Novelty of Calorie Restriction
Whether you’re familiar with many of the popular diets on the market today or not, the average person can recognize the role of calories in the foods we eat.
We’re taught that consuming more calories than we need leads to unwanted weight gain in the form of fat. Eating below maintenance levels is supposed to burn fat as we’re in a caloric deficit.
We all know millions of people calculate calories throughout the day to reach fat-loss goals. Yet, many fail at this strategy, as many variables make fat loss more complicated.
Those variables include caloric burn from workouts, macronutrient profiles of meals (carbs, proteins, and fats), hormonal imbalances, time spent sleeping/resting per night, and adherence to the diets themselves.
The factors that go into caloric intake and expenditure often have the personal trainer or dietician blaming the client, suggesting a solution of eating LESS and moving MORE.
Intermittent fasting has recently become more popular over the last decade as individuals who fail to adhere to strict diet regiments find alternatives to their weight loss/fat loss strategies.
Fasting is an open-minded approach to weight management, as it allows you to follow any diet you prefer and offers options for various lengths of your eating window.
This could be beneficial for those who have been exhausted by calorie reduction and have stalled in losing fat.
Calorie Restriction vs. Intermittent Fasting
Your basal metabolic rate isthe number of calories burned by your body for life-sustaining functions and is greatly affected by the amount of calories you consume regularly.
When calories are reduced, the body is forced to lower its basal metabolic rate to match caloric intake. This was demonstrated by Dr. Ancel Keys’s 1950 study, which showed a lower metabolic rate with a 1,500-calorie diet.
Once this metabolic rate drops, weight loss usually stalls and soon leads to weight gain as calorie expenditure decreases. To compensate for this, people will go on diets with even lower calorie intake and increase calorie expenditure through more intense cardio workouts.
In comparison, intermittent fasting does not have negative effects on basal metabolic rate as it maintains lean body mass throughout the fasting period.
Reducing calories controls the amount of energy the body consumes, which may lead to fat gain, but it doesn’t control the timing of fat-storing hormones released.
Each time a meal or snack is consumed in the body, insulin is released shortly to deliver this energy to the cells or for storage as fat in the adipose tissue (regardless of whether it’s from protein, carbohydrates, or fat).
With almost all calorie-restricted diets, food is consumed throughout the day, leading to constant blood sugar spikes and insulin release shortly afterward. Intermittent fasting gives you the advantage of timing your release of insulin within the meals consumed in your eating window.
Reducing your insulin release frequency throughout the day helps prevent insulin resistance, which can later lead to a host of other problems.
Insulin is the main hormone released during calorie-reduction diets, along with another hormone called ghrelin, which increases hunger the longer the diet is extended. This is released specifically around meal times.
In contrast, intermittent fasting releases hormones from the sympathetic system: thyroid, growth hormone, adrenaline, cortisol, and glucagon. These hormones help preserve muscle mass and break down stored energy for later use.
The strategy of calorie reduction can help you avoid calorie-dense foods for a period of time. Still, you may have issues maintaining hormonal balances to keep fat gain low.
The Wrap Up
Calorie counting is a common practice for those who are used to dieting for periods of time; however, caloric restriction tends to lead to short-term weight management solutions. Maintaining a high metabolic rate through small feeding intervals is much more sustainable than reverting to high expenditure with low calories and heavy emphasis on cardio exercise. Whether you choose calorie reduction or intermittent fasting, always make a decision that fits your lifestyle permanently.
