WARNING! The following article is purely for information purposes and the author will abstain (almost totally) from any comments, both positive and negative, on the intermittent fasting system aimed at weight loss and increasing muscle mass.
For some time now there has been a total reversal of the currents of thought as regards the principles of weight loss and the bases of muscular anabolism.
Classic approach
Food-induced thermogenesis
The fundamentals of "traditional" dietetics suggest losing weight also taking advantage of the specific dynamic action of foods (ADS), or energy expenditure attributable to digestive, absorption and metabolic processes.
In practice, for the same number of calories introduced, increasing the breakdown of meals makes it possible to burn more energy to process them. This makes it possible to reduce the time spans "on an empty stomach" avoiding "hunger" and keeping the metabolism fast.
Cortisol and Thyroid Hormones
Some argue that this practice also favors the containment of an unwanted hormone, cortisol (also called the "stress" hormone) and the maintenance of thyroid function (TSH and T3). Obviously, this system works as long as the caloric amount, the nutritional distribution and the glycemic load-indexes of the meals are appropriate.
Prevent Catabolism
At the same time, in the context of muscle growth, it is (or was) a common opinion that to favor anabolism it was necessary to "feed" continuously (and "as much as possible", avoiding the adiposity increase) muscle fibrocells, in order to cancel any form of catabolism and promote proteosynthesis, ESPECIALLY thanks to insulin stimulation.
Yet, today someone disputes!
What is Intermittent Fasting
Recently, a totally opposite slimming system is proposed (in "a thousand sauces") which, according to rumors, produces excellent results: intermittent fasting . This principle is already highly inflated and, to tell the truth, rather confusing. We pass from the "caveman diet", which includes a huge binge with one or two days of fasting, to the more reasoned "16/8 system" (where 16 are the hours of fasting and 8 those in which 2 or 3 are consumed meals).
The cardinal principle of intermittent fasting is to create a "window" (time frame) of fasting with a duration that affects the overall caloric balance and hormonal metabolism.
How does it work
It seems that in conditions of food abstinence, in addition to a total insulin calm (we recall that insulin is the anabolic hormone par excellence but also responsible for the adipose deposit) we are witnessing a significant increase in another rather "interesting" hormone: l 'IGF-1 or somatomedin (some also mention an increase in testosterone).
The long food deprivation is then responsible for the secretion of GH (somatotropin), also called "growth hormone" or, more sympathetically, "wellness hormone". Unlike insulin, GH, while increasing hypertrophy, does not cause adipose deposits, but the opposite! In other words, it favors the lipolysis necessary for weight loss. In practice, GH improves body composition "in the round".
Always in body-building, to increase muscle and decrease fat, it is essential to periodize diet and training by pursuing one and then the other goal separately; today, since intermittent fasting improves body composition bilaterally (by increasing muscle mass and losing weight), it seems to be the only true solution to all problems.
Example
Totally avoiding citing bibliographical sources of doubtful reliability (and seriousness), I will describe below the most interesting and undoubtedly best apt variant that I could read (and I apologize to the author for not quoting it but, in the absence of official data, I preferred to remain vague).
First of all I emphasize that:
although the window of fasting is exploited, the remaining meals CANNOT be consumed in freedom; moreover, to maximize the results of weight loss (and obviously those of increased muscle mass) it is always NECESSARY to perform the right physical activity .
The protocol differs in 3 daily meals and 1 training session with a fasting window of 16 hours.
- 1st meal to be consumed as soon as you get up: protein source and medium-low glycemic index carbohydrates; low fat
- 2nd meal - breakfast: complete
- Training (bodybuilding or high-intensity training)
- 3rd meal (to be carried out IMMEDIATELY after training) - lunch: complete
- Fasting window from about 13:00 or around 15:00 until the following morning.
Obviously the system can be adapted to the lifestyle of the subject, but I personally believe that this is the best.
The Nutritionist's comment
As anticipated, I will not comment on the system because (in my opinion) it is a method that is still very young and innovative, and therefore subject to distortions. On the other hand, it is not necessary to have a degree to understand that this strategy can be extremely difficult and, for many, totally impractical; there is also a small "non-educative" vein on the approach to nutrition and numerous nutritional gaps (in terms of rations recommending nutrients).
However, when one enters the realm of physical culture, it is now established that the common tendency is to give greater importance to hunting objectives (understood as aesthetic results) than to "health aims".
Numerous metabolic optimization theses are continuously disseminated to support intermittent fasting: reduction of triglycerides, improvement of insulin sensitivity, reduction of cholesterolemia, etc. Personally, I do not intend to go too far in commenting on the results that can be obtained in terms of increasing muscle mass, since I believe that it is a variable to be fully analyzed with practice (even if I leave the honor to other braver ones); but with regard to the metabolic implications mentioned above I simply say: "... and God forbid! 3 controlled meals, of which two are secondary and only one main meal a day, followed by 16 hours of fasting (at best) they can only benefit an overweight subject ... as long as he resists torture! "
