Ashley Rowen
3. Intermittent Fasting May Preserve Muscle Mass That Is Usually Lost When Dieting
Most weight loss diets cause you to lose fat and muscle, which is a big problem.
Maintaining muscle is fundamental to ensure your metabolic rate doesn’t drop and just to support a healthy weight loss.
Failing to do so means any fat loss will come back fast, such as what happens with every Biggest Loser contestant.
According to the authors of the review study mentioned above, fasting may be more useful than regular calorie restriction for many overweight patients because of greater loss of body fat, and better preservation of muscle.
Another study found that 25% of weight lost was muscle mass in normal calorie restriction diets, compared to just 10% lost in intermittent calorie restriction diets.
The current studies in this area are preliminary though, and the fact remains that weight training and a high protein diet are the most important aspects for building and maintaining muscle mass.
So if you do try intermittent fasting, ensure each of your meals contain a quality protein source like eggs, meat, fish or legumes.
Summary: Research suggests that intermittent fasting can help preserve muscle mass while you lose fat. This must be coupled with resistance exercise and a high protein intake though.
