How fasting boosts exercise's effects on endurance
Intermittent fasting, such as eating only on alternate days, might enhance the ability of aerobic exercise to increase endurance because the body switches to using fats and ketones as a source of fuel for muscles instead of carbohydrates.
This was the conclusion that researchers came to after studying the effect in mice with such a regimen for a limited period of time.
The findings suggest that three meals per day and snacking may not be the only eating habit for people who engage in endurance sports to reach peak performance and maintain good health.
“Emerging evidence,” explains senior study author Dr. Mark Mattson, from the Laboratory of Neurosciences in the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, MD, “suggests that [intermittent dietary energy restriction] might improve overall health and reduce risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in humans.”
He and his team say that their findings propose that a similar pattern of eating and fasting may boost the beneficial effect of moderate aerobic exercise on endurance, and that it should be studied further.
