Fasting causes "hypermasculinization"

Bulletproof · 11-02-2009, 01:05 PM

Study was done on rats:

Gonadal Transcriptome Alterations in Response to Dietary Energy Intake: Sensing the Reproductive Environment

It's pretty long, so I didn't read all of it. Basically, what it says is that the rats who ate food only every other day had a significant increase in their testosterone:estrogen ratio. The scientist dubbed it "hypermasculinization." They also noted that 20% and 40% calorie reductions increased testosterone, but not as much as the fasting. They also tested a high-fat diet and found that it only modestly improved testosterone over the control. The cause behind this adaption is possibly to preserve lean mass, increase aggression, and just give you more strength to find food. This is probably how humans ate in ancient times also. This isn't practical from a bodybuilding standpoint though, since you will barely grow (if at all) on a calorie deficient diet.

**Sinister** · 11-02-2009, 01:31 PM

It's not unprecedented. The body goes through quite an amount of hormonal changes depending on nutrient ratio and availability. Also, there is actually correlating evidence to not necessarily "ancient" humans, but indigenous humans. I'm not sure why it seems to be continuously worded as "probably how" because these behaviors have definitely been observed.

PalatialGabe · 11-02-2009, 01:46 PM

That's crazy, I'll have to try fasting. I've always wanted to for spiritual reasons.

EndoGlo · 11-02-2009, 01:54 PM

What about potential negative effects from fasting for that long?

junkyard dog · 11-02-2009, 01:56 PM

I was always afraid to try any type of fasting because i feel it would hurt my workouts/performance.

One could workout on feeding days and not workout on fasting days but that limits training and maybe recovery time.

Hard to say though, some people do it just fine while others cant do it well at all

Rowan11088 · 11-02-2009, 02:08 PM

Nevermind, I'm dumb, and a smartass.

**Sinister** · 11-02-2009, 02:13 PM

Dumb smart-ass or smart dumb-ass?

EndoGlo · 11-02-2009, 02:17 PM

Lol...
He's the dumbest smart person you'll ever meet.

Dinhilion · 11-09-2009, 12:30 AM

Ya but according to the article it also shrinks your nuts- do you really want to take that risk?

oyaji poi · 11-09-2009, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by junkyard dog

I was always afraid to try any type of fasting because i feel it would hurt my workouts/performance.

One could workout on feeding days and not workout on fasting days but that limits training and maybe recovery time.

Hard to say though, some people do it just fine while others cant do it well at all

You should read up on the various fasting protocols so you can learn about the various options you have. You can eat everyday. Or not. You can workout fasted, or not.

The basic rule is to have at least 15 hours of not consuming anything that would require "digestion" - diet soda's and caffeine containing drinks are a grey area. Some protocols have you going for 24 hours, some 19 hours. Most have a "feeding window" of 4-8 hours a day.

Do a search for threads where Vedic did a good job of describing it, a lot of the time he was answering my questions.

The first time I tried IF I was also doing squats and milk. I had no problems with recovery and I gained weight.