MISCONCEPTIONS about fasting. This is the fifth part of an ongoing series.

Studies of alternate daily fasting . . . show that the concern over muscle loss is largely misplaced. Alternate daily fasting over 70 days decreased body weight by 6%, but fat mass decreased by 11.4%. Lean mass (including muscle and bone) did not change at all. Significant improvements were seen in LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Growth hormone increases to maintain muscle mass. Studies of eating a single meal per day found significantly more fat loss despite the same caloric intake. Importantly, no evidence of muscle loss was found.

The other persistent myth of ‘starvation mode’ is that basal metabolism decreases severely and our bodies ‘shut down’. This too is highly disadvantageous to survival of the human species. If, after a single day of fasting, metabolism decreased, then we would have less energy to hunt or gather food. With less energy, we are less likely to get food. So, another day passes, and we are even weaker, making us even less likely to get food. This is a vicious cycle that the human species would not have survived. It’s stupid. Why would we assume the human body is so stupid? There are, in fact, no species of animals, humans included that are evolved to require three meals a day, everyday. We have already seen in a previous post that resting energy expenditure (REE) goes UP, not down during fasting. Metabolism revs up; it does not shut down.