Dieting: What does it do to muscles?
Most of us are on a diet of some sort. The exact nature may vary, depending on what is fashionable at the moment. But chances are that we all modulate our food and nutrition.
What does dieting do to your muscles?
Your muscles are metabolically active. They require energy simply to exist. When you drastically reduce calories, your body senses a shortage of fuel.
Imagine running a company that is making losses. What do you do? Cut costs right? Similarly, your body begins to cut down on energy consuming tissues.
Muscle, unfortunately, is one of the first to go.
The body prioritises survival. If calories drop too low, your body shifts into conservation mode. Scientists call this the energy deficit state.
In this state, levels of insulin and IGF-1 fall, both of which are essential for muscle repair and growth. At the same time, cortisol, the stress hormone, rises.
Cortisol actively breaks down muscle protein into amino acids, which your liver then converts into glucose.
This mechanism is meant to protect you during famine. But you are intentionally denying yourself food.
Losing muscle has profound long-term consequences. Muscles are your metabolic engine. The more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate.
Losing muscle slows your metabolism slows. This is why many people hit a weight-loss plateau.The more they cut calories they less the calories they burn.
Worse, once they go back to normal eating, they gain fat rapidly because the metabolic engine is now smaller.
So what should you do?
If you are reducing calories, do it intelligently. Keep your calorie deficit modest. Keep it within balance. Make sure you get adequate protein. Strength-train.
Think of strength training as your insurance policy. It is sending a signal that muscle is essential. That the body cannot shut down or slow down the process of building muscle.
Remember your goal is weight loss, not muscle loss. Weight loss comes from fat loss.
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