Which of these will help you retain more lean muscle?
I read somewhere in a study that participants who exercised and water fasted for extended periods of time lost only 10% of lean mass and 90% fat. Compared to participants on a traditional calorie deficit and who lost 25% lean mass and 75% fat. Mainly wondering how ADF/36hr fasting would stack up there as well.
According to Dr. Krista Varady, modified alternate day fasting (eating 500 calories on your fasting days) is the best for sparing muscle with 1% of the weight being muscle. She discusses this in her book Every Other Day as she details the studies she has ran.
I’m never quite sure what studies to believe, but it makes sense to me that consuming a small amount of calories could offset muscle loss.