Summer's right around the corner, and you're wondering how you can lose fat
the most efficient way possible. Is it going to be calorie restriction or is it going to be
intermittent fasting, or maybe is it even both? I’m going to break down the science to help you
determine which one you should follow. [Music]
Hey, wellness warriors. I’m Dr. Nick Zyrowski and I have something really cool I want to share with
you. I just started a brand-new YouTube channel called Dr. Z TV. On Dr. Z TV, what I do is I
look at the news and I put a holistic spin on the news because many of you don't know this, but most
news is funded and paid for by big pharmaceutical companies; so, therefore, you get their opinions,
you get their science, and you get their narrative, and I think that you deserve to know
the truth as to what happens with your health so that you can always improve your health naturally.
So, go on over to Dr. Z TV after this video, subscribe, give those videos a thumbs up, and
let me know how you like them. I’d love to know. Over the past ten years, I’ve done a little bit of
everything with my health. I’ve calorie-restricted with intermittent fasting, I’ve calorie-restricted
without it; I’ve intermittent-fasted without calorie restriction, I’ve literally done a
little bit of everything, and I’ve always wondered why I got different results and what those results
actually meant, which led me down the path of doing a big, thorough
investigation on what the research has to offer. Now, there wasn't research on this for the longest
time, but we do have solid evidence now that shows us exactly what is happening physiologically. Now,
over the past 50 years, pretty much every major health organization has told us that we should
eat less and move more; and on top of eating less and moving more, in order to lose weight,
we should probably eat like six small meals a day--and, of course, don't forget to cut
out all the fat because if you eat that fat, then you certainly couldn't lose fat.
Now, we know this is nonsense, but we've all heard this. Sure, this will help most
people lose weight in the short term, but as far as long-term sustainability,
it's an absolute failure. Let's take The Biggest Loser, the show that was on TV, for an example.
They went and they studied 14 contestants; when they studied 14 of them, 13 of those 14
had actually regained weight after doing the show; and beyond that, what they found is that four of
them had actually gained more weight than they had prior to even starting the show, they were
bigger post-show than they were before starting, which is basically proof that it didn't work.
Now, when they went and studied them a little bit further as to why this was happening,
what they found is that these individuals, because they were moving so much, they were exercising
so hard and eating so little, they crushed their metabolism; and what was so scary about that--and
this is truly scary because you do not want to be in this position--what was scary about it is
that the metabolisms did not come back causing one grown man to only eat about 800 calories a
day before he would start gaining weight again. To give an example, I eat about 2500 calories a
day, so you can see how little food that actually was. I’d actually worked with a lady who basically
created this same scenario for herself, just like we saw in The Biggest Loser, she was exercising a
ton, she was eating so little food, and sure, she lost weight; but what she did to herself
was so damaging, she crushed her metabolism. But I would say probably the worst thing that she did
to herself is she created such a poor psychology around food that she literally was afraid to eat.
Now, we know that calorie restriction has its shortcoming, but does it have any place at all
in weight loss? When working with patients over the years, the one thing I realized is whenever I
calorie-restricted somebody in order to help them lose weight, they would typically have cravings,
they'd feel lethargic, and they'd get frustrated over time; whereas the person who was intermittent
fasting, well, once they got the routine down, they'd feel healthier and more energized;
and when they were intermittent-fasting, they were able to have normal calorie intake.
But the interesting part was that after a 30-day period, they pretty much both had the exact same
weight loss. So, which one actually worked better? Well, the details are what really matter here. So,
let's take a look at the studies. There's a study in the International Journal of Obesity,
and what they looked at is two groups of individuals. Now, both groups were
following a good, healthy Mediterranean diet and both of them were eating similar calories;
the big difference between the two groups was that one was following a daily calorie-restrictive
diet and the other one was following a diet that was very similar to the 5-2 diet, where you eat
normal calories five days a week, and then you do a severe calorie restriction just two days a week.
Now, over six months of this style of eating, the results were pretty interesting. What they
found is that between both groups, they had similar weight loss and fat loss,
but there was something that was very different between the two groups and it happened hormonally.
In the calorie restriction group, the ones that were just calorie-restricting every day,
they had had their insulin levels go down, but then it plateaued; and those who were in the
fasting group, their insulin levels continue to drop over the whole six-month period making them
far more insulin-sensitive. Now, this is a big deal considering that insulin resistance is one of
the major drivers of obesity and one of the major things that actually cause you to gain weight.
Now, there was another study done and it was done in 2016, and what they looked at was
zero-calorie fasting two days a week, and then normal eating the other five days a week. Now,
this is identical to the fast that we just did in the Wellness Warrior community--and
if you're not part of that Wellness Warrior community, you've got to join that, because you're
missing out on the fasts, and the detoxes, and all the things that we do. You can join by texting
this number right here or you can click on a link in the description below and sign up via email.
Now, going back to this study. So, they had this one group that was doing the two-day fasting every
week and then five days of regular eating, and they compared it to a group of obese individuals
that were doing daily calorie restriction. Now, they did this study for 24 weeks and the results
were incredibly eye-opening. Now, in terms of just general weight loss, the fasting group barely
outperformed the calorie restriction group; but the devil's in the detail and this is where the
fasting group really shines. The fasting group actually lost more fat around the midsection.
How much more fat, you might ask? They actually lost two times more fat around the waistline;
and the fasting group also lost six times more fat on the body in the way of total fat percentage
compared to the calorie restriction group. So, now, you're probably a little bit confused
and maybe asking, "Well, how in the world did they both have the same amount of weight loss
if the fasting group lost six times more fat?" It's an incredible question because what happened
is that those who are doing daily calorie restriction, they not only lost fat,
but they also lost lean muscle mass; whereas the fasting group actually maintained
their lean muscle mass. Because what happens is when you're fasting, it's muscle sparing,
and you also have hormones like growth hormone that surges when you're fasting and that alone
will help you maintain your lean muscle mass. But what about your metabolism? Because we've all
heard that doing fasting like that is definitely going to wreck your metabolism just like those
guys that did The Biggest Loser program. Well, pretty interesting, because in the study,
what they found is that those who are doing the calorie restriction, they actually had a decreased
metabolic rate by two and a half times more than the fasting group did. So, actually, it turns out
that doing calorie restriction over a period of time wrecks your metabolism, but not fasting.
Now, at the end of the day, the fasting group outshine the calorie restriction group.
But besides all of that, the only thing that really matters is long-term sustainability.
Can you maintain it? And they knew that in the study because, as we saw with The Biggest Loser
contestants, it was a disaster, right? They lost all this weight, but then they gained it back.
So, the study went on to follow up with people many weeks later and here's what they found:
the calorie restriction group did not continue on with the diet because it was difficult for them
to continue on with and it was frustrating; and, in fact, the calorie restriction group tend to
gain fat back and regain weight whereas those who are doing the intermittent fasting--just
fasting two days a week--they continued on with it and the reason that they continued
on with it is because it was so easy, it was simple for them to do, they didn't feel
very much restricted and they also didn't regain fat or regain any weight after the study was done.
So, if we were to look at the 10,000-foot overview of this study and look at the big takeaway, here's
what it is: if we're doing calorie restriction and doing six small meals a day, it's unsustainable
and it won't last; and if you're doing intermittent fasting, what you'll find is that you
can stick with it and it'll help you lose weight in the long term. The other big takeaway is that
calorie restriction is going to lead to both lean mass loss and fat loss, whereas fasting focuses
more just on fat loss. Calorie restriction also is going to cause your metabolism to slow down far
more than fasting does, causing you to struggle to lose weight over time. The other thing that we're
going to see is that fasting will help increase growth hormone, increase testosterone, and also
give you more energy, whereas calorie restriction will do the exact opposite. I’ve also found, in my
own personal experiences, that calorie restriction tends to mess with your sleep quite a bit too.
The next question is this: is there a scenario where you could combine both of these strategies
together and they would work pretty well together? Well, let's think about it. Now, when people are
intermittent fasting, you can eat too much food and start to gain fat while intermittent fasting;
it's a little bit harder to do, but it's still possible: I see people do it all the time, they
get frustrated because they're like, "I started intermittent fasting and I even gained weight."
"Well, you're just eating too much food." So, what this means is that we have to start eating less.
Now, this means that we're going to follow a minor calorie restriction while intermittent fasting.
Now, we know that doing a calorie restriction without intermittent fasting is garbage; but
if you intermittent fast with just a minor calorie deficit, it's a great combo. And most of the time,
when we think about how much weight we should lose over a period of time, we have these ridiculous
crash diets that come to mind where people are losing like 20 pounds in a month. Now,
unless you're severely obese, you're not going to lose 20 pounds in a month in a healthy way.
When I work with patients, I’m typically happy with a pound of weight loss a week; and if you
think about it--because a lot of people--I want you to think about because a lot of people get
really frustrated, they're like, "Oh my gosh, only four pounds in a month?" Well, if you think about
this over a year's time, that's 52 pounds and that's a lot of weight--and you did it without
restricting yourself, you did it in a sustainable way, and you enjoyed your life in the process.
So, if you do intermittent fasting with just a minor calorie deficit,
you're going to get great results; and we have to make sure that this doesn't spiral out of
control right because sometimes, people get into intermittent fasting with severe calorie deficits
and that's not an intelligent approach at all. We have to make sure that we always
follow a sustainable model for weight loss and that's how you're going to get good results.
Now, if you like this video, you're going to like this video right here. And hey,
check out my new channel too, Dr. Z TV. You can do that by clicking right there.