Month: April 2022

Both carb-restriction and fasting appear to operate along similar physiological pathways. Both have lower carbs. Both increase fat adaptation. Both have the capacity to get you into ketosis. Both lower insulin and blood sugar.

If both serve the same purpose which one is better? 

Is there a possibility that an intermittent fasting program outperforms a limited carbohydrate consuming diet and the other way around?

Let’s look at the differences between fasting and carbohydrate restriction.

Losing Body Fat

The primary or majorly known reason for which anyone follows either intermittent fasting or carb restriction is for losing body fat. You know it is undeniable. 

Restricting carbohydrates through a proper low carbohydrate diet helps reduce body fat amazingly. Sure, using “low-carb” meals containing 35-40% carbohydrates or calorically controlled diets skews the outcomes, yet genuine low-carb eating behavior researches reveal that individuals voluntarily lower calories as well as shed fat in the body quicker in comparison to other programs.

Intermittent fasting works for reducing body fat as well. Fasting on alternative days boosted the oxidation of body fat and losing weight in patients who are not overweight. Fasting on alternative days used to be an excellent approach for decreasing weight in overweight patients, with great dietary consistency continuously. Fasting on alternative days was equally as successful as calory restriction in producing weight reduction in relatively younger obese women, and it was simpler to stick to the first than the latter.

Carbohydrate limitation and intermittent fasting are two methods for calorie reduction that are simple to follow. Fasting completely eliminates the chance of ingesting. Carbohydrate constraint reduces the amount of the less nutritious macronutrients while increasing the amount of the most nutritious macronutrients. These diets improve the burning of fat while also preserving lean muscle if you consume enough proteins and do heavy weights lifting.

The strategy for sticking to any diet plan is choosing the plan that will sustain. For the people who keep getting extremely hungry, fasting definitely will not be helpful for their weight loss. Interestingly, I have seen that simple carbohydrate limitation is the most effective and well-tolerated among people.

Health Reasons

Another significant reason for changing your dietary plan is if you have a history of Type 2 diabetes or maybe you have recently discovered an increased level of blood sugar or you think you can get diabetes hereditarily. Whatever the reason maybe you are trying to avoid the health issues that can arise from weight gain or high-calorie intake like many people.

Firstly, having type 2 diabetes makes a person intolerant to carbohydrate foods. 

In research conducted on a group of people having type 2 diabetes, some of the people in the group consumed zero carbohydrates for 3 days, and the remaining people in the group fasted for the same amount of time. Below are the findings of the research after 3 days:

For zero carbohydrates it declined to 160 from 196 overnight. For fasting, it reduced even more to 127.

In 24 hours, the level of glucose for the people who consumed zero carbohydrates declined by around 35% and for people who were fasting it declined by around 49%.

In 24 hours, the level of insulin for the people who consumed zero carbohydrates declined by around 48% and for people who were fasting it declined by around 69%.

From the findings, it seems either of the methods would work, however, fasting was more effective. But you cannot keep fasting for an indefinite time. 

A shortened window of eating is another name for the time period before or after fasting. The study’s shortened window of eating was consecutive 6 hours, the eating period was restricted from early morning to the middle of the afternoon. They missed dinner and only had breakfast. 

The sensitivity of insulin decreased fasting insulin, the increased function of the beta cell of the pancreas, and the hunger urge at night are improved for the intermittent fasters. Their stress of oxidative and blood pressure was better than before. However, all of these were achieved by them without losing any significant amount of weight. 

When it comes to fasting, the hour of the day matters a lot. It is possible that you can skip breakfast and it would not have a similar impact as missing dinner. If you decide to do intermittent fasting for treating prediabetes, high blood sugar, or type 2 diabetes, remember to keep track of the progress. Also, you should experiment with fasting at various times of a day.

Performance of Athletes

Carbohydrate restrictions and increased carbohydrates for important tournaments are recommended for distance runners who want to enhance overall aerobic capacity and boost glycogen preservation.  It is a terrific technique to train your system to use its body’s stored fat as fuel for a long time throughout races while deferring the burn off large amounts of glycogen till the very end. When done properly, this approach enables a racer to have more than enough fuel left in the body while the other pack is functioning by fumes.

Relatively high-intensity sportsmen who want or require consuming more carbohydrates to replace the glycogen levels, are constantly depleting and cannot do that with a carbohydrate-restricted regime. They could choose an intermittent fasting method that is carbohydrate skeptic. Intermittent fasting might not even increase fitness explicitly, but it can surely cohabit with a carbohydrate-restricted diet.

Final Takeaway

Intermittent fasting and carbohydrate restriction are both beneficial for losing body fat, controlling malfunctioning responses of blood sugar, and improving fat burning and glycogen storage during sports or any physical activity. 

Begin with a basic carbohydrate constraint, by limiting needless carbohydrates and only eating those which will be needed to support high-intensity physical activities. You can also skip either breakfast or dinner if you want. Perhaps you will never be able to do it and that is all right.

The essential factor is to burn fat over lengthy stretches of time while keeping insulin levels low. Intermittent fasting and carbohydrate restriction both can help in achieving that.

Hey, are you looking for a blog relating to strength training or thinking about whether to go to strength training classes? Is fitness your go-to thing? Being stronger and healthier is your long-term goal? Then strength training is something that needs to be part of a fitness program. This blog will tell you what strength training is and how it will bring changes into your life.

Strength training is a form of training that can be done inside the house, or you can visit the gym. The commonly followed methods by most people are:

Weight Machines:

Weight Machines are something that can be used by the people in their homes as well as by visiting the gyms. And the weight machines will also have a list of instructions that can be followed.

Bodyweight:

Various bodyweight exercises are helpful for building muscles. The commonly followed exercises are push-ups or jumping and pushing. All these uses only your body weight.

Resistance Tubing:

Resistance tubing is something that is not an expensive and lightweight product that can be used for building muscles. However, they are useful in building the strength of the muscle, and they are also easy to carry while travelling.

If you have a question like, will the strength training help boost long-term health? Here is your answer:

Stronger Bones:

Strength training will help in reducing calories. Will also help in increasing the strength of bones and also help in reducing weight.

Improves the Quality of Life:

Strength training will help people in maintaining a good and very healthy life. Also, help in reducing stress. It will make the bones strong and decrease the pain-bearing capacity of the person. As a result, there will be an improvement in the quality of life, and muscle building will help in reducing the risk of falling.

Improves the thinking capacity:

Strength training would reduce stress and worries and also depression. In addition, strength training methods like aerobics contribute toward a happy and healthier life and improve the thinking capacity of people.

How to Start with the Strength Training?

In case you are facing any health complications, or if you are a person who is aged more than 40 years and you are not involved with the strength training, you need to go and check with the doctor before you start with the strength training activities like push-ups, jumping or aerobic programs.

Prep Before Strength Training

While starting with the strength training first step is warming up exercises or any activities like aerobics, and these activities will help you warm up all the muscles. These exercises need to be continued for at least 15 minutes. The main reason for this is that cold muscles would lead to injury.

Choosing the Correct Weight

The selection of the weight is also important. It should be heavy enough to work on the muscles, and the same exercise needs to be repeated 10 to 15 times. When the training capacity increases or the person gets used to the exercises, then the person can try other weight measures or muscle-strengthening measures.

Backed by Research

The various research that is conducted on strength training and the outcome is that if the person can do more than 12 times the same set, then the person will be able to gain the muscle. And the outcome will be good as compared to him doing the different types of sets of exercises.

Essential Points to Keep in Mind

In the case of strength training, the point to be considered is that the muscle will require a certain time to become normal, so the resting part is also necessary and sufficient breaks need to be taken in between doing the exercises.

Strength training is good and will help in boosting long-term health, but it is important to notice if the exercises are affecting your health or body. If strength training exercises are affecting the body and mind, then the first thing to be done is to stop the exercise immediately. And try any alternative option or other strength training measures or give a certain amount of break and start after some time.

Technique Matters the Most

Strength training is also about the techniques, so while doing strength training, one should keep in mind the technique to be followed while doing the exercise to avoid any kind of injuries or problems. And if people are new to strength training, then the person should always go for a fitness trainer who is trained and will be able to guide them.

Strength training can be done in-home also, but one will have to purchase the equipment necessary for the training. And if you don’t know anything about strength training but want to know about it, then there are you-tube videos and classes also which guide the person cost-free and also there will pay classes which people can attend online. And another cheapest way to learn about strength training and working toward improving health is by way of reading books.

Life Changing Path

When strength exercises are incorporated into daily life, we can experience a very healthy life. Our strengths would also grow gradually. And daily doing the exercise will help the person to be more fit there will be a reduction in the number of health problems that may occur. And due to the regularity of strength training, one can easily lift the weight. And the difference in the body can be felt in just a few weeks after starting the strength training.

Final Takeaway

Strength training is something that is beneficial and will help people in improving or boosting their long-term health. However, if you want to go for strength training, then do not overdo the exercises and cause harm to yourself. If you face any challenges, then you should always discuss them with the trainer or the doctor. If you really want to accomplish any specific result, you should discuss it with them and only if possible, and it should be done. There can be small or moderate muscle pain when you start the exercise for the first time or for a few days, but if such pain continues for long, then it is to be addressed quickly.