Thread by @Mangan150

Exercise while fasting is a powerful health intervention that most people don't know about

Most people think you need to eat before exercise, but that's often counterproductive.

Metabolic health benefits are greater when fasting.

First of all, exercise induces autophagy, the self-cleansing process that rids cells of junk molecules.

Evidence shows that exercising while fasted can increase this process.

https://twitter.com/Mangan150/status/1367885486891495426?s=20&t=DIzuodN12nsDCodZFOlPVQ

Exercise induces autophagy not only in muscles, but in the brain.

So, exercise can improve brain health, and this may also be the basis of improved mental health with exercise.

Importantly, the intensity of exercise is linked to autophagy activation.

The more intense your workout, the more activation.

Fasted exercise is more effective than fed exercise to increase muscular oxidative capacity.

Fasting enhances exercise-induced breakdown of lipids.

In addition, fasting but not fed may prevent drop of blood glucose concentration during exercise. journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.11…

Pre-exercise eating blunts signaling in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue implicated in regulating components of metabolism, including mitochondrial adaptation and substrate utilization.

You simply get greater metabolic benefit from fasted exercise.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111…

You can do resistance training while fasted - I do - but for muscle growth, you should not continue fasting after your workout.

With lighter exercise, such as walking, you can continue fasting with no problem.