The goal of any weight loss effort is to reduce body fat while increasing or maintaining lean muscle mass.
In 1965 the U.S. Navy conducted a study comparing the effects of weight loss from fasting (no food) and from a ketogenic diet (a very low carbohydrate diet).
The objective of the study was to measure not only how much body weight was lost but also to see wether the weight loss was due to a loss of fat or muscle.
The study consisted of 7 obese males with an average weight of 255 lbs and with an average body fat of 44%. The study was conducted in a metabolic ward lasting 24 days divided into 3 periods:
1. The first 10 days the men fasted.
2. The next 4 days they where fed a mixed diet of a 1000 calories/day.
3. Then they where put on the ketogenic diet (very low carb) for the remaining 10 days.
While on the ketogenic diet they're dietary macronutrients consisted of 82% fat, 14% protein, 4% carbohydrate.
The 10 day fasting period resulted in a weight loss 21.2 lbs of which 13.7 lbs was lean muscle mass and 7.5 lbs was fat. The 10 day ketogenic period resulted in a weight loss of only 14.5 lbs compared to the 21.2 lbs while fasting but only 0.5 Lbs was lean muscle mass! To state this another way, the weight loss due to fasting consisted of 65% muscle and 35% fat while the ketogeninc diet resulted in only a 3% loss of muscle and a 97% loss of fat!
Fasting for 10 days = 7.5 lbs of fat loss
Ketogenic Diet for 10 days = 14 lbs of fat loss.
It's interesting to note that even though the fasting period resulted in an 8% loss in body weight their overall body fat percentage went from 44% to 45%, they actually gain 1% body fat due to the loss of more muscle mass than fat mass.
While most of people would never consider fasting as a long term weight loss regime its interesting to see that a very low carb diet which got 82% of its calories from fat could result in 14 Lbs of fat loss in 10 days.
Eat fat to lose fat?
Sure, it flys in the face of everything we have been told from the mainstream media but then again obesity has increased while saturated fats and sucrose (sugar) consumption has decreased...
EFFECT OF FASTING OR KETGENIC DIET ON GROSS BODY COMPOSITION IN OBESITY*
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