TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

Fasting, it seems, is a very effective tool for caloric restriction. What it does not appear to be is a goal you should aspire to be able to do, say for 16 hours every day, just because the cool cats are doing it. It needs to be discussed so that you can choose whether fasting is an effective tool for you for the purposes of caloric restriction.

WHY

Fasting has been one of the premier topics in weight loss circles for years now. And there have been some extraordinary claims on its benefits.

Most women come to fasting as a tool for fat loss. But it doesn't seem to be the fasting in and of itself that is the trick, but rather fasting can provide a tool for you to reduce your overall calories.

A recent randomized control trial [*] concluded that fasting in and of itself did not confer improved blood sugar management when compared to caloric restriction. Meaning–it isn't the fasting (or the fasting window) that confers benefits to body composition changes–but rather that fasting allows for a reduction in caloric intake in a time-restricted feeding window.

Here is the conclusion of the authors:

“In the setting of isocaloric eating, time restricted eating (TRE) did not decrease weight or improve glucose homeostasis relative to a usual eating pattern (UEP), suggesting that any effects of TRE on weight in prior studies may be due to reductions in caloric intake.”

WHAT

The subjects were 93% women, with an average age of 59 years old.

The researchers split them into two groups: The first group ate throughout the whole day, and the second group consumed 80% of their calories before 1 p.m., with a maximum of a 10-hour eating window (or a 14-hour fast).

It is significant to note that both groups ate the same amount of calories with the same nutrient content. The only difference was when the calories were consumed.

After 12 weeks, there was no significant differences between the two groups in:

• Bodyweight
• Fasting glucose
• HOMA-IR (a measure for insulin resistance)
• Response to an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
• Glycated Albumin

HOW

Now, while this may seem damaging for fasting, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Fasting can be an effective tool for some for reducing calories. If that is you, then you do you, boo! But I think it might be time for us to stop pretending that fasting has magical powers other than its ability to help restrict calories.

I also think there is something powerful psychologically about fasting. Many of us mindlessly eat and do not sink into our bodies to really see how we’re feeling. Fasting can certainly help with that, especially when your stomach is gnawing at you.

Now, do I think everyone should be fasting? No.

If you are a woman in perimenopause, your primary physical objective should be to build muscle. That means feeding your body proteins in the morning to stave off the catabolic effects of sleep and to make sure you are getting enough total calories to build strong bones and muscles. So for most women in their 40s and beyond, fasting until noon is a terrible idea.

In your 40s, you need to get AHEAD of the net muscle protein breakdown and the net bone loss that accelerates as we age. So caloric restriction, especially the aggressive kind, is not going to bode well for this kind of body recomposition.

That means you have to eat in the morning and sufficiently through the day to meet your caloric and macro requirements.

NOW

If you have found fasting to be an effective tool for controlling your calories, then keep on doing what works for you. No shame in playing the game that works for you.

Fasting is a boss at helping you reduce your calories, which can give rise to many benefits if you need to reduce your calories.

But, let’s stop pretending fasting is the only way we turn over cells (autophagy) and the magic for clearing up every ailment under the sun.

Question of the Week

Q: What time of day do you typically lift weights?

This question came in from withtanya on IG and it’s one I get pretty frequently.

My personal preference has always been to lift in the morning. A few reasons for this:

• I feel accomplished first thing in the morning
• Nothing for the rest of my day is going to be as grueling or as difficult as my workout, so it sets up my work day for better productivity, mood and focus.
• I can close off the “mental tab” of my workout needing to be completed and doesn’t weigh on me over the course of the day and allows me to work on other aspects of my health that can fall by the wayside (like my steps!)

Now, is this the ideal time to workout? Research seems to agree that the ideal time for a workout is sometime between 12 and 4 p.m. This allows for your core body temperature to rise, and for appropriate lubrication of joints and tendons through natural movement. There’s also the likelihood you’ll have eaten one or two meals by that point, which allows for appropriate substrate to fuel your workouts.

I just make it work when I can make it work, and for me, that is the morning. Is it ideal, according to science? No. But it works for me.

I tried working out one day this past week at 2 p.m. because I wasn’t able to get to the gym in the morning. I had a good workout, but truthfully, I struggled. For no reason other than psychologically, I felt like I was “behind,” and it felt like a break in my cognitive rhythm of the day.

So for me, I have figured out that the morning works best with the commitments I have as a mother, and I have some marginal flexibility to move it if need be.

YOUR TURN!

I’ll be answering your questions every week right here in the Mini Pause! Let me know what’s on your mind. I’ll be checking for both questions and feedback at support@drstephanieestima.com.

What I Recommend

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P.S.

Requesting input from the Bettyverse! We're midway through the year with this newsletter and I'd love to hear if you find the information valuable and how you're using it. Also, what topics would you like to know more about, focus on, or have me dig up research on? Send your thoughts and ideas to support@drstephanieestima.com.