How intermittent fasting affects muscle mass

1. What is intermittent fasting?

2. Full-day fasting

3. Fasted every other day

4. Food at a certain time

5. Does it even affect how intermittent fasting affects muscle mass?

6. Summary

1. What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is the definition of several nutritional strategies that are based on fasting for a specific time.

2. Full-day fasting

i.e. complete abstinence from eating for 12 days and taking any amount of food on the remaining days; the second option is to limit your meals on the days of fasting.

3. Fasted every other day

(alternate-day fasting; ADF), which consists of maintaining calorie restrictions (about 25% of energy consumption) or complete abstinence from eating meals every other day; on other days meals should be consumed as desired;.

4. Food at a certain time

Time-restricted eating (TRE), during the nutritional window during which food is allowed to be consumed, is usually 48 hours per day, however this is an individual matter and should be tailored to your lifestyle and preferences; it is suggested to limit this time to 13 meals.

5. Does it even affect how intermittent fasting affects muscle mass?

Each of the forms of intermittent fasting affects the availability of insulin and amino acids to a certain extent. Amino acids play a key role in accelerating the process of muscle protein synthesis, whereas insulin prevents protein degradation in the body. Fasting for only two days can lead to anabolic resistance, i.e. reduced muscle ability to synthesize muscle proteins in response to reduced physical and fatty acids.

6. Summary

Intermittent fasting is a dietary strategy that consists of fasting for a strictly defined period of time. We can distinguish between full-day fasting, post-secondary fasting and eating during the nutrition window. The current state of knowledge and available scientific research suggests that the use of interrupted fasting can adversely affect protein circulation in the human diet. This variation is not as significant as, for example, the total protein intake with diet, but in the long term, it can play a significant role. Interrupt fasting should be used to reduce body weight.