Transcription
The benefits of prolonged fasting and long-term fasting are really, really evident when it comes down to overall health. But no one's really talking about the benefits of prolonged fasting when it comes down to fitness, when it comes down to fat loss, when it comes down to muscle retention. So let's really dive into this.
And in this video, I'm gonna break down exactly why prolonged fasting is extremely beneficial when it comes down to fat loss, when it comes down to saving muscle, when it comes down to truly looking your best, not just feeling your best. And a quick little sneak peek, I'm actually gonna give you a study that shows and proves that prolonged fasting actually increases the amount of muscle that you retain compared to normal calorie restriction diets. So make sure you stick with me throughout the entirety of this video. And if you haven't already, make sure you hit that subscribe button.
Alright, first and foremost, let's talk about human growth hormone here. It's an obvious one. Human growth hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland and allows us to produce more muscle tissue. It also improves glycogen retention. So basically, if you're on a diet and you're really trying to restrict carbohydrates or you're fasting, human growth hormone is going to make it so that glycogen is retained, so your muscles stay a lot fuller. So human growth hormone has a multitude of benefits, right? We know that it's great. But what a lot of people don't realize is that prolonged fasting has massive, massive benefits when it comes to increasing growth hormone, not just in small amounts, but in massive, huge amounts. In fact, there was one study by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism that found after just a two-day fast, there was a five-fold improvement in human growth hormone levels. That's pretty darn phenomenal.
Now, if that's not enough for you, there was another study that was done with a Journal of Clinical Investigation that found after a two-day fast, there was a 2,000 percent increase in human growth hormone levels. That's pretty darn phenomenal.
Now, what we have to factor in here is that there is actually a coinciding relationship between higher levels of human growth hormone and higher levels of testosterone. Those that have higher levels of human growth hormone typically have higher levels of testosterone as well. And we all know, whether you're man, woman, or child, testosterone is really, really important for retaining muscle and overall burning fat.
But what about the science when it comes down to testosterone? Well, I've got some research for you there as well. The European Journal of Endocrinology published a study that found that just fasting 24 hours increased luteinizing hormone dramatically, in fact, by 67%. Now, luteinizing hormone is part of the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis. Now, what that is, is how the brain communicates with the testes to ultimately produce more testosterone. So, in short, luteinizing hormone is a precursor to testosterone.
To build off of that, this same study found that there was a 180 percent increase in free testosterone levels. Free testosterone is the actual testosterone that is usable. So, simply fasting for 24 hours helps out not just your luteinizing hormone, but literally helps out your testosterone as well.
Alright, so now that we've talked about HGH, we've talked about testosterone, let's talk about some other stuff. Let's talk about fat loss, because quite honestly, there's some serious stuff that's going on there. What we have to realize is, in order to burn fat, we have to have some kind of stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system. Now, the sympathetic nervous system is our fight-or-flight response. It's adrenaline, it's norepinephrine, epinephrine, all that stuff. Basically, when we're fasting, we have a massive increase in that, simply because we're fasting. If you do the math, it makes sense, right? We're in a period where we normally be looking for food, we'd be hunting, we'd be gathered, we'd be sort of panicking looking for food. So we go into that fight-or-flight response. Well, that sends a cascade of catecholamines like norepinephrine and epinephrine that geo-target fat cells, specifically white fat cells in our bodies. We have a white fat and we have brown fat. White fat equals bad, brown fat equals good. Now, norepinephrine specifically targets white fat and burns it up. It oxidizes and burns the bad fat. And fasting increases norepinephrine dramatically. So there we go, we do the math. Fasting equals big increases in the sympathetic nervous system response, which therefore helps you burn more fat.
Now, is the study that I'm really excited to talk about. The study that's gonna deep on all the myths out there surrounding the world of prolonged fasting. The ones that tell you that you're gonna lose all your muscle, the ones that tell you you're gonna waste away to nothing. So this study was actually published and presented by the University of Illinois-Chicago. And what they actually looked at was comparing groups of people that went through intermittent periods of fasting, more groups of people that went through daily calorie restriction, where they were actually just limiting how much calories they consume in a given day. Well, what they found was pretty alarming. They found the results were very, very similar, almost identical. But those that were fasting for longer periods of time, like for a day at a time, actually retained more muscle, ever so slightly. So there you go, myth busted. Prolonged fasting is not gonna cause you to burn up all your muscle, and you're not gonna waste away. Well, what you have to be cognizant of is how much you consume in the way of calories on the days that you do eat. You don't want to have a net loss of calories over the course of the week if you're trying to build muscle, you're trying to retain your size.
And last but not least, we look at insulin. Now, this may not sound like much, but it's been found that if you go through a period of prolonged fasting where you're alternating one fasting day, no fasting day, one fasting day, no fasting day, then you're gonna have a massive decrease in insulin levels. Well, one study in particular found that after 22 days of doing this, there was a 4% reduction in fasting insulin levels. That doesn't sound like much, but I will tell you from experience, a 4% reduction in insulin in a fasted state is huge. Insulin is going to be the trigger that tells you to either store fat or burn fat. So if your insulin levels are lower, you're burning more fat and you're storing less fat.
So that about sums it up. When we're looking at fasting as a whole, it's not gonna kill you, it's not gonna hurt you. In fact, as far as fitness goes, it's probably gonna help you get in the best shape of your life. But you're also having the benefits that come from a health side as well. So in my opinion, it's the best of both worlds. But you can't do a prolonged fast every day because then you'd never be eating. So it should be done intermittently, maybe once every month, once every two months. You don't need to do a long fast every single week, that's a little too much.
As always, keep it locked in here on my channel. If you have any ideas for future videos, make sure you comment below and let me know. I'll see you in the next one.