Dr. Pradip Jamnadas: How fasting erases visceral fat

A protruding belly with relatively lean limbs strongly suggests insulin resistance and high background insulin, even if blood sugar and HbA1c are normal. Chronic hyperinsulinemia promotes fatty liver, visceral fat around organs (including the heart and pancreas), vessel wall thickening, vasoconstriction, clot‑prone blood and systemic inflammation. By the time overt diabetes is diagnosed, most patients already have coronary artery disease; the real window for prevention is the 5–10 years of high insulin before blood sugar rises.

Calorie restriction alone triggers metabolic slowdown and loss of both fat and muscle. In contrast, fasting allows insulin to fall, depletes glycogen in ~12 hours, then preferentially mobilizes visceral fat for fuel. This drives ketone production, which improves brain function, reduces oxidative stress, boosts growth hormone, mobilizes stem and endothelial progenitor cells, and triggers autophagy/mitophagy to renew cellular parts. Structured fasting like 12:12 → 18:6, OMAD, periodic 36–72 hour or supervised prolonged fasts can reverse diabetes, normalize blood pressure and dramatically reduce belly fat.

Eating every 2–3 hours—especially refined carbs, sugars, juices, white flour products, and low‑fiber processed foods—keeps insulin elevated for most of the day. Over years, cells desensitize to insulin (insulin resistance), forcing the pancreas to produce more insulin to control blood sugar. Even when labs appear ‘normal’, this high‑insulin environment is already damaging arteries, promoting visceral fat, fatty liver and plaque formation. Shifting to less frequent meals, real foods with intact fiber, and reducing fast‑absorbing carbs is essential to lower basal insulin.

A dysfunctional microbiome and compromised intestinal barrier allow bacterial wall fragments (lipopolysaccharides) and other gut contents into the bloodstream, first hitting the liver via the portal vein. This promotes fatty liver and systemic inflammation. Causes include low‑fiber diets, excess sugar, certain food sensitivities (e.g., gluten/celiac), alcohol, and toxins. Improving gut health with high fiber (including supplemental inulin+FOS), diverse vegetables and spices, fermented foods (like kefir), adequate sleep, and stress control can flatten coronary calcium progression and reduce inflammatory markers.

Jamnadas reports that a large proportion of his patients test high for pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and mold toxins. About 70% of homes show some mold from water damage or damp areas; mold can colonize the gut and sinuses and continuously reinoculate the body, driving low‑grade inflammation and worsening coronary disease. Identifying and remediating environmental mold, minimizing chemical exposures (yard chemicals, plastics, contaminated foods), and supporting liver and gut detoxification can measurably reduce inflammatory markers and slow arterial plaque progression.