A few weeks ago, the disinformation website ‘Healthline’ published an article about “7 widespread myths about intermittent fasting,” allegedly debunked by ‘dietitians.’
As you know, ‘dietitians’ are totally clueless about human physiology and nutrition. It’s simply a “title” you earn by repeating total bollocks that the food industry and Big Pharma made up to keep people weak and sick and to profit from them.
So, let’s see what these ‘dietitians’ had to say.
“While some eating strategies, like the Mediterranean diet, have broad support, others remain the subject of scrutiny and, at times, conflicting (and inaccurate) information.
Researchers at the University of Chicago Illinois believe intermittent fasting is one of them.”
And right out of the gate, you got pretty much everything wrong. That’s not a particularly good start. The “Mediterranean Diet” is completely misrepresented and bastardized within the field of “diet” and “nutrition,” just as they’ve bastardized the “Okinawa Diet.” Both diets are based on animal-based foods, especially sheep, pork, beef, fish, and dairy. However, the really big mistake here is to compare ‘intermittent fasting’ to a ‘diet.’
A diet describes what, when and how much to eat. Intermittent fasting is not a ‘diet,’ it’s simply an “time restricted eating protocol.” It suggests a feeding window of 4 to 8 hours, and then you fast for the remainder of the day. That is all it is. And that means that if your previous eating habits were complete shit, and you continue to consume the same shit, the results will likely be shit. Simple, right?
After this, Healthline steered the discussion around a new article published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology on June 19, where some “researchers” sought to debunk what they concluded are common “myths” about intermittent fasting.
“The new report’s authors included research on two types of intermittent fasting: alternate-day (switching between days of consuming a limited number of calories and days of eating as they please) and time-restricted (eating as desired during a four—to 10-hour window).
While the authors who conducted the latest study concluded both types were safe and that four commonly held ideas were untrue, Healthline spoke with additional health experts to discuss the latest research.”
Alternate-day is not really ‘intermittent fasting,’ it’s simply a fat-loss strategy.
Myth: Intermittent fasting affects sex hormones
“The authors cited research, including a 2024 study of 90 adults living with obesity, that indicated intermittent fasting did not negatively affect sex hormones. The study also suggested that it may decrease testosterone and increase SHBG levels in people with PCOS, improving the condition.”
Whether hormones will be affected or not depends on the quality of your diet and whether you consume a lot less food than before or not. One problem with intermittent fasting eating plans is that it might be difficult to consume the same amount of food as before when you only have a feeding window of about 4 to 6 hours a day. This might be good for fat loss, at least initially, but the risk of severe malnutrition, as in developing nutrient deficiencies is really high, especially since most people do not consume enough animal-based foods, which is our only source of real bioavailable nutrition. If your food choices suck, and even worse, if you do not get enough nutrients and energy, your hormones will be negatively affected no matter what.
With that said, if you get enough nutrients, as in following an animal-based diet, then your hormones will not be affected, they will likely become better balanced instead — and then it does not matter if you have a feeding window of only 4 hours.
A nutritious diet will always improve your health while a lacking diet will slowly destroy your health. How many times in a day you eat does not really matter.
Myth: Intermittent fasting causes excessive muscle mass loss
“Researchers cited studies that suggested that people lost the same amount of lean muscle mass regardless of whether they were fasting or following another diet.”
This comes down to the exact same things as in the point above. It’s all about providing enough nutrients to sustain you. If you lack any nutrient, especially quality protein, and if you do not eat enough (as in aiming for fat loss,) you will lose muscle mass no matter the approach. However, if you get everything you need and your nutrition stores are full, you can fast for a very long time without losing muscle mass. Actually, if you do things the right way, you should not lose any muscle mass at all while being on a ‘fat loss diet.’ I’ve covered this many times, and not one of my thousands of clients throughout the years has lost any muscle mass.
Myth: Intermittent fasting will affect your diet quality
“Authors suggest that intermittent fasting does not cause unhealthy diet quality. Authors cited one review of randomized control trials published in 2024 that indicated that intake of the following indicators of diet quality did not change in people adhering to shorter eating windows (4 to 6 hours) and longer ones (8 to 10 hours.)”
When you switch to an ‘intermittent fasting approach’ of eating, you usually still have some regular meals, as in “real food,” as you tend to ditch some of the snacks you otherwise would have. So, in that regard, the “quality” of the diet may stay unchanged or even improve as some unnecessary junk was cut out.
Then you have people who become a bit more health conscious as they switch to a new approach and might even try to make their meals healthier to get more out of it. Unfortunately, most people are clueless when it comes to human nutrition and they add in toxic plant-based foods. So, for the more serious health-nut, it can go either way.
Myth: Intermittent fasting can cause eating disorders
“The authors suggested that healthy adults who used intermittent fasting tended to report fewer food cravings, binge-eating behaviors, weight concerns, and anxiety about appearance. People with a history of eating disorders were screened out. The authors wrote — and the dietitians we spoke with also noted — that participants generally started from a low risk of developing one in the first place.”
Before even addressing this, we need to define what an “eating disorder” actually is — and to be able to do that we must look at nature and how humans are actually supposed to eat.
By looking at our physiology and history, humans are undoubtedly obligate hyper carnivores. We are made to hunt and trap animals, using tools and outsmarting them, as well as feeding off other predators’ kills as scavengers. Usually this would mean a meal every now and then. Sometimes a big feast and then plenty of food for a few days, then likely followed by a few days of less food or even fasting. So, any other eating behaviors would actually be an ‘eating disorder,’ especially consuming man-made and plant-based processed food several times a day.
In other words, a typical ‘dietician’ recommendation of a “balanced” and “varied” diet consisting of 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables daily, is undoubtedly a severe eating disorder — as it goes completely against human nutritional needs and physiology.
So, I would say that the concept of ‘intermittent fasting’ at least takes us one step closer to what actually is a normal eating pattern.
Myth: Intermittent fasting can “cure” type 2 diabetes
“A 2023 randomized control trial suggested that intermittent fasting might help people with type 2 diabetes achieve remission, which goes against the idea that the disease is chronic and lifelong. However, Van Eck says more research is needed.
The study mentioned here was only three months long and, therefore, does not provide any significant information about people’s ability to stick to this regimen long term or their ability to improve their blood sugar long term, Van Eck says.”
The only way to cure diabetes is to remove what is causing it, as in carbohydrates that unnaturally increase blood glucose above normal levels which is very toxic and damaging to our cells. I’ve covered this many times as well.
With that said, if someone who consumes carbohydrates and is diagnosed with diabetes type 2, switching to an ‘intermittent fasting’ eating pattern will reduce the number of ‘spikes’ of blood glucose and thus reduce the overall damage. It will also give the body some more time every day for healing and repair. So, while they continue to inflict damage through their retarded way of eating, simply restricting the feeding window might be enough to halt the progress of diabetes or even reverse it a little bit. And that is why any “study results” will be conflicting, as there are many factors in play. Still, anyone with common sense would understand that the only thing you need to do is to slowly phase out the real problem, that of carbohydrates.
“We know that weight control and weight loss can help with the management of type 2 diabetes,” Pelitera says. “Intermittent fasting often leads to calorie restriction, which results in weight loss.”
No, it’s not the “weight loss” that helps with diabetes, it’s the fact that to achieve ‘fat loss’ you eat less crap. If you eat less, that means less carbohydrates, which means lower amounts of blood glucose, which means less damage and a greater chance that your body can begin to heal.
Myth: Intermittent fasting can lead to long-term weight loss
“The data indicated that the time-restricted plan produced more weight loss than the control but was not more productive than restricting calories in a racially diverse group.
However, dietitians say that more than a one-year assessment period is needed to draw conclusions about the link between long-term weight loss and intermittent fasting.
The study cited is small and not very well designed, so one should take the findings with a grain of salt, Moody says. That said, it is very possible that IF can lead to long-term weight loss. However, this is the most likely if the fasting is accompanied by comprehensive nutrition education and the supervision/regular counseling of a registered dietitian.”
Our body is very adaptable. If you try and use an ‘intermittent fasting’ approach for fat loss, as in simply eating less and within a feeding window, your body will eventually adapt and your fat loss will pretty much stall. This is why all kinds of “restrictive” fat loss approaches suck. It’s much better to simply eat to maintain your weight for 4 to 5 days a week, and then either fast or only have one meal during the other 2 to 3 days. By doing this, you will get better and faster results while your body will never get the chance to adapt to a lower food and energy intake.
Myth: Intermittent fasting is safe for everyone
“Van Eck pointed out that intensive weight loss could increase the risk of all-cause or cardiovascular mortality in people with Type 2 diabetes.”
Again, intermittent fasting is simply a time-restricted eating protocol. It is not a fat loss approach. If you use it as such, you must make sure that you get all the nutrients you need to sustain your health and body. If not, things will go downwards quickly, as it will with any kind of lacking diet – no matter if you have your meals in 4 hours or spread them out into 5, 6 or even 7 feedings a day. It makes no difference. Shit in, shit out.
“Moody also advises against following intermittent fasting if you are: pregnant, lactating, under 18, take prescription medications that require regular food intake, or have a history of eating disorders.”
Yes, I have to agree. If you do not understand nutrition and how important it is to consume animal-based foods to get everything you need, the risk of nutrient deficiencies increases when you restrict your feeding window, as it may cause you to eat even less of what you were currently getting. And that is a big risk if you’re pregnant, if you’re lactating, or if you are still young and growing.
Takeaway
“These myths included that intermittent fasting could cause adverse effects on sex hormones (and fertility), muscle mass loss, unhealthy diet, and eating disorders.
Intermittent fasting is not safe for everyone, including people with certain conditions or who are pregnant or lactating.”
Yes, you actually got most points right this time. However, as always, you did not explain the real physiology and science behind the points or even touch on how important real quality food is, as in animal-based foods. Simply by looking at the picture they used for this article, which is full of extremely toxic crap that is the complete opposite of human nutrition, we can clearly see their agenda and how they try to condition the masses with inverted imagery.
Intermittent fasting is a great tool to let your body get time to rest its digestive system, to detox, and to heal. Considering today’s modern and polluted world, it is a good strategy as long as you get real quality nutrition. As your feeding window shrinks, the importance of quality food increases.
If you need advice or help with your diet and daily eating plan, or with transitioning to our natural species-appropriate carnivorous way of eating, I’m available for both coaching and consultation.
