Intermittent Fasting for Losing Weight and Maintaining Muscles

A recent research at the Otago University looked at the weight loss and health benefits of the three well known diets, paleo, Mediterranean and intermittent fasting. 250 participants of this study chose one of these diets and followed them. Intermittent fasting seemed to result in the most weight loss. And Mediterranean diet was the one that improved the blood glucose of the study participants.

Those who took this path followed the intermittent diet twice a week by eating or drinking only about 1/4 of their normal calorie intake amounts on those days. There is not really a single way to lose weight or be healthy according to the researchers and that there are different options or a combination of them that may work on different people in different ways. Participants continued with the diet they chose in their real life and reported improvements in the way they felt overall and lost some weight.

When it comes to the sensitive issue of muscle loss during the intermittent fasting, you need to realize that weight loss is not enough by itself to lose fat. The real weight loss and what we all want is losing fat while maintaining the muscle mass. The more muscles you have the higher your daily calorie intake will be. And your body will look nice, toned and firm overall. Whatever diet path you choose it is important that it doesn’t make you lose your muscle mass. And this is often what we hear from people when we say we’re going on intermittent fasting.

You need to bear in mind that whatever eating plan you choose for weight loss, it will cause some muscle loss because of the lower calorie intake. There is not a single diet that doesn’t make you lose at least a little bit of your muscles and nobody keeps all their muscle mass. For example if you don’t have enough protein intake in your diet your body can use the muscle proteins when there is a need during longer intense exercise. And this is often a minor muscle protein loss that does not present any risks to your health.

For some people with little muscle mass, if they diet over a longer period of time with constant daily calorie deficit, their weight loss starts to plateau and they lose less weight. And what they get as a result is something like skinny fat or slim and soft syndrome. What these people can do is start working on building muscles to look and feel better. With the fasting method, as long as you don’t fast more than three days (72 hours) your body will keep its muscle mass and use the glucose and fat deposits for energy. And this means your muscle mass is protected.

What we all want in a diet or weight loss program is to increase the fat loss while losing as little muscle as possible. If you fast more than 3 days your body will start using the muscle proteins as a source of energy. Please do not overdo the cardiovascular activities like jogging or running as they can lead to muscle loss over time. Try and walk or choose other slow activities over time and on an empty stomach, so that your body uses the fat as a source of energy. You can lift weights, run or swim, but by having days off (intervals) to stimulate your muscles.

You need at least the recommended daily amount of protein, which is 0.8 g per kg of body weight to keep your muscle mass. And it is obviously better if you consume more, but remember everything needs to be in moderation. Intermittent fasting is not a problem for most people and muscle mass loss as their body will use up the muscles only in case of long starvation periods. In efficient weight loss, nutrition comes first and you need to keep active without overdoing the intense cardiovascular exercise. As long as you have enough daily protein intake your body will have what it needs for maintaining the muscles.

There is no harm in fasting short term as it doesn’t come with any muscle loss or health risks. Intermittent fasting can be done in different ways and you can pick the one that works for you. You can either fast 16 hours a day every day, fast twice a week (5:2 diet), eat 25% of your usual calorie intake every other day or do one day on and one day off (24 hours of eating nothing but drinking water or anything unsweetened). According to a recent study, fasting for 16 hours a day (8 hours of which is sleep) or eating for 8 hours helps people lose weight and decrease the risk of developing diabetes or cardiovascular illness.

Researchers in the US compared the intermittent fasting with the common low calorie diets in terms of effective weight and fat loss while maintaining muscle mass. And they found intermittent fasting to be more effective in decreasing body fat, especially around the waist. The main reason for the success of fasting is “eating less” because you’re less hungry and you have less opportunity to eat and the lowered insulin hormone. Insulin enhances storage of fat in your body and by avoiding the insulin and blood glucose spikes you’ll be less hungry and less fat will be stored. By the intermittent fasting you’ll be restoring a circadian rhythm that will help with your weight loss efforts.

You will also making a positive change in your genes that deal with immunity and the chance of inflammation and oxidative stress will be reduced. Fasting 16 hours a day is the easiest for me, as I can have a cup of coffee in the morning, then have breakfast/lunch around midday and eat when I’m hungry during the day and nothing after 8 pm. Not eating later in the evening and before bed is probably a good idea anyway for feeling better during the sleep and in the morning. When you do the intermittent fasting you’ll experience an increase in growth hormones that promote fat loss as a response to the decreased blood glucose as well as an increase in the basal metabolic rate, which is the calorie burning when you’re resting. You’ll lose a few pounds over time and the weight loss will stop when you reach your ideal weight.

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Nutrition for a Healthy Immune System

Some foods are known to make our immune system stronger, by helping with the protection against bacteria and viruses, and the seasonal infections. Germs are basically everywhere, at home, at work, on the bus or the train. And if your immune system is not strong enough they will easily attack your body and make you ill.

What you eat on a daily basis can help you avoid getting sick or reduce the symptoms. Your immune system is about your whole body and to function in the best way possible your lifestyle needs to be balanced and so it is not just what you eat. There are many studies out there that prove the relationship between daily life stresses and depression, age, regular exercise and nutrition and the immune functioning.

For a healthy immune system you need to improve your gut flora with the non-pathegenic bacteria for protecting the intestines. The health of the flora is directly linked to the health of your immune system, as the first line of protection to prevent you from falling sick. The good bacteria in your intestines stop the bad pathogenic bacteria from increasing and going into your bloodstream. These good bacteria need the proper environment for being able to fight the bad bacteria.

They are actually responsible for about 70% of how well your immune system works. Both the prebiotics and probiotics are important for the health of your gut flora. Prebiotics are the food for probiotics (friendly bacteria) and often found as indigestible dietary fibers. Foods that are rich in prebiotics include garlic, leek, onion, oats, barley, asparagus, kiwi, citrus fruits and chia seeds. If you consume too much sugar or processed foods and if you had to take antibiotics your gut may be lacking friendly bacteria.

You can increase them by consuming probiotics like kefir, pro-biotic yogurt, tempeh, miso, pickles, sauerkraut and other traditional fermented foods and drinks. To boost your immune system you need to eat lots of fruits and veggies, get enough sleep, do not smoke, avoid alcohol as much as you can except for a glass of red wine, and keep a healthy weight. Please wash your hands frequently during the day. Other than the prebiotics and probiotics that help with a better gut flora, some micronutrients directly affect your immune system.

Vitamin A helps with the white blood cell production and antibodies if you have deficiency. Sources of vitamin A include dairy products, butter, liver, cod liver oil, carrot and egg yolk. Zinc mineral is essential for immune health and the deficiency may lead to the weakening of immune response and inflammation. It helps resist infections and lets immune cells produce anti-microbe molecules. Foods that are rich in zinc include oyster, shellfish, red meat, legumes, seeds, nuts, eggs, dairy products, and whole grains.

Vitamin C is the best known immune boosting micronutrient- a powerful antioxidant for fighting against the free radicals and enhance the immune system response. It also helps with the iron absorption. Vitamin C rich foods include lemon, oranges, parsley, blackcurrants, kiwi fruit, guava, red bell, red cabbage, green or yellow pepper, sweet potato, tomatoes, papaya, cauliflower, broccoli and strawberries. Mushrooms are great immune system boosters with their anti-viral properties. They are a good source of selenium that acts as an antioxidant and are low in calories. You can have them raw in your salads or cooked in your meals.

Vitamin D is important for promoting bone mineralization, avoiding inflammation, and helping with the production of certain white blood cells like T lymphocytes. And for vitamin D you need to have Omega 3-rich fatty fish like sardines, salmon and mackerel. But it is mainly produced by exposure to sunlight. You need to have lots of vegetables every day, especially the greens like spinach that is high in iron and vitamin A to help increase the white blood cells in your body.

Garlic is rich in allicin that helps you avoid getting sick and if you do get sick you’ll suffer for a shorter period of time and with less symptoms. Green tea is a rich source of antioxidants and polyphenol, makes your kidneys work with its diuretic effect and helps clean the toxins in your body and boosts your energy. Avoiding bread is a big mistake for your immune defenses. But you need to choose wholemeal bread that is rich in iron over refined white bread. You can also have muesli in yogurt if you’re not keen on bread.

This way you will be less likely to lack iron which can make you feel tired, nervous or have cramps. Iron is found in curry, cumin seeds, coriander, sesame seeds, muesli, wholemeal bread, spinach and beef. Dark chocolate is rich in magnesium and polyphenols to help make you feel better mentally. But you don’t want to have lots of chocolate as it is high in calories and just stick to a small piece with your coffee. You need to have a balanced diet that is full of different nutrients, vitamins and minerals to have a healthy immune system.

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L-arginine: Potential Health Benefits

L-Arginine is one of the 20 amino acids in protein and has a variety of claimed benefits, including helping boost the immune system, healing the wounds, secretion of certain hormones including the growth hormone, getting rid of ammonia. As for the dosage t is hard to suggest because it is not an essential nutrient and there is not enough data around.

Arginine makes NO- nitric oxide in your body that helps with dilating the blood vessels and creatine synthesis which helps with the proper muscle functioning. Arginine is a semi-essential amino acid that is mostly synthesized by your body in adequate amounts for your daily needs. But in certain circumstances this will not be enough and you may need to take arginine supplements, after a big surgery, an infection or a trauma.

It is available in a variety of foods including turkey, chicken, eggs, dairy products, red meat, nuts, oats, buckwheat, brown rice and legumes. The deficiency of L-arginine is not very common and can show itself with the symptoms like hair loss, constipation, skin rashes, slow wound healing, fatty liver degeneration etc. The deficiency can occur with chronic undernourishment, too much lysine intake, injuries, burns, serious infections, congenial diseases and more.

Arginine, by producing nitric oxide- NO, dilates the blood vessels and moves the blood to the penis and causing erection. This is just like how viagra or sildenafil nitrate works in treating erection by stopping the NO breakdown. In one of the studies men with low nitric oxide levels benefited from 5g of arginine per day in enhancing the erection quality. But those with normal NO levels weren’t affected by a 5g of arginine boost. Lower doses of around 1.5g arginine supplement was no different to taking placebo.

The impact of L-arginine on enhancing the physical performance is not very clear, because of the mixed results of different studies. It can be beneficial because it helps with the growth hormone secretion and participate in the creatine production. Creatine is known to increase strength during weight lifting, enhance physical performance and help with the muscle contraction. Arginine is shown to have a different effect on sedentary people, or those that work out at beginner or advanced levels.

The nitric oxide produced by L-arginine can improve the physical activity performance by helping with the glucose absorption and burning fat for energy and insulin that is responsible for helping you use the energy you get from food (help glucose- energy get into your cells). By increasing the blood flow in your body oxygen is better transported to your muscles and organs. This way your body will respond better to your energy needs during your workout session. With the more efficient supply of oxygen you may feel stronger by your muscles taking longer to tire and your recovery may be quicker after your workout.

It can boost the immune system in some cases and decrease the likelihood and severity of infections. For that reason it is used as an immunonutrition in some hospitals to speed up healing and restricting certain infection risks. If you have suffered from a heart attack before you’re strongly advised not to use arginine supplements (NO production) as it can increase the death risks. Pregnant women also shouldn’t use arginine because of the lack of sufficient toxicological data. Arginine side effects are not very common and will mostly occur at high doses, and these include diarrhea, headache or gastrointestinal discomfort.

L-arginine is claimed to reduce the abdominal fat that is connected to many health problems. This is good for those struggling to lose tummy fat. NO produced by arginine helps with the glucose and glycogen absorption and burn the fat. If you are working towards a well-toned, lean muscle mass, a daily arginine supplement may be good for you, by increasing your muscle mass, releasing the growth hormone and promoting fat metabolism, reducing the fat stores just below your skin, increasing endurance and conditioning muscles also reducing muscle damage, promoting healing and offering the best performance.

Although it is hard to recommend dosage as mentioned earlier, L-arginine supplementation between 2g to 30g per day is considered to be safe. If you find that you’re suffering from side effects like nausea or diarrhea you can start with the lower doses of 3 to 4 grams before your workout. It is also recommended to be taken in cycles of 2 months on and 2 months off. With its claimed benefits in hormonal stuff, wound healing and body composition it is also considered to be a decent anti-aging supplement. It can also indirectly help prevent and cure certain diseases linked to aging, like high blood pressure or congestive heart failure. You may want to try and see if you will benefit from arginine for your exercise performance or other stuff as each person reacts differently to different supplements.

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids Improve Athletic Performance

The chronic disease treatment aspect of Omega 3 supplementation is often the main focus of different studies. But there are enough reasons for believing that Omega 3 fatty acids can improve athletic performance. The improvement in muscles function and less muscle fatigue are observed in athletes taking Omega 3 supplements in a brand new study by the Toronto Uni researchers.

The researchers claimed that Omega 3 can decrease the fatigue in muscles after a workout and enhance the neuromuscular functioning.  A 20% improvement in the thigh muscles were observed in adults that took the supplements for three weeks. And according to another claim, high dose of Omega 3 was the key diet component of many athletes that won medals at the Olympics.

Red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscle tissue by passing through the capillary beds around the muscle tissue. The problem is that the red blood cells’ diameter is bigger than that of the capillary. So by increasing the deformability in the red blood cells in a healthy way the faster the oxygen can be transferred to the muscle tissue. By increasing the Omega 3 intake you will be increasing the red blood cell deformability and enhancing the transfer of oxygen.

When you have intense work-out sessions you’re creating damage in muscles, which in turn leads to inflammation and the delayed onset muscle soreness in some cases. Recovery after workout can be faster and the exercise induced muscle damage and the risk of inflammation can be decreased by a high intake of Omega 3. These fatty acids may act as the gene transcription factors to improve the antioxidant levels in the muscles and the blood. The antioxidant enzymes are very effective in getting rid of the free radicals caused by a tough workout session.

Omega 3 fatty acids are the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in shellfish, oily fish, flaxseed fed chicken eggs and crustaceans. They can also be synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid from walnuts, linseed, rapeseed etc. Your peripheral and central nerves are made up mostly of polyunsaturated fatty acids. So the Omega 3 fatty acids are fundamental part of muscle membranes, nerve endings myelin and neurons. And they enhance the neural functioning and the adjustment to exercise.

In a gym workout or any sports performance the skeletal muscles’ ability to produce strength and fight fatigue is quite important. You may already be aware of many studies looking at how certain supplements like whey protein can affect resistance training and ways like carb load to improve endurance. But not many studies have actually paid attention to the impact of supplements on the neuromuscular system.

The research at the University of Toronto had 30 male athletes with an average age of 25 that trained 17 hours a week on average. They took a seal oil supplement that included 230mg DPA, 375mg EPA and 510mg DHA or just placebo for 21 days. And the tests were performed at the beginning and the end of this study. They observed a big increase in the EPA level in the blood as compared to the placebo group. But there was no difference in the DPA and DHA levels between the main and the placebo group. They found a reduction in the muscle fatigue and a 20% increase in the thigh muscle function.

This was measured by the electromyography of the big external muscle. They concluded that there is enough evidence to believe that Omega 3 fatty acids can have a useful effect on athletes. By changing the cell membrane and fluidity composition, Omega 3 can stimulate the nerve function. It may have changed the membrane dynamics of the muscle and enhanced the muscle action potential and decreased the muscle damage. This reduction could maintain the muscle action and with the stimulation and contraction, muscle building ability could be improved.

Omega 3 can enhance the acetylcholine sensitivity, nerve conduction speed, membrane fluidity, and decrease inflammation after the workout. Your body can make much more ATP from a fatty acid molecule than a glucose molecule. By taking Omega 3 supplements you will gain metabolic fuel flexibility by the gene transcription factor activated for the maximum amount of ATP production from fatty acids and glucose, especially in endurance training.

Other ways Omega 3 fatty acids help with improving the athletic performance is by increasing the vasodilation of the capillary bed, and production of muscle protein synthesis, quicker reaction in complex reaction environments, enhancing the general mood and mental state by causing greater calm. But you really need to find and take the good quality fish oil supplements that are pure, potent and free of rancidity to benefit properly in athletic performance.

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Keto Diet: What is the Low Carb Ketogenic Diet?

According to the proponents of ketogenic diet you can lose weight quickly by eating more fat, and much less of sugars, simple carbs or starchy foods. So you do not need to be afraid of eating lots of fats and moderate amounts of protein. Let’s find out if whether this method works for weight loss in the short or long run.

The ketogenic diet was first developed by Dr. Russell Wilder at the well-known Mayo Clinic in 1932 and was primarily aiming the kids with epilepsy with its anticonvulsant properties. Please note that the Keto diet is not related to Mayo Diet, that is also not related to the famous Mayo Clinic.

It is basically a low carb diet that is very rich in fat and low in carbohydrates. So you can’t eat legumes, starchy foods, cereals, sugar and any of the other carb-rich foods. Considering a lot of foods out there have a good amount of carbohydrate, at first glance it is quite a restrictive kind of diet that can not be particularly healthy in the long run.

Keto Diet is considered to be the fastest and most effective way to lose weight according to its followers. Many people already have the sedentary lifestyles that make them vulnerable to the processed foods that are high in sugar, salt and white flour that often explain the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemics that are very common around the world.

Since the muscle glycogens are filled up very quickly by these forms of sugar in sedentary people, liver simply has to change them into lipids through the lipogenesis process. And these people will gain weight gradually especially around the abdominal section. And with the too much lipid accumulation in the liver you will be prone to different complications like Type 2 diabetes, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The reason for following a diet that is high in fat is, with the low carb consumption your body will be forced to find energy you need during your exercise sessions or throughout the day in its carb and fat reserves. The stored and consumed fats are transformed to ketones that replace the carbs as an energy source for your brain and muscles.

So according to a proper Ketogenic diet (that we do not recommend) you will be getting most of your calories from fat- like 90%, 2-3% from carbs and 7-8% from protein to be able to lose weight very quickly. This is pretty much like the first stage of Atkins diet, that is believed to help with slowing down Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s or cancer.

Coconut oil should be the center of your fats, thanks to the medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) content, 50% of which come from lauric acid. And research suggests that your body will experience more sustained ketosis levels as it is metabolized more slowly than the other MCTs. Butter, olive oil and vegetable oils are also used. Nuts, seeds, avocados and eggs are great for consumption. You should have more of Omega-3s and 9s rather than Omega-6s. Saturated fats found in meats are highly recommended on this diet.

To achieve ketosis you can have little or moderate amounts of protein, but not in large amounts. It is simply not healthy to decrease protein consumption for increasing ketones. Your liver needs to be supplied with amino acids to be able to make new glucose, that are used as a source of fuel for the parts of your brain and kidneys and red blood cells that can’t use ketones as fuel. And you do need to maintain your muscle mass during the weight loss when your carb intake is so low.

Physical performance is also maximized if your daily protein intake is between 1.2 and 1.7 grams per kg of your body weight.  And also bear in mind that too much intake will stop the ketone production. You need to eat plenty of meat, fish, seafood, cheese, chicken and turkey on a healthy ketogenic diet. You are allowed to eat green veggies with little carbs, like lettuce, kale, spinach, salad and no beets, corn, potatoes, parsnips or sweet potatoes.

You can have dairy and milk, coffee and alcohol in moderate amounts. You need to respect the low carb rules that directly indicates no or very little starchy foods or sugar. Scientific research that studied ketogenic diet has found significant weight loss among people that followed this diet in the short run. By eating fats and protein rich foods you will feel a quick satiety with much less hunger. And you are not restricted to how much of these fatty foods you can eat.

On the negative side you can experience vitamin, mineral, potassium, calcium and antioxidant deficiencies on this diet. When you first start out you can get migraines, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue because of the heavy work load of your liver with such high amounts of fat. And in the long run a diet high in fat may carry cardiovascular risks. This diet is OK for people that work out for a short period of time and need to lose fat quickly, but in the long run it simply takes away the pleasure of eating because of its rather monotonous and restrictive nature.

Sedentary lifestyle and need to lose weight quickly then this will work for you. But this is definitely not a replacement for physical activity. If you work out regularly you do need the carbs without the added sugar as fuel. Therefore it is important to adjust your carb consumption according to how much you exercise, how active you are and your lifestyle choices. It is a draconian approach that is certainly not quite compatible with the human health. You’ll find out what works best for you with trial and error. But it is always in your interest to follow a balanced and healthy diet of different food groups.

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