Intermittent Fasting Tips

[Nelson Vergel]

From www.MuscleforReal.com

I want to share with you 5 tips that make intermittent fasting as easy as falling off a log.


* Btw: Remember that the first few days of intermittent fasting might be a little uncomfortable (although many people don't report this) but after a few days your body will adapt and fasting becomes easier.



#1. Drink Enough Water


The human body consists on average about 55% of water and thereby is important for every cell, tissue, and organ in the body [1].


As little as 1-2% dehydration can cause elevated cortisol levels, the "stress hormone" that is known to stimulate appetite [1-2].


Another reason to drink enough water during your fasts is that it stretches the stomach enough to send signals of fullness to the brain [3].



While this stomach stretching effect is short-lived, it helps you get through the hunger cravings.


#2. Get Enough Sleep


The importance of sleep is well-documented, but did you know that not getting enough sleep is one of the biggest causes of overeating?


One study even showed that sleep deprivation can increase hunger and appetite by up to 24% [4].


The reason is because sleep deprivation decreases leptin levels and increases ghrelin [5]. That's why sleep deprivation has been shown to slow down weight loss, lead to weight gain and muscle loss, and increase visceral body fat (the most dangerous type of fat) [6-7].


#3. Chill Out


Whenever you're experiencing a stressful situation, your body releases cortisol, a "stress hormone" produced by the adrenal gland.


While a healthy dose of cortisol is necessary for optimal functioning, chronically elevated levels can lead to overeating and weight gain [8].

One of the reasons it's been thought to do so is by decreasing the levels of peptide YY, an important appetite regulator [9].


Some great ways to keep your cortisol levels in check and thereby make your fast easier are:

• Meditation: people who meditate regularly have lower cortisol levels and have their cortisol levels return to their baseline faster after a stressful situation [10].
• Listening to music: Patients listening to music during surgery experience significantly lower cortisol levels [11]. The same effects are found while listening to music in everyday situations.
• Staying hydrated: As little as 1-2% dehydration significantly increases cortisol levels [12].
• Supplementing with Ashwagandha: It's been shown that 60 days of 300-mg of a high-concentration Ashwagandha root extract reduces cortisol levels by 27.9% [13]. The participants of the study also greatly reduced their anxiety and mental
• Supplementing with Rhodiola: Rhodiola significantly reduces cortisol levels in both men and women because it contains more than 140 cortisol lowering (alkaloids, terpenoids, and various saponins) [14-15].

.
#4. Coffee


Coffee has been shown to increases the appetite-reducing hormone peptide YY which plays an important role in determining [16].


Another benefit is that adding coffee helps with losing weight [17].

The caffeine found in coffee (and to a lower extend in tea) has been shown to increase your metabolic rate by 3-11%, while higher amounts have even more potent effects [18]. And noteworthy, the majority of this increase in metabolism is caused by an increase in fat oxidation [16].


Caffeine also increases the catecholamines adrenaline and noradrenaline which help the release of triglycerides from your fat cells [19].


#5. Chew Gum

Sugar-free chewing gum is a great way to get some chewing action going without breaking your fast.


It's believed that chewing gum stimulates certain nerves in the jaw that are connected to the satiety region in the brain. This decreases appetite and makes your fast easier.


While the direct effects of chewing gum on intermittent fasting has not been shown yet, one study conducted by the University of Rhode Island tested the effects of chewing gum on appetite.


They concluded that the subjects who gum for one hour consumed 67 fewer calories during lunch and did not compensate later in the day [20].


If you like some chewing gum while fasting, go for sugar-free variants.




With those 5 tips, you can really slap a giant S on your chest during your fasts...


... you will be unstoppable


Give them a try and let me know what you think.


Talk soon,


Stefan



P.S: Just have to let you know that Eat-Stop-Eat (aka. the "holy bible of intermittent fasting") by Brad Pilon is currently on a 70% discount that ends at the end of this month.



Click here now to discover how you can get the most out of your fast.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Rapid weight loss without losing muscle: combine intermittent fasting and cardio

 

[Nelson Vergel]

From Muscle for Real:


If you're familiar with my work, you've probably noticed I frequently talk about the benefits of intermittent fasting.

And while intermittent fasting is becoming more and more popular, there are still lots of myths on this topic.

So today, I want to debunk with you the 6 biggest intermittent fasting myths.

#1. Intermittent Fasting Causes Muscle Loss


One of the most common misconceptions about intermittent fasting is that it causes muscle loss. We've all heard the claim that you have to eat every 3 hours or you'll become "catabolic.“


This, however, is completely false because short-term fasts will not increase muscle breakdown as is shown numerous times.


One of such studies was performed by the University of Amsterdam back in 2009. The researchers compared the effects of a standard eating pattern and intermittent fasting and found no difference in muscle breakdown rate [1].


Two other studies showed that after 72-hours of water fasting, muscle breakdown rate did not increase from the baseline and protein synthesis did not slow down [2-3].


As long as you keep using your muscle through some form of regular resistance training, your muscle mass will not get wasted during severe caloric restriction studies performed on both men and women.


In one study the testing subjects were only allowed to eat ~800-kcal/day with ~80 grams of protein in their daily meals. The result was that as long as they kept performing their resistance training routine 3 times per week, they did not lose any muscle mass [4].


A different group in the study that did not perform resistance training but steady state cardio instead ended up losing 9-lb of muscle mass in 12 weeks.


Another study, this time performed on obese men, showed that the subjects lost an average of 20-pounds of fat with no muscle loss after a 16- week caloric restriction diet with only 1000-kcal/day [5].


Why?


Because the men were involved in resistance training throughout the whole 16 week period. Similar results are also found in women [6].


Conclusion: Don't worry that you have to eat every few hours or your muscle mass will melt away. Short term fasting will not increase muscle protein breakdown, especially if you remain involved in resistance training.


#2. Intermittent Fasting Slows Down Metabolic Rate


We are constantly bombarded with the claim "eat 6 meals per day to stoke the metabolic fire". The problem is that those claims are never to be proven right. In fact, it's been proven over and over to be wrong.


The real truth is, as was shown by a review of 176 studies, that as long as your caloric intake remains the same meal frequency will not impact your metabolism [7].


There is absolutely no difference in nibbling your daily caloric intake throughout the day or gorging all your calories in one sitting [7].


The only valid study available that did show a difference found a slight increase in metabolic rate that ate less frequently [8].


Also for weight loss purposes you don't have to consume multiple smaller meals per day. It will make losing weight only more difficult because you're more likely to overeat when consuming 6-7 meals per day compared to 2-3 meals.


And that's exactly what gaining / losing weight comes down to. Burn more calories compared to the amount you consume and you lose weight, consume more calories compared to the amount you ingest and you gain weight.


#3. You Can Only Absorb 30 Grams Of Protein Per Sitting


The myth that your body can only absorb 30 grams of protein per meal and that any additional amount "gets wasted" has been around for centuries in the fitness and health community.


But this simply isn't true: Your body will absorb and use all of the protein you ingest at each meal and does not have a defined upper limit to the amount of protein it can absorb.


Whenever you ingest food, it must pass through your stomach and into the intestines before it gets absorbed into the body. Once the amino acids from the food enter the intestines, the intestines has the ability to let those amino acids "wait" to be used [9].


One of the ways your intestines accomplish this is by the digestive hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), which can slow down intestinal contractions and the absorption rate of proteins [10-11].


Besides that, your body also has a "free amino acid pool" in which your body can store and release amino acids whenever needed.


To back this up, researchers from the National Human Nutrition Research Center (France) had 16 young women eat 79% of their daily protein, which represented on average 54 grams, in one or four meals over a 14 day time period.


At the end of the study, they found no difference in protein metabolism between the two groups [12].


Another study more in the context of intermittent fasting showed that consuming all protein in a daily 4-hour window (followed by 20 hours of fasting) did not affect protein metabolism [1].


#4. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day


How many times have we heard the claims:


"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

Or,

"Eat like a king for breakfast a prince for lunch and a beggar for dinner.“


We've been led to believe (primarily by studies sponsored by companies that sell breakfast foods) that there is something "special" about breakfast and that skipping it leads to excessive hunger, cravings, and weight gain.


While there are studies that found links between skipping breakfast and overweight/obesity, this probably has to do with the fact that stereotypical breakfast skippers are less health-conscious overall.


The problem many people experience with eating breakfast is that they are more hungry throughout the day because eating breakfast goes against our natural circadian rhythm.


Do you think we as hunter-gatherers had access to breakfast the great majority of the time? I don't believe so, and many experts will agree.


Dr. Mercola explains:


"The interesting aspect about eating first thing in the morning is that it coincides with your circadian cortisol peak, that is, the time of day when your cortisol (stress hormone) levels rise and reach their peak.

The circadian cortisol peak has an impact on your insulin secretion, such that when you eat during this time it leads to a rapid and large insulin release, and a corresponding rapid drop in blood sugar levels, more so than when you eat at other times of the day.


If you're healthy, your blood sugar levels won't drop to a dangerously low level (such as can occur with hypoglycemia) but they can drop low enough to make you feel hungry.


This is more commonly experienced in people who are not insulin resistant (such as those who are overweight or have type 2 diabetes), but rather are lean and "insulin sensitive." Because the circadian cortisol peak adds another insulin-boosting effect on top of an already insulin-sensitive individual, the low blood sugar, and subsequent hunger, can be more pronounced.“


While this clearly goes against the conventional idea that you should never skip breakfast, especially if you want to lose weight, I myself clearly feel less hungry throughout the day when I don't consume breakfast compared with days I do.


That eating breakfast is not necessary for losing weight and might actually hinder it was concluded by researchers from the Columbia University. They stated: "In overweight individuals, skipping breakfast for 4 weeks leads to a reduction in body weight.“ [13].


Also, the claim that eating breakfast is healthier does not to appear valid, at least if we believe a mice study performed by the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (USA) [14].


During the study, the mice were fed the same high-fat, high-calorie diet, the only difference was that one group had access to food the whole day while the other group was restricted to an eight-hour eating window. (The eating window was at night, the period during which mice are most active).


Even though both groups consumed equal amounts of calories, the mice that had access to food for only 8 hours stayed healthy and remained an ideal body weight while the all-day access group developed severe health problems including:

• Metabolic problems
• Fatty liver disease
• High blood sugar levels
• High cholesterol levels

#5. Intermittent fasting causes you to overeat.


Many people are of the misbelieve that intermittent fasting will not help you lose weight because it leads to overeating during the eating period.


While there is some truth to that, it will not hinder fat loss.


One study conducted by the Rowett Research Institute (UK) showed that subjects who had undergone a fast of 24 hours only increased their food intake by 500 calories the next day[15].


But you have to keep in mind that, if they on average expanded 2500 calories during their fast, and "overeat" by 500 calories the next day, they still consumed 2000 calories less over a 2 day period.


If we take in mind that one pound of fat represents around 3500 kcal [16]. This would equal a little more than half a pound of fat loss in two days. (Sure, a part of it will also be glycogen etc. but I think you get point).


#6. Your brain needs a constant supply of food (glucose) to function properly.


During fasting, there is a temporary lack of glucose intake to the body, the main fuel of the brain. Therefore, it would be logical to assume that brain performance would worsen during fasting.


However, evidence suggests that the lack of glucose while fasting does not hamper glucose availability in the brain.


And if we look at it from an evolutionary perspective, it wouldn't make any sense either. If we human beings were not able to maintain proper brain function during times in which it is most necessary (lack of food), we wouldn't exist anymore.


That's why your body is very capable of providing the necessary glucose for your brain by a process called gluconeogenesis, in which glycogen from the liver gets broken down into glucose [17].


Your brain and nerves require about 20 calories per hour whether you're awake or asleep. This will represent 480 calories or 120 gram of carbs per day.


Given the fact that the average liver can store anywhere between 80-110 grams of glycogen, which primary role is to store glucose for the brain and nerves, this would be enough to maintain adequate glucose supply for 16-22 hours.


Besides glucose, ketones are also an amazing energy source for the brain (some experts claim ketones are even the best fuel for the brain) [18]. Ketones are an energy source produced from fatty tissues to use as a fuel instead of glucose. They get produced when the (liver) glucose levels are running low.


The availability of ketones for brain fuel has many positive neurological, neuroprotective, and cognitive effects including:

• Ketones protect neurons from glucose deprivation and excitotoxicity [18]
• Ketones are therapeutic for neurological and cognitive diseases including epilepsy Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and infantile spasms (West syndrome) [19-22].
• Ketones work anti-depressive [23].
• Ketones improve memory in memory impaired adults [24]. Whether it does the same in healthy adults is not known yet.

*Please note that there are individuals who suffer from hypoglycemia when they don't consume food for some time. It this represents you, talk to your medical professional before implementing intermittent fasting into your lifestyle or stick to a higher meal frequency.


---
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As you can see, there is a lot of misconception about intermittent fasting...


I hope you'll now see that there is no need to eat "multiple smaller meals per day."...


...In most circumstances, it is even counter-productive.


And the fact that you've just read a 2000 word long email means you're really interested in giving intermittent fasting a try.


Or maybe you're already implementing it and just want to learn more about it and get the most out of your fasts.


No matter your motive, there is only 1 resource I can recommend you with 100% complete confidence:

Eat-Stop-Eat (aka. "holy bible of intermittent fasting" by Brad Pilon.)



His program is currently at a HUGE discount that will expire shortly... and I don't want you to miss out.



Click here now to check out Eat-Stop-Eat



To your success,
Stefan



References:


[1] Am J Clin Nutr November 2009 vol. 90 no. 5 1244-1251
[2] Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2009 Nov;197(3):197-205.
[3] Am J Hum Genet. 1962 Dec; 14(4): 353–362.
[4] J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
[5] Diabetes Care. 1999 May;22(5):684-91.
[6] Diabetes Care. 2002 Mar;25(3):431-8.
[7] Nutr Rev. 2009 Jul;67(7):379-90.
[8] PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e38632.
[9] Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2007 Aug;17 Suppl:S23-36.
[10] Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2007 Feb;14(1):63-7.
[11] Neuropharmacology. 2003 Mar;44(4):524-32.
[12] J Nutr. 2000 Jul;130(7):1700-4.
[13] J Nutr Sci. 2014 Nov 13;3:e56.
[14] Cell Metab. 2012 Jun 6;15(6):848-60
[15] Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002 Dec;26(12):1623-8.
[16] Am J Clin Nutr. 1958 Sep-Oct;6(5):542-6.
[17] Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Sep;90(3):519-26
[18] Metabolism at a Glance, 3rd Edition, J. G. Salway
[19] J Neurochem. 2010 May;113(4):826-35.
[20] Lancet Neurol. 2004 Jul;3(7):415-20.
[21] Brain Res. 2009 Aug 25;1286:25-31.
[22] BMC Neurosci. 2006 Apr 3;7:29.
[23] Pediatr Neurol. 2009 Aug;41(2):111-3
[24] Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Dec 15;56(12):981-3.
[25] Neurobiol Aging. 2004 Mar;25(3):311-4.


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[ERO]

Great information. Thanks for posting

 

[Jay]

Been doing it for 2 years and love it. Got it down to 20 hour fast with 4 hour eating window

 

[Vince]

Medical Association for Fasting and Nutrition (ÄGHE e.V.),
Maria Buchinger Foundation, Clinic Buchinger Wilhelmi
http://fasten.tv/en/
http://fasten.tv/en/vortraege/longo

 

[ERO]

Been doing it for 2 years and love it. Got it down to 20 hour fast with 4 hour eating window

That is impressive! I have always wondered how one could eat enough in a 4 hour window, as if I eat a large meal I am not hungry again for several hours but you are obviously making it work.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Meal timing may influence weight loss
Restricting food intake to a 6-hour window may help facilitate weight loss, primarily by affecting hunger, according to data from the first trial of time-restricted feeding in humans.

“Eating dinner by mid-afternoon (early time-restricted feeding) does not appear to affect how many calories you burn,” presenter Courtney Peterson, PhD, of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, told Endocrine Today. “However, it may keep hunger levels more even across the day, and it does improve metabolic flexibility and change the daily patterns in fat oxidation, particularly by increasing fat oxidation during several hours at night.”

http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/obesity/news/online/{dd3ad807-3b36-48fb-a577-49ee62e05177}/meal-timing-may-influence-weight-loss?utm_source=maestro&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=endocrinology news

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Good read

The science behind intermittent fasting — and how you can make it work for you

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