Balanced article in the Guardian
Posted: 28 Jan 2015, 01:03
A forum for the 5:2 Diet and Intermittent Fasting
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https://forum.fastday.com/5-2-diet-chat-f6/balanced-article-in-the-guardian-t13766.html
barbarita wrote: Yes, interesting replies. Such emotive languages from the "anti"s. Fasting is "starving" and eating a nice big meal is "binging". Sorry, I don't do either. I postpone and then I have enough to eat.
CandiceMarie wrote: ... i also read somewhere yesterday that the body won't use muscle for fuel if you ensure you don't go more than 300-500 cals below your TDEE on most days x
peebles wrote: The idea advanced at the end of the article, that muscle consumed by fasting will come back stronger is UTTER B-S. Sorry. But there are plenty of dieters in the world, especially those who dieted with low fat/low protein diets who lose significant muscle during their diets. And follow up studies only show that they pack on more FAT going forward, not muscle.
Losing lean muscle tissue is very bad for dieters. We know a lot about starvation from studies of people who have survived famines and mostly what we find is that their children and grandchildren have altered metabolisms as a result of the parent's fasting/starvation.
peebles wrote:CandiceMarie wrote: ... i also read somewhere yesterday that the body won't use muscle for fuel if you ensure you don't go more than 300-500 cals below your TDEE on most days x
This is not true. What determines whether you will burn muscle is very simple. If you don't take in enough carbs from eating your body still needs glucose to maintain blood sugar at a safe level. It turns to stored glycogen, the form in which the body stores carbohydrate. Glycogen is found in your liver and muscles. Most people have about 2 days worth stored, but this varies from person to person. If you are eating low carb, you have already burnt off most or all of your available stored glycogen.
Once the available glycogen is gone, your liver can transform protein into glucose, and does, at a ratio of 58%. That means 58% of the protein turns into glucose. If you have eaten enough protein, it will convert your dietary protein into glucose. If you haven't, your muscles start to break down to supply the needed protein. You don't get to choose which muscle, and the heart muscle is among those that are broken down.
This is one reason why people die of anorexia, even after they are refed, because they damage their hearts.
This is also why it is really important that the calories you eat on a fast day include enough protein to both repair muscle (the usual daily protein requirment), and the extra protein needed to replace glucose if you have depleted your glycogen.
Prolonged fasting---those four day fasts will deplete glygocen completely and MUST consume muscle too, because once the glycogen is gone your body has two choices, turn muscle into glucose or have blood sugar drop to 20 mg/dl, a level where you go unconscious and can die.