Is fasting recommended for athletes?
That is still a question, still to be answered.
Fasting can be good for many individuals and yet not all can fast.
We are made different and some that may look like they can handle anything may not be able to do fasting,
Especially if they are doing rigorous exercise like an athlete.
Yet there are those athletes that swear by it, it improves their performance.
When fasting and exercising you need to make sure you are eating enough carbohydrates to be able to sustain your body when you are exercising.
Otherwise, the intensity of your training will suffer.
Yet others say there are many benefits for athletes too.
One of the benefits is growth hormone, which helps with cartilage, muscle, bone growth.
It helps the immune function which is very important.
Your metabolic flexibility will work better, your body will be able to switch back and forth faster between carbs and fats.
Which will help the body with energy sources.
It will use fat longer before it switches to carbs.
Your post-exercise well improves, and your insulin will stay low.
As an athlete working hard every day to keep in shape working out your body can also cause inflammation.
Fasting also helps the body to reduce inflammation faster.
Which is always a good improvement.
Even though many good things come out of fasting.
There are also a few things that are not, for instants, if testosterone drops that is a big problem because that affects muscle protein synthesis.
That is one of the concerns about not eating enough calories for muscle gain.
Fasting for athletes should not be done when you are going to compete.
It will affect your performance.
Fasting will not help improve much and as an athlete running for a race to the finish line.
Instead of eating the calories, you needed to win the race.
You will have exhausted them before you got close to the finish line.
In conclusion of fasting for athletes, it is best to stick to normal eating.
So you do have the energy to do your practices.
Even though fasting does have its good qualities when you do fast, it also Has its negatives.
It is up to each individual who is thinking of fasting, who does sports to look up information before trying it.
We all want to do the best we can to win, and be first when it comes to competition.
Being number one feels like you are on top of the world looking down upon the rest.
It is still not clear to many about fasting when it comes to sports.
There are so many questions yet to be answered.
One thing is for sure before you try something new that you are not sure of always investigate if it will harm your body.
Do not rely on someone else.
To tell you “just do it, it won’t do you any harm.”
Some may care, others will think to themselves “It is not my body that it is going to affect.”