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Does Intermittent Fasting Slow Metabolism

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Brew A Caffeinated Cup Of Coffee

Intermittent fasting- Does it work or does it slow metabolism?

Coffee is one of the best drinks for weight loss because it boosts your metabolism. A study published in the journal Food Science and Biotechnology found that caffeine revs the sympathetic nervous system and increases lipolysis . A cup of black coffee is a good pre-workout beverage, too: Researchers found that cyclists who took a caffeine supplement were able to ride about a mile farther than those who took a placebo. Make yours a venti and skip the sweeteners.

Bottom Line: Fasting Does Work

When it comes to fasting, theres a sweet spot. Well tell you more about what that looks like in the coming chapters. For now, just know this: Fast too intensely or for too long? Folks fall apart.

Get it just right, however, and people can experience a wide range of benefits, ranging from improved fat loss to better health.

In the next chapter, well explore those benefits in depth.

Intermittent fasting: The basics

What Other Stressors Are You Missing

Like we mentioned, fasting is a physiological stressor like any other and many people are going to react differently to stress.

  • If youre more fat adapted then youll experience less stress from food deprivation.
  • If youre less emotionally resilient, then youll interpret the fast emotionally as more stressful than it actually is, thus releasing more glucocorticoids.
  • If youre not sleeping enough youll be more tired, more insulin resistant, and prone to storing food as fat.
  • If youre not getting certain nutrients youll have less serotonin, which will disrupt the HPA axis even more and makes you prone to being anxious which will then again reinforce the feedback loop.

As you can see, there are many things that determine what your metabolic rate is going to be like and how many calories you have to eat to maintain your bodys functioning.

You have to know whether or not fasting is an additional stressor that exceeds the positive beneficial hormetic zone or are you simply under-adapted to a specific type of a fasting protocol.

Also Check: Intermittent Fasting Blood Sugar Levels Chart

What Are The Factors That Affect Metabolism

  • Body size and composition:Muscle is metabolically more active and burns a larger number of calories than the fat tissue. The more muscle mass you have, greater the resting energy expenditure is, which means that your body will burn more calories while doing absolutely nothing other than the basic bodily functions.
  • Age: With old age, a person starts losing his or her muscle mass and fat accounts for more of the body composition, hence the metabolism decreases.
  • Gender:Men generally have more muscles and less fat in comparison to women hence a greater metabolism.
  • Can I Work Out While Fasting

    Does Intermittent Fasting Slow The Metabolism

    Absolutely! In fact, regular workouts will help you lose weight much faster, but its important to choose the right exercise program during the fasting period. You can do 3-4 full body workouts per week to burn fat more effectively. If you are fasting its better to do cardio low-intensity workouts. Make sure to listen to your body: if you feel dizzy, stop exercising. You can get back to high-intensity workouts only after youve eaten.

    Read More:Meal Plans To Lose Weight: Simple Diet Plans, Menus, and Hacks to Lose Pounds Faster

    Read Also: Intermittent Fasting Drinking Alcohol

    Frequent Meals Can Help You Lose Weight

    Since eating more frequently doesnt boost your metabolism, it likewise doesnt have any effect on weight loss .

    Indeed, a study in 16 adults with obesity compared the effects of eating 3 and 6 meals per day and found no difference in weight, fat loss, or appetite .

    Some people claim that eating often makes it harder for them to adhere to a healthy diet. However, if you find that eating more often makes it easier for you to eat fewer calories and less junk food, feel free to stick with it.

    SUMMARY Theres no evidence that changing your meal frequency helps you lose weight.

    How Intermittent Fasting Affects Your Body At The Metabolic Level

    Many specific metabolic changes happen when you fast for an extended period. For one, your body finds alternative ways to create sources of energy. Typically, your body breaks down carbohydrates from your food into glucose, which powers your body. When you refrain from eating, your body must make glucose from noncarbohydrate resources instead. This process is called gluconeogenesis.

    When your body enters gluconeogenesis, it uses glycogen reserves in your liver and water stored within your tissue to create glucose for energy. Once your glycogen stores are depleted, your body turns to other noncarbohydrates for fuel, such as amino acids. The more your body searches for alternative sources of energy, the more levels of specific metabolites in your blood increase.

    In particular, scientists have identified a significant increase in products of the citric acid cycle, which helps your cells release stored energy. As citric acid metabolites increase, your cells are thrown into overdrive, creating and storing excess energy to power you through your fast. In other words, your body doesnt slow down from lack of food it goes into overdrive.

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    The Keys To Making Intermittent Fasting Work

    There are two major keys to intermittent fasting success: short fasting periods and “normal” calorie intake.

    • One secret behind this fasting method is that extremely low- or no-calorie intake is only for short periods. If fasting continued without a return to normal calorie intake, then the body’s metabolism will slow down. But, short periods like the 5:2 or 16:8 approach appear to maintain calorie burning. The constant flux of fasting and normal intake keeps the body on its toes, rather than allowing it to slow.
    • The other key to success is not equating normal intake to binging or excessive intake. “Normal intake” refers to taking in the body’s estimated calorie needs with a healthy variety of foods. It doesn’t mean taking in excessive calories or binging on favorite foods.

    How Does Fasting Come Into Play Here

    Does Intermittent Fasting Slow Metabolism? (Myth Debunked)

    When you eat food, your body will readily take that to produce energy. In intermittent fasting, you temporarily restrict any supply of food to the body to use. This forces it to shift to the stored fat for energy. You can see how strongly connected metabolism and fasting really are.

    And the reason fasting is such an effective method is because youre putting absolutely no extra effort. All youre doing is restricting your food intake for a certain time to burn stored fat.

    Read Also: Can You Drink Alcohol With Intermittent Fasting

    Why You Dont Need A Detox Diet

    It sounds logical that fasting could cleanse your body of harmful substances that could cause a host of ailments like obesity, fatigue, and headaches. But there is no scientific evidence that you need to fast to “cleanse” your body or remove toxins.

    Your body – specifically, the kidneys, liver, lungs, colon, and skin — is perfectly capable of removing toxins itself.

    Why Calorie Counting Can Cause Starvation And A Plateau Effect

    The basis of intermittent fasting is if you eat correctly and nutritionally during your feasting window, you can fill your body with the proper nutrients to withstand a fast healthily. In comparison, calorie restriction minimizes the amount you eat over the entire day, potentially causing you to run low on nutrients despite eating all day. Over an extended period, the severe calorie restriction can cause your body to enter starvation mode.

    Starvation mode is your natural defense against starvationwhich can result when you restrict calories beyond what your body needs. When you enter starvation mode, you may feel sluggish, cranky, and tired. Whats worse, is it can cause your BMR to drop. And research has found starvation caused by calorie restriction can for good.

    Once your metabolism has slowed, it can lead to a plateau effect, where you no longer seem to lose weight. Following a plateau, a calorie-restricted diet is also more likely to cause you to regain the weight youve lost.

    Read Also: Is 119 High For Fasting Blood Sugar

    Does Intermittent Fasting Reduce Metabolism

    So the question is, does intermittent fasting also reduce metabolism? Fortunately, it doesnt seem to.

    The magic of intermittent fasting is that you limit the number of calories youre consuming only periodically and for a limited amount of time, usually between 12 and 36 hours. Youre not limiting calories for days or even weeks on end, as is required with many diets. Instead, you go through intermittent short periods of restricting calories, followed by a return to normal.

    The result is often an increased metabolism rather than a decreased one, which can not only help you lose weight but keep it off.

    Studies show this to be true. In one experiment, researchers had non-obese participants fast every other day for 22 days. They measured their body weight, body composition, RMR, and more at baseline and after day 21 and day 22. Results showed that the participants lost weight and fat mass, but their RMR did not change significantly the entire time.

    In another study, scientists had healthy participants fast for four days. They found that during that time, up to and including the fourth day, the RMR actually increased over baseline. This was thought to be because of hormones released during the fasting period that drove up the metabolic rate.

    Some common intermittent fasting plans include the following:

    Does Intermittent Fasting Increase Fat

    Does Intermittent Fasting Boost Your Metabolism ...

    Hormones are your bodys natural messengers. They coordinate most of your bodily functions, including weight regulation, appetite, and muscle growth. Hormones also influence the amount of fat you store or burn and heavily influence metabolism. Theres a link between intermittent fasting and improvements in the production of your metabolism-boosting hormones, including insulin, human growth hormone , and norepinephrine.

    Insulin is a hormone at the forefront of fat metabolism. It dramatically affects your BMR by telling your body when to store fat and when to stop breaking it down. High insulin levels can not only make it more challenging to lose weight but also increase your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Studies show intermittent fasting can reduce insulin levels by 20 to 31 percent, making it easier to control weight loss and increase your metabolism.

    Human growth hormone is a critical hormone for retaining muscle mass and promoting fat loss. Scientists found a 24-hour fast can increase HGH production by 2,000 percent in men and 1,300 percent in women. An increase in HGH can stimulate protein andcarbohydrate metabolism, helping to improve both your BMR and overall weight loss efforts.

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    Can Intermittent Fasting Speed Up Your Metabolism

    A 1994 study in the British Journal of Nutrition and one from a 1990 edition of Metabolism both found that its possible to boost your absorption by doing brief fasts, such as an intermittent fast.

    In the first study from the British Journal of Nutrition, a group of men and women were split into three groups to fast for different periods. All participants were in good health. Some fasted for 12 hours, others for 36 hours, and the third group for 72 hours.

    The group fasting for 36 hours had a slightly higher heart rate, but no blood pressure changes. Their resting metabolic rate went up significantly, which did not happen when fasting for only 12 hours.

    If you go on an intermittent fast that lasts for more than 12 hours, you should be able to give your metabolism a boost.

    You can also try these things for a faster metabolism:

    Skipping Breakfast Makes You Fat

    One ongoing myth is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

    People commonly believe that skipping breakfast leads to excessive hunger, cravings, and weight gain.

    One 16-week study in 283 adults with overweight and obesity observed no weight difference between those who ate breakfast and those who didnt .

    Thus, breakfast doesnt largely affect your weight, although there may be some individual variability. Some studies even suggest that people who lose weight over the long term tend to eat breakfast .

    Whats more, children and teenagers who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school .

    As such, its important to pay attention to your specifc needs. Breakfast is beneficial for some people, while others can skip it without any negative consequences.

    SUMMARY Breakfast can benefit many people, but its not essential for your health. Controlled studies do not show any difference in weight loss between those who eat breakfast and those who skip it.

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    Can I Combine Coffee And Intermittent Fasting

    Because a cup of brewed coffee is fat-free and almost no-cal, it wont screw up your fast…so long as it’s black coffee, says Boules. All your regular coffee variations and add-ins will cost you fat and caloriesand consuming fat and calories means you are no longer fasting.

    According to the USDA, plain black coffee is around two to five calories . But once you start pouring in sugar, milk, or cream, youre adding anywhere from 16 to nearly 100 more calories to your morning joe. So while coffee can be a decent way to feel like youre consuming something during your fasting hours, make sure youre drinking it black to keep your calories almost nonexistent. The more calories you feed your body, the more outside fuel it has to use as energy, which means it won’t utilize the glucose stored upin your fat cells, in theory. Fast, broken.

    But you dont necessarily want to start a coffee-drinking habit just to soothe your hunger pains if you’re doing intermittent fasting. Caffeine can temporarily speed metabolism and potentially take you out of that starvation mode. “But if you’re a regular caffeine consumer, the thermogenic effect is minimal, explains Boules.

    In other words, if youre already addicted to an a.m. coffee, you should be okay: The calories are minimal and your body is adjusted to the caffeine. But if you were a decaf tea drinker before, dont start chugging espresso, mmkay?

    What Supplements Help Increase Metabolism

    Will Intermittent Fasting Slow Down My Metabolism?

    Very few supplements on the market are worth taking, at least when it comes to fat loss.

    Wondering if you can take fat burners on keto and/or IF? The answer is yes, but let’s hold onto that thought for a moment.

    The real mechanism most supplements work is to help lighten your wallet.

    Just take a look at my shark tank keto diet pill review, which is scamming hundreds of thousands of people.

    And that’s the truth.

    Also Check: How Much Is The Do Fasting App

    Who Shouldnt Try Intermittent Fasting

    Intermittent fasting isnt for everyone. You should always check with your doctor before trying a new diet, even one thats proven to be beneficial. The following groups of people should avoid IF:

    • People who suffer from diabetes or other blood sugar problems
    • Children under the age of 18
    • People with a history of eating disorders
    • Pregnant and breastfeeding women

    What Else Can I Drink While I’m In A Fasted State

    Obviously, you can drink wateryou can even punch it up with some fresh fruit or a squeeze of lemon for flavor as long as you arent actually eating the fruit. But Boules says you can also reach for unsweetened tea, which is zero calories without anything extra added to it.

    What you cant drink, however, are things like fruit juices, green juices, or smoothies. This trips people up sometimes, because we tend to think stuff in liquid form is calorie-free, just like water. But juices and smoothies are made with food, which means they have enough calories to break your fast.

    The whole idea behind the alleged health-promoting benefits is actually fasting , says Boules. consuming something caloric during fasting hours in the form of sweetened beverages, juices, or smoothies, you’re not fasting.

    Remember, the whole concept of intermittent fasting relies on a prolonged, uninterrupted period of not consuming any calories .

    Most people opt for a 16:8 dietfasting for 16 hours per day and eating during an 8-hour windowthough it’s not totally clear as of now if 16 hours of intermittent fasting is the magic number of fasting hours to see weight-loss results. But, that’s a reasonable rule to follow until science reveals more about IF.

    Also Check: 119 Blood Sugar After Eating

    Eating Frequently Boosts Your Metabolism

    Many people believe that eating more meals increases your metabolic rate, causing your body to burn more calories overall.

    Your body indeed expends some calories digesting meals. This is termed the thermic effect of food .

    On average, TEF uses around 10% of your total calorie intake.

    However, what matters is the total number of calories you consume not how many meals you eat.

    Eating six 500-calorie meals has the same effect as eating three 1,000-calorie meals. Given an average TEF of 10%, youll burn 300 calories in both cases.

    Numerous studies demonstrate that increasing or decreasing meal frequency does not affect total calories burned (

    9 ).

    One study that compared eating three or six high-protein meals per day found that eating three meals reduced hunger more effectively .

    That said, responses may depend on the individual. If frequent eating reduces your cravings, its probably a good idea. Still, theres no evidence that snacking or eating more often reduces hunger for everyone.

    SUMMARY Theres no consistent evidence that eating more often reduces overall hunger or calorie intake. Rather, some studies show that smaller, more frequent meals increase hunger.

    Is Intermittent Fasting Safe

    Why Eating Every 2 Hours is Bad

    Because intermittent fasting isnt a diet, and it focuses on whenand not whatpeople eat, it can vary in risk.

    Intermittent fasting is generally considered safe for most people, but it can be dangerous if someone takes in too little calories , according to Dr. Viana. He also notes a risk of dehydration if water intake isnt sufficient.

    Newgent adds that eating patterns should be individualized. In order to get all of the health-protective nutrients that your body needs to thrive, most methods of fasting are not advisable, she says. The human body is not designed for altered, time-focused eating patterns, especially a one-meal-a-day approach. Our cells need continual nourishment, not just when a fasting regimen says so.

    Dr. Viana advises people with medical conditions or who are pregnant or breastfeeding to consult their primary care doctor before trying intermittent fasting. People with diabetes might want to avoid intermittent fasting, as they might experience low blood sugar with certain diabetes medications. Additionally, anyone with a history of eating disorders may find intermittent fasting triggering.

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