5 questions about ... sportfasting

1. Sports fasting is not a diet. It is a training course that consists of sports and fasting that teaches your body to burn more fat than sugars. This way you improve your sports performance and you also lose some weight. Health Net asked the inventor, medical biologist Remco Verkaik, five questions about his training method.

1. Can anyone fast?

1. "No, not everyone can fast just like that. People who have certain conditions such as diabetes or kidney disease and / or are taking medicines such as potassium-sparing diuretics or a beta-blocker are not suitable. In addition, it is essential that you can handle the effort well. Very sporty people with a minor medical indication, such as hay fever or a slightly elevated blood pressure, can often do sports fasting. In any case, consultation with the general practitioner or medical specialist is always necessary. "

2. Are you not going to pass out if you eat so little and still have to exercise?

1. "People are able to function well during a fast, especially if you take some fruit juice and energy-supported supplements including amino acids. This also prevents hunger pangs."

3. Can you also fast without supervision and nutritional supplements?

1. "Fasting involves all kinds of metabolic changes that require professional guidance. For example, the contraceptive pill does not work and there are people who lose weight too quickly or do not switch at all. Headaches and detoxification symptoms can also occur. This requires the right guidance in order to be able to complete a sport fast cure responsibly and above all successfully In addition, it is important that people do not train too hard and too long or too short and too low in intensity. Adjustment to the individual situation is therefore also of great importance with regard to sports. The supplements provide safety, energy and protection against muscle breakdown. Sports fasting without supplements creates unnecessary risks and a greater chance of fatigue, poorer recovery after the cure and other complaints. "

4. How much weight do you lose with a sports fast?

1. "For men an average of 4 to 8 kilograms and for women an average of 2 to 5 kilograms. This is very dependent on whether there is overweight and whether there is a good condition. you calculate what your expected weight loss is, based on the scientific study SPO-T. "

5. Switching completely to fat burning is not possible, is it?

1. "You always need some sugar or amino acids for good fat burning. In addition, good sugar burning is also necessary for optimal fitness and performance. Sport fasting is therefore not intended to block sugar burning, but precisely to increase fat burning in people whose fat burning is substandard. The aim is that you get a combustion that is comparable to that of trained endurance athletes; both a lot of fat and sufficient carbohydrate burning. After the sports fasting cure it is therefore important to eat enough carbohydrates again for optimal sugar burning, but not so much that you disrupt the trained fat burning process. "

2. "You always need some sugar or amino acids for a good fat burning. In addition, a good sugar burning is also necessary for optimal fitness and performance. Sports fasting is therefore not intended to block sugar burning, but precisely to increase fat burning in people whose fat burning is substandard. The aim is that you get a burn that is comparable to that of trained endurance athletes; both a lot of fat and sufficient carbohydrate burning. After the sports fasting cure it is therefore important to eat enough carbohydrates again for optimal sugar burning, but not so much that you disrupt the trained fat burning. "