Hi Joshua/all
Thanks for putting this site together - I've spent the past couple of days working through the PR forum thread as well as the 3 papers and I am excited to try the protocol.
A few Q's - apologies if these are covered elsewhere:
1) I've had my 1st Pfizer dose about 3 weeks ago and here in the UK the 2nd dose will follow 8 weeks after the first (so in just over a month most likely). Is there any general advice on whether the protocol can be followed at the same time as the vaccine is administered or should the supplements/protocol be paused around the vaccine? Would it be problematic to start for say, 2 weeks and then have to pause for a while if so or would I be better off waiting until after the 2nd dose?
2) Is there any benefit to a shorter fast before starting the protocol if the 3+ day fast can't be achieved?
3) This may be a stupid question - Oat bran is a key component of the protocol due to the high beta-glucans content. I am already eating a fair amount of oats each day, do something like these contain the bran within the oats or would I need to be additionally supplementing with oat bran? https://www.realfoodsource.com/product/gluten-free-jumbo-porridge-oats-2-5kg-community-pack/
4) I was wondering if perhaps there would be any benefit if enough members have gone through testing to have a thread where people share their Nutreval/Genova ION/OAT results to see if there are any commonalities and which can then be compared again if people retest after attempting the protocol?
Thanks in advance
Hi and welcome to the community!
I'll answer as best I can -
1) I've seen different people pause beta-glucans and/or reishi during the vaccination windows and others that have not. Symptomatically, there was nothing remarkably different between the groups, however I don't believe anyone has had followup markers for antibodies, so YMMV. The vaccine is new. The protocol is new. There are a lot of unknowns overall. Hypothetically, increasing your immune response while training your immune system with a vaccine may be helpful, however I can't answer the question or refer you to any literature, at this stage.
2) Any fasting above 18 hours starts becoming useful. 36 hours is about where it all starts working. Time spent beyond that period is highly effective. I'd recommend checking out some of the fasting blogs, including Ian's, to get an idea of what you
may experience. I personally had an enjoyable time, however I'm comparatively healthier than most. People who are chronically ill may have very different experiences while that are "doing the work". Nausea. Headaches. Liver pain. Inflammation. All of the things you can expect later, as reported by people on the protocol, as those tissues are remediated. The enhanced fasting process is significantly more rapid and may test your resolve / tolerance. The early data suggests it's a very worthwhile process.
3) Beta-glucans in oats is around 1-2%, vs 6-8% in most oat bran. Due to the overall calorie and carbohydrate "load", the bran is significantly more appropriate to your goals. The flavour is perhaps sweeter than oats, so people might mix a small amount of oats for texture, etc with a large amount of oat bran, for a larger intake of beta-glucans. We still have may questions around beta-glucans overall.
4) I love the idea of posting biodata and establishing trends, patterns. If the community supports the idea, I'd set up an area to store and analyse the data.
Cheers,
Joshua