Is there any information available on before and after muscle loss comparison and Resting Metabolic Rate from the BSD studies? IE if a person loses 50 lbs how much is muscle and how much is fat and how does that effect the number of calories burned while at rest? I would think before and after DEXA and gas exchange RMR tests would be part of trials of this nature but I didn’t see any reference to this topic when I read the book other than a mention of not going into “starvation mode”.

I do not have Dr Michael Mosley’s ‘Blood Sugar Diet’ book, but this topic comes up in ‘The Fast 800’ (p.82-84, p.152-153). Dr Mosley emphasises the importance of consuming plenty of protein and of being physically active/ exercising whilst dieting.

“I would think before and after DEXA and gas exchange RMR tests would be part of trials of this nature …”

Not unless they are directly relevant. Individual studies are discrete or limited pieces of research, merely contributing to the body of knowledge in a given field. The study design will consider earlier research and existing knowledge, and the variables or outcomes tested will relate directly to the specific question asked by the authors.

Obesity, usually defined by weight or by BMI, is a major health problem (almost) irrespective of body composition. Losing a substantial amount of weight/ significantly altering BMI has been established to greatly reduce health risks and improve health outcomes, (almost) irrespective of body composition. So, for the most part, research on diet protocols will measure and report changes in BMI or weight loss as a percentage.

In the ‘Endnotes’ of each book Dr Mosley fully references the key studies he has used in writing that particular book. Similarly individual studies will reference all the earlier research used by the authors in formulating the question, designing the study and discussing the results. The abstract (summary) of most of these studies should be available online if you search PubMed or Google Scholar: in a few cases the full text will be open access.

HTH.

Dr M talks about this in the Fast 800 book and says TRE is particularly popular among athletes and body builders as a way of losing fat and increasing muscle – possible theory is that not eating for 16 hours gives the body time to repair the mitochondria and an overnight fast ensures that old, damaged muscle cells are broken down and replaced with new cells – Paraphrased from page 153 of the book. I dont understand any of the other stuff you have asked about but that might put your mind at rest.

There is no paid moderators on the forum, so you will not be able to get an answer from Dr MM to your question via the forum.

The BSD was written as an 8 week program for those who are overweight, not a long term program. There are however a number of people on the forum who had substantial amounts of weight to discard and have inquiring minds. So have read around the research behind Dr MM’s protocol and also the work / podcasts / books published by other people regarding low carb eating programs and fitness programs.

If your focus is on long term, you may find the answers you are looking for by turning to the research and publications by Doctors Volek and Phinney who specialise in low carb long term with athletes.

JGwen, I have been following the low carb way of life based on DrM’s book for 3 years now, with no ill effect. For me it is a way of controlling my blood sugars and keeping the diabetes under control and not as a means of weight loss, which is less important for me as I am not greatly overweight, just pleasantly plump as some might say – if they want a slap. LOL