Why severe low-calorie diets will always make you lose muscle mass

[tarmyg]

Hi guys,

There are have been a few experiments here where people have tried some severely calorie limited diets in order to lose weight fast. This research shows that this will always make you lose muscle mass no matter how much you try to protect yourself. There also a formula for how to calculate this. I have attached the study here should anyone else want to provide some feedback.

A limit on the maximum energy transfer rate from the human fat store in hypophagia is deduced from experimental data of underfed subjects maintaining moderate activity levels and is found to have a value of (290725) kJ/kg d. A dietary restriction which exceeds the limited capability of the fat store to compensate for the energy deficiency results in an immediate decrease in the fat free mass (FFM). In cases of a less severe dietary deficiency, the FFM will not be depleted. The transition between these two dietary regions is developed and a criterion to distinguish the regions is defined. An exact mathematical solution for the decrease of the FFM is derived for the case where the fat mass (FM) is in its limited energy transfer mode. The solution shows a steady-state term which is in agreement with conventional ideas, a term indicating a slow decrease of much of the FFM moderated by the limited energy transferred from the fat store, and a final term showing an unprotected rapid decrease of the remaining part of the FFM. The average resting metabolic rate of subjects undergoing hypophagia is shown to decrease linearly as a function of the FFM with a slope of (249725) kJ/kg d. This value disagrees with the results of other observers who have measured metabolic rates of diverse groups.

The popular assumption made in cases of hypophagia is that energy deficits are balanced by appropriate decreases in the fat mass (FM)1 resulting in the initial constancy of the fat free mass (FFM). It is sometimes assumed that this situation will persist until the total exhaustion of the FM at which point the FFM will then begin to decrease. As reasonable as this paradigm may appear, it will be demonstrated that it is not valid in the case of semi-starvation where the FFM decreases from the start of the dietary regimen. It is deduced from the experimental data that, in the case of severe dietary restriction, the FM can only provide a limited rate of energy transfer to the FFM forcing the energy deficit to be made up by a decrease in the FFM. The ability of the FM to provide whatever energy is required by the FFM is possibly restricted by the rate limited biochemical reactions of the energy transfer processes. If, however, the dietary restriction is not severe, it is possible that ‘‘protein sparing’’ can occur at least until the FM is depleted to the level where its limited energy transfer capability becomes challenged. Both cases of ‘‘protein sparing’’ and ‘‘non-protein sparing’’ are discussed in this paper and the transition from the former condition to the latter is considered.

Full article here: http://ge.tt/3zbITFR1/v/0?c

Thanks
~T

[Docd187123]

Hi guys,

There are have been a few experiments here where people have tried some severely calorie limited diets in order to lose weight fast. This research shows that this will always make you lose muscle mass no matter how much you try to protect yourself. There also a formula for how to calculate this. I have attached the study here should anyone else want to provide some feedback.





Full article here: http://ge.tt/3zbITFR1/v/0?c

Thanks
~T

I would argue that even small caloric deficits exhibit lbm loss and it's not strictly associated with aggressive calorie deficits. There are wYs to work around this and minimize lbm loss. Looking at the big picture an extreme deficit may lose more lbm in a given unit of time but the time you'd run such a large deficit is also less than a typical diet. A more mild approach may burn less lbm but the drawback is you'd be losing less lbm for a longer overall period of time making the two not so dissimilar.