a t-shirt, with what it was before, I can note that it looks like less energy is spent on thermoregulation and it is easier for me to move without taking a break.
There was also no usual trouble, when I went into a warm place from the cold, I felt like ice and when I came back out, returned to normal.
Id clearly like to keep it.
However, Im not sure how bad it would be to just add some carbs to a keto-like diet.
yesterday I tried adding honey, around 100g (it felt fine), instead of buckwheat, ate with cheese and beetroot.
Was less calm than usual at night, and I definitely felt the increased hr. there was also some anxiety getting up to drink.
I'm not sure what exactly this is related to.
Yannick mentions increasing the amount of protein and fat before bedtime, as well as avoiding long fasting during this time, in an article on glucose oxidation, in the "Bad Sleep" section.
I obviously have enough protein and fat in my diet and there only were 2 hrs before i went to bed, so dont think it will help. An increase of salt intake is also mentioned.
I ate a rather unsalted meal, because I somehow forgot about salt after refeed.
so maybe this will help.
I havent noticed a significant difference yet. I mean.. I can feel the moment when glycogen comes to an end, as this is accompanied by a small hunger strike for a short time and some changes in feelings after a while. nevertheless, I keep going no less smoothly, or sometimes even better.your stress and caffeine tolerance in the fasting part of the day is lowered significantly, if you are running on carbs.
It was the same at the time when I broke keto a bit, the only difference is that it happens noticeably later in the day.
Well, it definitely requires more experience and comparisons. so I'll continue, I think such approach may has its advantages.
At a minimum, in theory, stress levels should decrease, while avoiding severe losses in fat adaptation.
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
Looks like someone is already doing so: https://www.reddit.com/r/carnivorediet/ ... nt/guw9b64
Id probably, however, also add some kind of vitamin c source among with carbs
Id probably, however, also add some kind of vitamin c source among with carbs
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
The improvements in thermoregulation and calm alertness that you reported are interesting, indicating that your body didn't lose most of its ability to use the carbs yet.Many long-term keto dieters have a very horrible time bringing back carbs initially. Yes, Ray Peat discouraged fasting, and I agree that intermittent fasting is ridiculous. I wish I never did it for 15 years, but it was my way of self-medicating without understanding bioenergetics. But let's not lump short-term dry fasts into that. They have miraculous therapeutic benefits. I personally believe that Ray messed up on fasting benefits and he could have helped his 10-year lung condition with it.While I do believe the idea that the body utilizes energy to heal, and high energy is high healing, this doesn't apply to everything because then Ray wouldn't have had those problems. And side note, dry fasting is extremely effective at dealing with lung problems. The anti-edema effects are unique and the lungs have a hard time removing mucus and wet buildup, but the dry fast creates an environment that sucks it all up. Pair that with anti-inflammatory effects which allow you to breathe, it's very powerful for lung conditions. I wish Ray Peat knew about it.Regarding the anxiety and heart rate spikes after consuming honey at night: there's an issue here when your body is in the transition stage. When you feed it glucose it tries to run on carbs for energy and slows down gluconeogenesis, then when it keeps jumping between both states it has trouble until you retrain your body's glucose systems, example: liver storage total capacity. It's going to take a while but the more days you do carbs the larger the liver storage capacity will be and its ability to better quickly regulate glucose using glycogen. Right now you can experience night-time issues when it runs out and the body panics trying to switch systems from glucose to ketone/gluconeogenesis.
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
has this led to any negative consequences?I wish I never did it for 15 years, but it was my way of self-medicating without understanding bioenergetics.
I remember your article criticizing IF, but its almost completely inconsistent with what Ive been observing for a long time.
Started a form of intermittent fasting around the age of 11 or 12, maybe, when I was given more freedom to manage my time. since then, Ive rarely eaten more then 2 times in daily life, with a food window of no more than, probably, 8 hours. And with age, it got smaller, because I had more things to do. I didn't know what IF was, it was just convenient for me. As long-term eater, i prefer a calm environment without circumstances rushing me when I eat.
I remember the story from the mentioned article about some folk who adheres to omad, after which he faced weight gain, fatigue, etc.
But this ccannot be related only to the diet schedule, especially weight gain. it clearly depends on the diet, metabolic state.
The same goes for inulin resistance.
this is more about low-carb diets then IF itself.
During the period mentioned in the original post, I was able to safely consume large number of things with a fairly high GI, without meat, fiber or anything like that.
Imagine about 600 grams of buckwheat honey consumed with unsweetened tea in ~40 minutes.
At that time, I was definitely overwhelmed by hyperactivity, but it was the only problem.
Yes, seems like it was a one-time thing, and my sleep has only improved since then.there's an issue here when your body is in the transition stage.
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
It seems the body can survive on IF and keto for very long (years and years), I mean im sure ancestors had to live like this in various situations, especially winters when you didn't have agriculture. I was insulin resistant at a young age from incredible stressful period in my life. Later on I realized that keto was the only way that I felt clear. But this translated over time to worse and worse glucose utilization, so i naturally started getting more keto and then eventually had to bring in IF (cortisol and stress hormones, let's go!), which continued the progression. I felt fine but my body was making cuts in the background. My immune system was one of the cuts, which together with a covid infection and extreme stress gave me what people call long covid. the virus knocked my body into the absolute pits of hell and I started quickly descending into a bedbound state where I would nearly faint and have heart attacks from any type of exercise. This is now a common theme in people I work with, and they've been abandoned by doctors because blood tests come back perfect. So my focus is on these types of illnesses, and they are very deep. But anyone can read them and use them, because they trickle down even to people who have milder illnesses. In fact, sometimes it's overkill, but it fixes nearly everyone when done properly.meow wrote: Mon Jan 05, 2026 11:02 pmhas this led to any negative consequences?I wish I never did it for 15 years, but it was my way of self-medicating without understanding bioenergetics.
I remember your article criticizing IF, but its almost completely inconsistent with what Ive been observing for a long time.
Started a form of intermittent fasting around the age of 11 or 12, maybe, when I was given more freedom to manage my time. since then, Ive rarely eaten more then 2 times in daily life, with a food window of no more than, probably, 8 hours. And with age, it got smaller, because I had more things to do. I didn't know what IF was, it was just convenient for me. As long-term eater, i prefer a calm environment without circumstances rushing me when I eat.
I remember the story from the mentioned article about some folk who adheres to omad, after which he faced weight gain, fatigue, etc.
But this ccannot be related only to the diet schedule, especially weight gain. it clearly depends on the diet, metabolic state.
The same goes for inulin resistance.
this is more about low-carb diets then IF itself.
During the period mentioned in the original post, I was able to safely consume large number of things with a fairly high GI, without meat, fiber or anything like that.
Imagine about 600 grams of buckwheat honey consumed with unsweetened tea in ~40 minutes.
At that time, I was definitely overwhelmed by hyperactivity, but it was the only problem.
Yes, seems like it was a one-time thing, and my sleep has only improved since then.there's an issue here when your body is in the transition stage.
Re: Combine Ray Peat diet with IF ?
I'll leave a small update if it helps someone.
After a week, everything only improved:
reaction speed, athletic performance, and mental abilities.
I began to process events quickly, not by excluding details, but by processing the entire information.
Weight management has also been significantly simplified. On keto, during busy periods, I quickly lost weight to uncomfortable levels. Right now, I'm either staying in place or dropping slightly.
A week later, because my libido was still off, I tried aspirin and glycine, 2g ang 3g before meals.
And after 2 days, I felt significant changes:
first of all, the mentioned problem has been solved.
secondly, I finally felt free.
No more strings, no more command-action loops !
When switching to keto, I had to learn to think anew.
if before that, everything was like that.. intuitively. I felt like I was surfing through my thoughts, the inner voice always went "second thread", never stopping, then after that I was faced with complete silence. At first, I literally couldnt function, couldn't properly set a goal and implement it. It was really hard for me to even put my clothes on in the morning.
I fully adapted after about 3 months, but it was terrible in comparision, anyway.
I was finally able to love sedentary work and coding again.
With the switch to keto, it seemed very bad, I felt like my brain was hurting.
SPD has also fully entered the domain.
mild hallucinations after stress, some peculiarities in behavior and thinking. I loved the latter about myself, nevertheless. I finally feel like myself. It was also one of the things that keto took away.
The depressive moods did not return.
I have resumed contacts with a bunch of friends that I stopped due to "inefficiency" a year ago, in general, my life has become many times better than it probably ever was.
Also want to warn you guys against sweets with PUFA. This is really what brings me to my knees.
just 5 candies, no more than 20 grams each, with "confectionery fat", gave me symptoms of low acidity, an upset stomach, and a temperature between 39 and 40 for 1.5 days.
Propolis, betaine, and ACV helped, and I felt good the next day.
later, I repeated the experiment with regular olive oil, separated from sugar. I also felt worse than usual for the next 2 days, but not as critically.
And answering the question posed in the original post about the semantics of IF in connection with such a diet: everything is quite compatible.
In the morning, I feel a little more tense than I would like, but not critically. after running, it goes away and I work smoothly all day.
It seems that the livers ability to accumulate glycogen has improved significantly, at least I dont feel hungry and stressed in the middle of the day anymore.
about 2 hours before eating, I become a little less calm and very strong physically, the feelings are similar to those im dryfasting for, but also with real strength, not just a feeling of it.
Many thanks to Yannick for his work, I had already lost hope that someday I would be able to return to this level of energy !
After a week, everything only improved:
reaction speed, athletic performance, and mental abilities.
I began to process events quickly, not by excluding details, but by processing the entire information.
Weight management has also been significantly simplified. On keto, during busy periods, I quickly lost weight to uncomfortable levels. Right now, I'm either staying in place or dropping slightly.
A week later, because my libido was still off, I tried aspirin and glycine, 2g ang 3g before meals.
And after 2 days, I felt significant changes:
first of all, the mentioned problem has been solved.
secondly, I finally felt free.
No more strings, no more command-action loops !
When switching to keto, I had to learn to think anew.
if before that, everything was like that.. intuitively. I felt like I was surfing through my thoughts, the inner voice always went "second thread", never stopping, then after that I was faced with complete silence. At first, I literally couldnt function, couldn't properly set a goal and implement it. It was really hard for me to even put my clothes on in the morning.
I fully adapted after about 3 months, but it was terrible in comparision, anyway.
I was finally able to love sedentary work and coding again.
With the switch to keto, it seemed very bad, I felt like my brain was hurting.
SPD has also fully entered the domain.
mild hallucinations after stress, some peculiarities in behavior and thinking. I loved the latter about myself, nevertheless. I finally feel like myself. It was also one of the things that keto took away.
The depressive moods did not return.
I have resumed contacts with a bunch of friends that I stopped due to "inefficiency" a year ago, in general, my life has become many times better than it probably ever was.
Also want to warn you guys against sweets with PUFA. This is really what brings me to my knees.
just 5 candies, no more than 20 grams each, with "confectionery fat", gave me symptoms of low acidity, an upset stomach, and a temperature between 39 and 40 for 1.5 days.
Propolis, betaine, and ACV helped, and I felt good the next day.
later, I repeated the experiment with regular olive oil, separated from sugar. I also felt worse than usual for the next 2 days, but not as critically.
And answering the question posed in the original post about the semantics of IF in connection with such a diet: everything is quite compatible.
In the morning, I feel a little more tense than I would like, but not critically. after running, it goes away and I work smoothly all day.
It seems that the livers ability to accumulate glycogen has improved significantly, at least I dont feel hungry and stressed in the middle of the day anymore.
about 2 hours before eating, I become a little less calm and very strong physically, the feelings are similar to those im dryfasting for, but also with real strength, not just a feeling of it.
Many thanks to Yannick for his work, I had already lost hope that someday I would be able to return to this level of energy !