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Muscle is only burned when you are out of fat.

Enginerrrd 4y ago
This is not true at all. There's perhaps a preference toward fat but muscle wasting absolutely occurs during fasting, and often at a relatively significant rate. If you were to "run out of fat" entirely, you'd simply die with fairly significant caloric reserves in the form of muscle. This is not what is observed.
gilmore606 4y ago
This is very much not true; I lost over 100lbs and saw the evidence in myself, before I adjusted and started eating a high protein low calorie diet. If you don't consume protein and don't work out, you will lose muscle mass, even if you have fat to burn. This is because muscle tissue is expensive to maintain; the body tends to reduce it if it's not being used.
LegitShady 4y ago
your body is constantly using protein to maintain your muscle. When you starve your body of protein, you lose the ability to maintain your muscle, and your body begins to lose muscle as well, even though it does a bunch of stuff to try to stave that off.
- chiefalchemist 4y ago
  Right. So you're not actually burning muscle - instead of fat - per se. Instead muscle wastes as the body isn't maintaining it. While it's not a controlled study, History Channel's "Alone" (reality survivalist show) always touches on lack of food and its affects.
  - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
    This just seems like a roundabout way of saying: water fasting results in loss of muscle and fat tissues. By the internal logic of this thread, and since I don’t see any way to intake protein on a water diet, where is the nuance?
    - LegitShady 4y ago
      they're splitting the hair between "muscle wasting" and "burning muscles". I don't know if its a question of internal logic or not. They are separate things, and when you fast your body does some stuff with HGH (which can skyrocket hundreds of percents) which I've read is supposed to reduce some of the expected muscle loss. They're technically correct, the best kind of correct (?)
      - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
        We completely agree - I was forcing myself to be less blunt, frankly. Well put.
  - chiefalchemist 4y ago
    The gist of my point is, the body can't use muscle as a replacement for fat. The best it can do is not invest in muscle upkeep, and redirect that energy / resources elsewhere.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
Beaver117 4y ago
I also tried water fasting. Lost both fat and muscle (and I still have plenty of fat)

This is not true at all. There's perhaps a preference toward fat but muscle wasting absolutely occurs during fasting, and often at a relatively significant rate. If you were to "run out of fat" entirely, you'd simply die with fairly significant caloric reserves in the form of muscle. This is not what is observed.

gilmore606 4y ago

This is very much not true; I lost over 100lbs and saw the evidence in myself, before I adjusted and started eating a high protein low calorie diet. If you don't consume protein and don't work out, you will lose muscle mass, even if you have fat to burn. This is because muscle tissue is expensive to maintain; the body tends to reduce it if it's not being used.

LegitShady 4y ago

your body is constantly using protein to maintain your muscle. When you starve your body of protein, you lose the ability to maintain your muscle, and your body begins to lose muscle as well, even though it does a bunch of stuff to try to stave that off.

chiefalchemist 4y ago
Right. So you're not actually burning muscle - instead of fat - per se. Instead muscle wastes as the body isn't maintaining it. While it's not a controlled study, History Channel's "Alone" (reality survivalist show) always touches on lack of food and its affects.
- DiggyJohnson 4y ago
  This just seems like a roundabout way of saying: water fasting results in loss of muscle and fat tissues. By the internal logic of this thread, and since I don’t see any way to intake protein on a water diet, where is the nuance?
  - LegitShady 4y ago
    they're splitting the hair between "muscle wasting" and "burning muscles". I don't know if its a question of internal logic or not. They are separate things, and when you fast your body does some stuff with HGH (which can skyrocket hundreds of percents) which I've read is supposed to reduce some of the expected muscle loss. They're technically correct, the best kind of correct (?)
    - DiggyJohnson 4y ago
      We completely agree - I was forcing myself to be less blunt, frankly. Well put.
- chiefalchemist 4y ago
  The gist of my point is, the body can't use muscle as a replacement for fat. The best it can do is not invest in muscle upkeep, and redirect that energy / resources elsewhere.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

Beaver117 4y ago

I also tried water fasting. Lost both fat and muscle (and I still have plenty of fat)