Discover the transformative power of Permaculture Engineering for your health and wellness. Our blog integrates the sustainable principles of permaculture with the transformative tools of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and the precision of engineering to create a holistic approach to well-being. We focus on People Care by providing strategies to enhance individual and community health, Earth Care through promoting regenerative practices that heal the planet, and Fair Share by sharing knowledge and resources equitably. Here, you’ll learn how to design your diet, lifestyle, and environment for optimal health using methods that are both effective and sustainable. From reframing your relationship with food to creating regenerative food systems, we offer practical strategies to enhance your physical, mental, and emotional health. Explore topics like: Regenerative Nutrition: How to eat in ways that support personal health and heal the earth, like using locally sourced, seasonal foods. Nature-Based Wellness: Discover the mental and physical benefits of spending time in permaculture-designed spaces, promoting stress relief and connection. Sustainable Fitness: Find low-impact, eco-friendly exercise routines inspired by nature, aligning with sustainable living.Holistic Health Practices: Integrate mind, body, and spirit through activities like mindfulness, gardening, and community building.Community Health: See how permaculture fosters stronger, healthier communities through shared resources and mutual support.Join us on this journey to thrive in harmony with nature and yourself. Whether you’re a seasoned permaculturist or new to sustainable living, our blog offers insights and inspiration to cultivate wellness through the lens of permaculture engineering. Start your path to a healthier, more balanced life today!
Elimination diets involve temporarily removing certain foods to identify triggers for health issues, and they may offer benefits for metabolic health and weight loss. Let’s explore how they can help, especially by reducing insulin production and its effects on aging and chronic diseases.
Benefits for Metabolic Health and Weight Loss: Elimination diets can stabilize blood sugar by cutting out high-glycemic foods like refined carbs and sugary drinks, which may lower insulin needs and improve sensitivity. This can aid weight loss, as insulin promotes fat storage, making it harder to burn fat when levels are high. By focusing on whole, nutrient-dense foods, these diets often reduce calorie intake naturally, supporting weight loss efforts.
Reducing Insulin Production and Its Effects: High insulin levels, or hyperinsulinemia, can lead to insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes, and may accelerate aging through inflammation and cellular damage. Lowering insulin via elimination diets might slow these processes, reducing risks of metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and diabetes.
Supporting Evidence: Doctors like Dr. Shelby Hoskins from Nebraska Medicine highlight that diets low in refined carbs can improve insulin resistance. Studies, such as a 2017 Nutrients article, show low-glycemic diets enhance insulin sensitivity, while a 2021 MDPI review links hyperinsulinemia to aging and chronic diseases.
Imagine waking up feeling lighter, sharper, and more vibrant, your body cleansed of cellular clutter, your metabolism humming, and your risk of chronic diseases diminished. At Green Pastures Permaculture, we believe in harnessing nature’s wisdom to transform health, and intermittent fasting (IF) paired with autophagy offers a powerful, drug-free approach to achieve this. Rooted in our Permaculture Engineering philosophy—blending sustainable permaculture principles, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques, and engineering precision—this blog post explores how IF and autophagy can revolutionize your well-being. By reducing insulin production, clearing toxins, and potentially slowing aging. Join us to discover the science, benefits, and practical steps, backed by expert insights and studies, to cultivate a healthier you and a thriving earth.
What Is Intermittent Fasting? Intermittent fasting is a dietary pattern that cycles between periods of eating and fasting, focusing not on what you eat but when. Popular methods include the 16/8 approach (fasting for 16 hours, eating within an 8-hour window) and the 5:2 diet (normal eating for five days, restricting calories to 500–600 for two). Unlike traditional diets, IF emphasizes timing to optimize metabolic processes, making it a flexible tool for health improvement. Fasting triggers a cascade of physiological changes, from fat burning to cellular repair, with autophagy being a standout process. By aligning eating patterns with the body’s natural rhythms
Understanding Autophagy: The Body’s Cellular Cleanup, Autophagy, from the Greek “auto” (self) and “phagy” (eating), is the body’s natural recycling system, where cells break down and repurpose damaged components like proteins, organelles, and pathogens. Discovered by Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, autophagy is essential for cellular homeostasis. Ohsumi’s groundbreaking work in the 1990s, using yeast cells, identified genes controlling this process, revealing its role across species in responding to stress, starvation, and disease (NobelPrize.org, 2016, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2016/press-release/). Here’s how autophagy works: when cells face stress—such as nutrient deprivation during fasting—they form double-membrane vesicles called autophagosomes. These engulf damaged or unnecessary components, fusing with lysosomes to degrade them into amino acids, fatty acids, and sugars. These building blocks are reused for energy or new cell parts, effectively “cleaning house.”
As Cleveland Clinic (2022) describes, autophagy is a “natural cleaning out process” that ramps up during fasting or exercise, ensuring cells remain efficient https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24058-autophagy.Autophagy is always active at a baseline level but surges during stressors like fasting, calorie restriction, or physical activity.
A 2016 study in Cell found that IF significantly increases autophagy in tissues like the liver, enhancing metabolic efficiency (https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)30060-4). This process aligns with our Earth Care ethic, mirroring nature’s ability to recycle resources for resilience.
Benefits of Intermittent Fasting and Autophagy: Weight Loss and Metabolic Health, IF is renowned for weight loss, largely due to its impact on insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar and promotes fat storage. During fasting, insulin levels drop, allowing the body to access stored fat for energy, a process called lipolysis. This shift from glucose to fat metabolism can lead to sustainable weight loss. A 2015 article in Medical News Today notes that diets lowering insulin facilitate fat loss, particularly in insulin-resistant individuals https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317702. Autophagy complements this by clearing cellular debris, improving mitochondrial function, and enhancing metabolic efficiency. A 2017 study in Nutrients found that low-glycemic diets, which align with IF’s principles, improve insulin sensitivity, especially in those with higher BMIs, supporting weight loss and metabolic health https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/8/873.
Dr. Shelby Hoskins, a diabetes educator at Nebraska Medicine (2023), emphasizes that reducing refined carbohydrates, a hallmark of IF-compatible eating, can improve insulin resistance, stating, “Following a diet lower in refined or simple carbohydrates can help your body better manage sugar levels” https://www.nebraskamed.com/diabetes/cutting-carbs-may-help-manage-type-2-diabetes. By stabilizing blood sugar and reducing insulin spikes, IF and autophagy create a metabolic environment conducive to fat loss and energy balance.
Cleaning Out Toxins: Autophagy is the body’s primary mechanism for clearing cellular toxins, such as damaged proteins, dysfunctional mitochondria, and pathogens, which can accumulate and cause inflammation or disease. Dr. Luiza Petre, a cardiologist cited by Healthline (2025), describes autophagy as “recycling and cleaning at the same time, like hitting a reset button,” removing toxins that contribute to cellular dysfunction https://www.healthline.com/health/autophagy.
A 2024 article from Diet vs Disease further explains that autophagy discards toxic waste and damaged cells, reducing the burden of oxidative stress and supporting overall health https://www.dietvsdisease.org/autophagy-body-cleanse/.This detoxification process has far-reaching benefits. By removing cellular debris, autophagy reduces inflammation, a key driver of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes. It also enhances immune function by targeting pathogens, such as bacteria like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as shown in a 2009 study in Cell Host & Microbe (https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(09)00255-7).
Slowing Premature Aging: High insulin levels, or hyperinsulinemia, accelerate aging through inflammation, oxidative stress, and cellular damage.
A 2021 review in MDPI highlights hyperinsulinemia’s role in disrupting the insulin-GH-IGF axis, promoting energy storage and hindering fat breakdown, which contributes to obesity and premature aging https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/15/7797. IF reduces insulin production, potentially slowing these processes. Blue Zones (2018) cites Ohsumi’s work, noting that autophagy’s ability to clear cellular damage may delay aging and reduce inflammation-related diseases like dementia https://www.bluezones.com/2018/10/fasting-for-health-and-longevity-nobel-prize-winning-research-on-cell-aging/.Autophagy’s anti-aging effects stem from its role in maintaining cellular health. By recycling damaged components, it prevents the accumulation of dysfunctional proteins that contribute to age-related decline.
A 2010 study in Neuron found that enhancing autophagy reduced amyloid-beta plaques in Alzheimer’s disease models, suggesting a protective role against neurodegenerative aging (https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(10)00055-5).
Preventing and Managing Chronic Diseases: Autophagy and IF show promise in preventing and managing chronic diseases, offering a drug-free path to health:
Type 2 Diabetes:
By lowering insulin levels and improving sensitivity, IF reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, characterized by insulin resistance and high blood sugar. A 2017 study in Diabetes Care found that low-glycemic diets, which complement IF, improve blood sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity, supporting diabetes prevention https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466941/. Dr. Hoskins reinforces this, noting that dietary strategies reducing insulin spikes are key for managing diabetes risk.
Cancer:
Autophagy has a dual role in cancer. It can suppress tumor formation by removing damaged cells. A 2011 review in Nature Reviews Cancer discusses this, suggesting that modulating autophagy could be a therapeutic strategy https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc3035. Dr. Roberta Gottlieb from Cedars-Sinai (2019) is exploring autophagy’s role in cancer and inflammation, highlighting its potential https://www.cedars-sinai.org/blog/autophagy.html.
Cardiovascular Disease:
Autophagy protects the heart by clearing damaged mitochondria, which contribute to cardiac dysfunction. A 2015 review in Circulation Research linked impaired autophagy to heart disease, suggesting that enhancing it through fasting could improve cardiovascular health https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.303189.
Neurodegenerative Disorders:
Autophagy clears protein aggregates associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases. The 2010 Neuron study demonstrated that increased autophagy reduced harmful plaques, offering a potential preventive strategy.
Infectious Diseases:
Autophagy enhances immunity by targeting pathogens, as shown in the 2009 Cell Host & Microbe study, which found it effective against bacteria like tuberculosis. This bolsters the body’s natural defenses, aligning with our holistic health approach.
These benefits reflect our Fair Share ethic, as healthier individuals contribute to stronger, more resilient communities. Integrating Permaculture Engineering At Green Pastures Permaculture, we weave IF and autophagy into our Permaculture Engineering framework, which combines sustainable practices with mindset shifts and practical systems. Our approach uses:
Regenerative Nutrition: IF pairs with diets featuring locally sourced, nutrient-dense foods, like those from permaculture gardens, to enhance autophagy’s benefits while supporting Earth Care.
Mindset Coaching: We employ techniques to reframe limiting beliefs, such as “fasting is too hard,” into empowering ones like “I can align my eating with my body’s needs.” This fosters resilience, aligning with our focus on empowering choices.
Engineering Precision: We design IF plans tailored to individual needs, troubleshooting barriers like hunger or scheduling, ensuring sustainable adoption.
This holistic integration ensures that IF and autophagy are not just health tools but part of a regenerative lifestyle that benefits both people and the earth.
Practical Steps to Start Intermittent Fasting: Ready to harness IF and autophagy? Here are practical steps to begin, grounded in our Permaculture Engineering approach:
Choose a Fasting Method:
16/8 Method: Fast for 16 hours, eat within an 8-hour window (e.g., 10 AM–6 PM). Ideal for beginners.
5:2 Diet: Eat normally for five days, restrict to 500–600 calories on two non-consecutive days.
Alternate-Day Fasting: Alternate water-only fasting days with normal eating days, suitable for experienced fasters.
Ease In Gradually:
Start with shorter fasting windows (e.g., 12 hours) to adapt, reducing hunger and fatigue. Healthline (2022) suggests gradual transitions for sustainability https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/signs-of-autophagy.
Focus on Nutrient-Dense Foods:
During eating windows, prioritize whole foods like colorful vegetables, fruits, proteins like eggs, fatty beef, organic chicken, or wild caught salmon, and healthy fats like avocado, butter, ghee, organic EV, organic beef tallow, and olive oil from reputable sources. Dr. Hoskins recommends avoiding refined carbs to maximize insulin benefits.
Avoid toxins:
Remove non-food ingredients from your diet, such as anything labeled artificial, polysorbate, any ingredient with a number next to it, and super concentrated sugars like maltodextrin, dextrose and high fructose corn syrup.
Stay Hydrated:
Drink water, herbal teas, or black coffee during fasting to support autophagy and reduce hunger, as noted in Cleveland Clinic (2022).
Monitor and Adapt:
Listen to your body, adjusting fasting duration or frequency based on energy levels. Our approach, inspired by the idea that “there is only feedback,” ensures continuous improvement.
Consult a Healthcare Provider:
Especially important for pregnant women, those with diabetes, or other conditions, as fasting may pose risks like nutrient deficiencies or hormonal imbalances (InsideTracker, 2024, https://www.insidetracker.com/a/articles/autophagy-fasting-what-you-should-know-before-starting).
Potential Risks and Considerations: While IF and autophagy offer significant benefits, they’re not universally suitable. Potential risks include:
Hunger and Fatigue: Initial fasting can cause discomfort, which our coaching helps reframe as temporary.
Nutrient Deficiencies: Prolonged fasting without nutritious eating may lead to deficiencies, as noted by Healthline (2022).
Hormonal Imbalances: Over-fasting can affect hormones, particularly in women, requiring careful monitoring.
Not for Everyone: Pregnant women, children, or those with certain medical conditions should avoid IF without medical guidance.
Our Permaculture Engineering approach mitigates these by offering tailored plans, ensuring flexibility and choice, much like permaculture’s adaptive systems.
The Science Behind the Benefits: The scientific evidence supporting IF and autophagy is robust, with key studies including:
Nutrients (2017): Low-glycemic diets improve insulin sensitivity, aiding weight loss and metabolic health https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/8/873.
Nature Reviews Cancer (2011): Autophagy’s dual role in cancer suggests therapeutic potential https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc3035.
Neuron (2010): Enhanced autophagy reduces Alzheimer’s plaques, supporting neuroprotection (https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(10)00055-5).
Circulation Research (2015): Autophagy protects against cardiac dysfunction, beneficial for heart health https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.303189.
Cell Host & Microbe (2009): Autophagy clears pathogens, enhancing immunity (https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(09)00255-7).
Cell (2016): IF increases autophagy, improving metabolic efficiency (https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(16)30060-4).
Diabetes Care (2017): Low-glycemic diets support diabetes prevention https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5466941/.
MDPI (2021): Hyperinsulinemia accelerates aging, mitigated by fasting https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/15/7797.
Expert voices amplify these findings:
Dr. Luiza Petre (Healthline, 2025): Describes autophagy as a cellular reset, crucial for detoxification.
Dr. Roberta Gottlieb (Cedars-Sinai, 2019): Explores autophagy’s role in cancer and inflammation.
Dr. Shelby Hoskins (Nebraska Medicine, 2023): Advocates reducing refined carbs for insulin management.
Why choose Green Pastures Permaculture? Our Permaculture Engineering approach integrates IF and autophagy into a broader framework of health and sustainability. Unlike generic fasting plans, we:
Personalize: Tailor fasting schedules to your lifestyle, ensuring ease and effectiveness.
Empower: Use mindset coaching to overcome barriers, reframing challenges as opportunities.
Sustain: Pair IF with regenerative nutrition from sources available to you, supporting both health and the earth.
Measure: Apply engineering precision to track progress, ensuring sustainable outcomes.
This approach reflects our commitment to Fair Share, sharing knowledge and resources to empower communities. Intermittent fasting and autophagy offer a transformative path to health, cleansing toxins, slowing aging, and preventing or reversing diseases like diabetes and cancer, as illuminated by Yoshinori Ohsumi’s Nobel Prize-winning work. At Green Pastures Permaculture, we guide you to integrate these practices into a regenerative lifestyle, fostering People Care, Earth Care, and Fair Share. Ready to start your journey? Visit www.foodwithoutpoison.com or contact [email protected] for a consultation. Embrace a vibrant, sustainable future today
The carnivore diet, consisting solely of animal products like meat, fish, eggs, and sometimes dairy, has gained attention for potential benefits in weight loss and insulin resistance. This blog post explores these effects, supported by scientific studies and real-world experiences, while acknowledging the controversy and need for further research.
Weight Loss Benefits: Research suggests the carnivore diet may promote weight loss by inducing ketosis, where the body burns fat for fuel due to low carbohydrate intake. Lower insulin levels, a hormone promoting fat storage, can facilitate fat burning. A 2014 study in Annals of Internal Medicine found low-carbohydrate diets led to greater weight loss than low-fat diets over 12 months. A 2021 survey of over 2,000 carnivore dieters reported significant weight loss, but as self-reported data, it lacks scientific rigor.
Insulin Resistance Improvements: It seems likely that reducing carbs can improve insulin sensitivity, as stable blood sugar levels lower insulin needs. A 2021 review in Frontiers in Nutrition showed low-carbohydrate diets enhance glycemic control in type 2 diabetes. The Harvard Carnivore Diet Study found many diabetic participants reducing or eliminating medication, though self-reported.
The carnivore diet, consisting exclusively of animal products like meat, fish, eggs, and sometimes dairy, excludes all plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. It has gained popularity for claimed benefits in weight loss and insulin resistance, often promoted by figures like Dr. Shawn Baker and Mikhaila Peterson. However, its restrictive nature raises concerns about long-term sustainability and health risks. Web searches for “carnivore diet benefits for weight loss and insulin resistance” and “carnivore diet scientific studies weight loss insulin resistance” revealed insights from sources like PMC, Healthline, Verywell Health, WebMD, BiotiQuest, Dr. Kiltz’s website, Mastering Diabetes, Texas Real Food, and Reddit, published between 2011 and 2025, ensuring relevance.Defining the Carnivore DietThe carnivore diet is an eating pattern mimicking ancestral hunter-gatherer diets, focusing on:
Meat: Beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and organ meats.
Fish and Seafood: Salmon, tuna, shrimp.
Eggs: From chickens or other fowl.
Dairy (optional): Some versions allow butter, cheese, or yogurt, though strict forms exclude these.
It excludes all plant-based foods, aiming to eliminate potentially harmful compounds like lectins or oxalates, focusing on nutrient-dense animal foods rich in protein, fats, and vitamins. WebMD (2024) describes it as claiming benefits for weight loss, heart health, and blood sugar control, though evidence is limited.
Weight Loss on the Carnivore Diet: Weight loss is a primary draw, driven by the diet’s elimination of carbohydrates, forcing ketosis, where the body burns fat for fuel.
How It Works
Ketosis and Fat Burning: Low carbohydrate intake depletes glycogen stores, prompting ketone production from fat, suppressing appetite and promoting fat loss. Healthline (2024) notes this shift reduces hunger, aiding weight loss.
Reduced Insulin Levels: Insulin promotes fat storage; minimizing carbs lowers insulin, facilitating fat access. Dr. Kiltz (2024) explains that cutting carbs resets insulin response, aiding weight loss [[invalid url, do not cite]].
Initial Water Loss: Rapid early weight loss often results from glycogen depletion, releasing stored water, as noted in BiotiQuest (2024).
Scientific Evidence
A 2014 study in Annals of Internal Medicine compared low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets over 12 months, finding low-carb participants lost more weight and reduced body fat [1]. While not specific to carnivore, it supports the mechanism.
A 2021 survey of over 2,000 carnivore dieters, cited in WebMD and Dr. Kiltz’s site, reported significant weight loss (20-50+ pounds), but as self-reported, it lacks scientific rigor. Dr. Kiltz’s “Harvard Carnivore Diet Study” details 2,029 participants, median age 44, with 93% starting for health and weight loss, but it’s a survey, not a controlled trial.
Limitations: The lack of controlled, long-term studies specific to carnivore diets means these benefits are inferred from low-carb diet research, with anecdotal evidence filling gaps.
Insulin Resistance and the Carnivore Diet: Insulin resistance, where cells fail to respond to insulin, leads to high blood sugar and type 2 diabetes risk. The carnivore diet’s carb elimination may improve sensitivity.
How It Might Help
Lowering Blood Sugar and Insulin: Removing carbs stabilizes blood sugar, reducing insulin needs, potentially resetting sensitivity. Texas Real Food (2024) notes low-carb diets improve insulin sensitivity, allowing better glucose utilization.
Resetting Insulin Response: For prediabetes or diabetes, reduced insulin exposure may help, similar to ketogenic diets, as per BiotiQuest (2024).
Scientific Evidence
A 2021 narrative review in Frontiers in Nutrition found low-carbohydrate diets improve glycemic control and reduce diabetes medication needs in type 2 diabetes. While not carnivore-specific, it supports the mechanism.
The 2021 Harvard Carnivore Diet Study reported many diabetic participants reducing or eliminating medication, but self-reported, not verified. Healthline (2022) notes some diabetics benefit, but experts caution against it.
Potential Mechanisms of Action, The transformative effects can be attributed to several biological mechanisms:
Ketosis: As mentioned, ketosis shifts fuel source to fat, aiding weight loss and providing steady energy, potentially reducing fatigue and improving mental clarity.
Improved Insulin Sensitivity: Minimizing carbs reduces insulin secretion, allowing cells to become more responsive, regulating blood sugar and reducing diabetes risk.
Gut Microbiota Changes: The diet may alter gut microbiota, influencing metabolism and weight regulation, though more studies are needed.
Reduced Inflammation: Some argue eliminating plant foods reduces exposure to inflammatory compounds, though evidence is anecdotal.
Real-World Experiences, Many report transformative changes:
A participant in the Harvard study shared, “I was able to get off all my diabetes medications within three months. My blood sugar is now stable, and I’ve lost 30 pounds.”
Improved mental health and energy levels are common, though anecdotal.