So I have been practicing IF for two years now. I practice 18-6 and love it.
I work out fasted and break my fast with my post workout meal.
I am trying to wrap my head around blood glucose and spiking insulin.
From what I understand a spike in insulin post workout can help shuttle nutrients into cells and can be very anabolic.
I also know that after a fast, especially after working out fasted, the body utilizes nutrients much differently that it would later in a feeding period.
No I also have seen a lot of data around keeping stable blood sugar levels and the direct correlation with the storage of nutrients as fat.
I know people use berberine to keep BG levels stable but this seems counter intuitive to muscle building and nutrient utilization. If you were to prevent the spike in BG would the nutrients not be utilized as efficiently and if so what happens to the “left over” nutrients you have taken in? Does it turn into fat? Or does it not work like that.
Could one in theory break their fast post workout with high carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores and fuel recovery and then taper the carbs down throughout the feeding window while utilizing berberine to help keep BG stable?
I’m just kinda spitballing here. I just got a continuous glucose monitor and hope this will help me better understand my own BG levels and how they fluctuate through the fasting window.
Sorry if this is all over the place as I’m still trying to wrap my head around the physiology.
From my understanding of taking physiology classes insulin attaches to receptors on cells to open glucose channels to allow cellular respiration to occur and ATP synthase. Also if you don’t have diabetes and your pancreas works fine your body would first use glycogen stores to maintain blood glucose levels. My personal opinion is that you eat sugars before and after your workout so you have steady Cellular respiration going and fast only at night to maximize insulin like growth factor 1 activity while you sleep