How does Fasting Dissolve Fat
Weight maintenance is primarily from insulin. Once insulin stands up, the rest of the hormones kneel.
Insulin comes from the pancreas. Insulin levels in the blood go up depending on what we eat. It goes up the most after we eat carbohydrates and protein. Insulin goes up slightly with fats and oils. The smaller the glucose present in the blood, the faster it is absorbed, the higher the level of insulin.
The primary role of insulin is to glucose into the liver and the muscles in the form of glycogen. Fat is stored under the skin as subcutaneous fat and visceral fat in the abdomen.
Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose. Protein is digested into amino acids and fat into fatty acids. As soon as the increased level of glucose and amino acids in the blood is detected, the insulin level goes up and starts storing food. It saves the glucose as glycogen *in the liver and the muscles but only to a certain extent. 10% and 2% by weight, respectively.
In between meals, the glycogen in the liver gets broken down into glucose. Glycogen stored in the muscle is used as an “in-house” form of energy. Refer to this article on how to burn fat faster.
If food is taken in between meals, then the insulin level stays high. If you eat “small frequent meals,” your insulin level will remain high, and it will keep on storing food as fat. In time the excess fat stores in the abdomen will lead to metabolic syndrome.
To burn that fat, the simplest way is to lower the insulin level, and since it goes up in response to food, then the absence of food makes the insulin level go down.
Once insulin level decreases, the other hormones enter like epinephrine, norepinephrine, growth hormone, cortisol, and glucagon. These hormones break down the stored glycogen into glucose to serve as an energy source for the muscles and the brain. After 12 to 24 hours, the fat stores are broken down into fatty acids to be converted to glucose in the liver, some fatty acids are used by the muscles and ketones provide fuel for the brain.
The longer the fast, the more fat stores are burned. The smaller the visceral fat, the lesser cytokines get produced, the less chronic inflammation, which leads to better control of the metabolic syndrome that can lead to diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes.
Reference:
*Berg JM, Tymoczko JL, Stryer L. Biochemistry. 5th edition. New York: W H Freeman; 2002. Chapter 21, Glycogen Metabolism.
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