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How was your muscle mass and health after this? Any other side effects? I lost 30kgs over 12 months in 2013, half of it through intermittent fasting over peri

How was your muscle mass and health after this? Any other side effects? I lost 30kgs over 12 months in 2013, half of it through intermittent fasting over period of 3 months. I have also fasted for 2 weeks once (not during that year).

TimSchumann 5y ago
> How is your muscle mass and health after this? Literally the best I've felt in recent memory was day 61 after I started eating again. Muscle mass was fine, I'm sure there was some decline in muscle mass, but I wasn't working out excessively during the fast. Mostly just long walks. I'd guess no more muscle mass than just sitting in front of a computer and not moving. I leveled out around 225/230 post fast and I was able to deadlift 450 for 3x reps within weeks of starting to eat again. > Any other side effects? Completely re-calibrated sense of taste post fast, probably partially due to a much healthier gut microbiome -- though I have no way to back that statement up. Massively heightened sense of smell during the fast too. Focusing seemed easier when running on ketones. Long term, it took a while until literally everything didn't taste obscenely sweet.
- DrPhish 5y ago
  One of the warnings I read going in to my own (only 10 day) water fast was that it can have a detrimental effect on the muscle mass of your heart. Did you observe any decrease in cardiovascular function?
- voisin 5y ago
  Did you have your blood work done? Any data you can share there?
wyager 5y ago
I would expect some muscle mass loss from a long-duration fast because your liver needs to consume protein to synthesize some sugars for the small number of cells that require sugar (e.g. red blood cells). I think consuming a bit of yeast (as Mr. Barbieri did) is probably a good idea to prevent your body from catabolizing muscles.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  I believe biggest sink for glucose are portions of brain that cannot use ketones for fuel. As to yeast -- that's right, that is exactly the point. Rather than eat yeast extract which is basically proteins and nothing else, I would take a look at a small amounts of broth in daily diet. It is possibly safer (people can survive on broth alone so small dose of it daily shouldn't be a problem) and it tends to contain a lot of useful stuff for the organism. It is not strictly zero calorie diet but I think if your aim is health this is probably for the best rather than seeking ideal of zero calories.
  - wyager 5y ago
    What parts of your brain can’t use ketones?
- TimSchumann 5y ago
  I mean, I probably have/had a lot of junk proteins floating around in my blood stream, walls of my blood vessels, scar tissue, etc. (Warning -- speculation on my part) I may have lost absolute muscle mass, but glycogen is a bunch of that mass, and my muscles had none of that by day 60. My feeling was something along the lines of -- sure I lost some muscle mass, but it was a small amount and relative to overall mass lost and the other health benefits of not being obese. Also, subjectively, I feel like I lost little to no actual strength.
  - lmilcin 5y ago
    I think part of this can be explained by lost mass in general as you no longer need to lug that fat around with you, making it easier to move around and generally feel better at least for a time before body accommodates.
    - TimSchumann 5y ago
      True. I guess what I'm trying to get across is subjectively it felt like there was nothing but gains. To me quibbling over if 5% or 25% of overall mass lost was muscle is immaterial and completely outweighed by the benefits regardless of what that number is.

TimSchumann 5y ago

> How is your muscle mass and health after this? Literally the best I've felt in recent memory was day 61 after I started eating again. Muscle mass was fine, I'm sure there was some decline in muscle mass, but I wasn't working out excessively during the fast. Mostly just long walks. I'd guess no more muscle mass than just sitting in front of a computer and not moving. I leveled out around 225/230 post fast and I was able to deadlift 450 for 3x reps within weeks of starting to eat again. > Any other side effects? Completely re-calibrated sense of taste post fast, probably partially due to a much healthier gut microbiome -- though I have no way to back that statement up. Massively heightened sense of smell during the fast too. Focusing seemed easier when running on ketones. Long term, it took a while until literally everything didn't taste obscenely sweet.

DrPhish 5y ago
One of the warnings I read going in to my own (only 10 day) water fast was that it can have a detrimental effect on the muscle mass of your heart. Did you observe any decrease in cardiovascular function?
voisin 5y ago
Did you have your blood work done? Any data you can share there?

wyager 5y ago

I would expect some muscle mass loss from a long-duration fast because your liver needs to consume protein to synthesize some sugars for the small number of cells that require sugar (e.g. red blood cells). I think consuming a bit of yeast (as Mr. Barbieri did) is probably a good idea to prevent your body from catabolizing muscles.

lmilcin 5y ago
I believe biggest sink for glucose are portions of brain that cannot use ketones for fuel. As to yeast -- that's right, that is exactly the point. Rather than eat yeast extract which is basically proteins and nothing else, I would take a look at a small amounts of broth in daily diet. It is possibly safer (people can survive on broth alone so small dose of it daily shouldn't be a problem) and it tends to contain a lot of useful stuff for the organism. It is not strictly zero calorie diet but I think if your aim is health this is probably for the best rather than seeking ideal of zero calories.
- wyager 5y ago
  What parts of your brain can’t use ketones?
TimSchumann 5y ago
I mean, I probably have/had a lot of junk proteins floating around in my blood stream, walls of my blood vessels, scar tissue, etc. (Warning -- speculation on my part) I may have lost absolute muscle mass, but glycogen is a bunch of that mass, and my muscles had none of that by day 60. My feeling was something along the lines of -- sure I lost some muscle mass, but it was a small amount and relative to overall mass lost and the other health benefits of not being obese. Also, subjectively, I feel like I lost little to no actual strength.
- lmilcin 5y ago
  I think part of this can be explained by lost mass in general as you no longer need to lug that fat around with you, making it easier to move around and generally feel better at least for a time before body accommodates.
  - TimSchumann 5y ago
    True. I guess what I'm trying to get across is subjectively it felt like there was nothing but gains. To me quibbling over if 5% or 25% of overall mass lost was muscle is immaterial and completely outweighed by the benefits regardless of what that number is.