Starvation Mode

For this post I thought I would go into detail a little further on starvation mode and why I feel its an important concept to explore. This is a term that as I stated last post is thrown around a lot in the fitness world and it I think stems from a psychological fear of not eating that has its origins in the constant bombardment of food advertisements, and misinformation in the fitness industry on how much we need to eat and how often. 


Here's some research 




I found this research on the blog website leangains.com

http://ajpregu.physiology.or
g/content/258/1/R87.reprint

The findings suggest in an increase in metabolic rate as a result of short term fasting, and that this is due to the increased effectiveness of adrenaline. Last blog I discussed an overall increase in metabolism during prolonged calorie restriction combined with a weight lifting program. I really liked Martin's evolutionary perspective on this finding so to quote:

"This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline/noradrenaline) sharpens the mind and makes us want to move around. Desirable traits that encouraged us to seek for food, or for the hunter to kill his prey, increasing survival. At some point, after several days of no eating, this benefit would confer no benefit to survival and probably would have done more harm than good; instead, an adaptation that favored conservation of energy turned out to be advantageous. Thus metabolic rate is increased in short-term fasting (up to 60 hours).Again, I have choosen extreme examples to show how absurd the myth of "starvation mode" is - especially when you consider that the exact opposite is true in the context of how the term is thrown around."



Another interesting study:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/21051570
This study involved a group of fasted and non fasted that participated in endurance training.

"In conclusion, F(fasting) is more effective than CHO (carb fed) to increase muscular oxidative capacity and at the same time enhances exercise-induced net IMCL (Intramyocellular lipid) degradation. In addition, F but not CHO prevented drop of blood glucose concentration during fasting exercise." 

F=fasted
CHO=carb fed group
IMCL= exercise-induced intramyocellular lipid

Training in a fasted state appears to cause a greater response to exercise in terms of blood glucose regulation, muscular adaptation and fat release. With the effects of metabolic slowdown occurring at some point past 48 hours of no food, and superior response to exercise in a fasted state, it would appear reasonable to have short fasts ending with exercise so as to receive these benefits without worrying about losing the wrong kind of weight. 


Soon I will post my lifting routine, diet plan, and fasting strategies