Intermittent fasting and keto seem to be the most popular nutrition and diet strategies lately. However, what are they and how can they help you with your running?
What is Intermittent Fasting?
Intermittent fasting is when you cycle between periods of not eating (fasting) and eating.[1]healthline – Intermittent Fasting and Keto: Should You Combine the Two?
There are many popular methods including the:
- 5:2 method
- Warrior Diet
- Alternate-day fasting
- 16/8 method
If you would like to learn more, make sure to check out:
What is the Keto Diet?
The keto diet is a high-fat diet designed to turn your body into a fat burning machine.[2]Bulletproof – KETO DIET FOR BEGINNERS: YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE
Rather than using carbs as your body’s main source of energy, you start using fat. This allows you to have a long term source of energy.
In other words, you are much more likely to feel energized all day without feeling as many peaks and valleys in your energy.
If you would like to learn more, make sure to check out:
Benefits of Doing Both
There are a couple potential benefits of combining both intermittent fasting and keto.
Get into Ketosis Quicker
One of the hardest parts of the keto diet is getting into ketosis.
One of the advantages of intermittent fasting is that it can help you get into ketosis quicker.
When you fast, your body quickly uses up its carb stores. This forces it to rely on fat as its main source of energy for prolonged periods of time. This process is the exact same idea as the keto diet.[3]NCBI – Glycogen shortage during fasting triggers liver–brain–adipose neurocircuitry to facilitate fat utilization
In other words, it is a great way to jump start your keto diet.
Increased Fat Loss
By combining intermittent fasting and the keto diet, you can potentially increase the amount of fat loss than by doing either of these alone.
Intermittent fasting helps to increase your metabolic levels. As such, you will burn more fat.
Combining this with the keto diet, where you increase your fat consumption and decrease your carbs, you are quickly shaping your body into a fat burning machine.[4]NCBI – Intermittent fasting promotes adipose thermogenesis and metabolic homeostasis via VEGF-mediated alternative activation of macrophage
What are the risks?
It sounds like combining intermittent fasting and the keto diet is the magic bullet to a strong and healthy body as a runner.
However, there are some potential risks that you should be aware of.
It is difficult to sustain.
This is especially true when you are going out with friends to eat. It can be very difficult to both stay within your eating window as well as in ketosis. Many times, you might feel like you are missing out.
You run the risk of the keto flu.
When starting the keto diet, many people experience flu like symptoms including stomach pain, dizziness, headaches and nausea. In addition, the combination of these restrictive diets can run the risk of not getting enough fiber, calcium, potassium, magnesium, as well as other essential vitamins and minerals.
You may lose the ability to effectively use glucose as a form of energy.
If you eat something that is high in carbs, you are at risk of seeing spikes in your blood sugar levels. In general, the healthiest people in the word tend to be those who are metabolically flexible. In other words, it is important that you eat a well rounded diet.
Who should avoid combining the two?
There are certain groups of people that should avoid combining intermittent fasting and ketosis.[5]goodhousekeeping – Can You Do Intermittent Fasting While on the Keto Diet?
- Children under 18 should avoid it as they are still growing. It is not advised to include calorie restrictive diets to kids who are still developing.
- People over 65 years old should avoid it as they need to make sure that they are getting enough nutrients and calories to sustain their bodies.
- Women who have just given birth and plan on giving breast milk to their newborn babies. You might be tempted to do both intermittent fasting and the keto diet; however, producing milk is very energy intensive and it is not a good idea to restrict your calories at the same time.
- People who suffer from eating disorders should probably avoid these diets. They can be quite restrictive for some people and can be emotionally triggering for people who already have a hard time dealing with food.
Parting Words
Combining intermittent fasting and the keto diet can have some big potential benefits. If done correctly, they can complement and enhance each other very nicely.
However, it is important that you understand the potential risks that are involved and make the right decision depending on your personal situation.
References