is it true that you lose muscle before fat?

Question

when people are anorexic do the actually lose their muscle first and then their fat? i dont understand why this would happen because dont ur muscles move and work by turning fat and calories into energy? also isnt it true that the reason we have fat is because our body is naturally storing extra food or somthing like that? im really confused if anyone understands this stuff please clear up my confusion! 10 points for the answer with the most information! :)

Answer 1

if your starving yourself yes, you do lose muscle first than fat. losing weight corrrectly is the same thing but your losing the right amount of muscle than fat that your supposed to

Answer 2

There are two primary fuels: glucose and fatty acids. Glucose comes from carbohydrate-rich foods: breads, pasta, rice, legumes, fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, etc. Your body stores glucose in the liver and muscles as glycogen. During exercise, the body supplies glucose to the muscles from the stores of glycogen in the liver and in the muscles themselves. When a person exercise, about 1/5 of the body's total glycogen is used within the first 20 minutes. Beyond 20 minutes, glycogen use slows down and, in order to conserve the remaining glycogen supply, the body begins to rely more on fat for fuel. People who run out of muscle gylcogen during an event (e.g. marathon) eventually "hit the wall".

HOWEVER, if a person does not eat for several days, the body uses the glycogen stored in the liver in order to fuel the brain and nervous system; in essence, stay alive. At this point, the brain and nervous system can not use body fat for fuel (like muscles and organs can), nor can the body convert the fat to glucose, because there are no enzymes to do so. Remember, there's been no food intake. The body does, however, possess the right enzymes to convert protein (muscle tissue) to glucose and begins to do so. During these first three days of starving/fasting, the weight loss is due to the body devouring it's own protein tissues as fuel.

In the very last stage, the body begins converting it's final fat stores to a form which can help feed the brain and nervous system and thus, forestall the end. This is where the body enters in the state of ketosis (think Atkin's diet) - essentially converting body fat to ketones.

I am sure this is more than you ever wanted to know, but at least now you do.

Stay well,
Andy P; Certified Nutritionist
@ PreventionProof.com

Answer 3

No, you generally will lose both at the same time. Your body will attempt to hold on the excess fat when you try to starve yourself. It will cause you to lose muscle tone, as well as fat. You will lose weight by starving yourself, but not nearly as quickly as you would by just eating right and exercising. You will also cause yourself health problems, as the human body has natural defenses against starvation, and will work it's hardest to prevent weight loss during times of low food intake/famine. You will eventually begin getting light headed, passing out, and become nauseated. Then your kidneys, liver and other internal organs begin to shut down, in a last ditch effort to conserve the energy needed for survival. Anorexia is pretty much self distruction.

Answer 4

I think that muscle has more "energy" in it than fat. Plus, your fat is stored in places harder to access by the body. However, I know that you can avoid this problem with some proper behavior. That is. do some muscle related exercises like push ups or basic calesthenics. Then your muscles won't atrophy. Plus run or some other type of cardio activity. Finally, eat lots of fiber. This combination has helped me lose 20 pounds without really losing any muscle mass.

Answer 5

It is true that you lose muscle before fat because all of those anorexic models out there are skin and bones because first they lost muscle and then they lost fat. You lose muscle first because muscle is easier to dissolve (get rid of) than fat because fat is thicker and takes more time to go away. I hope that this cleared some things up for you.

Answer 6

Yes, because when someone starves themselves their body going into 'starvation mode'. This means their body tries to hold on to as much fat as possible and starts burning off muscle instead. Also you only have to burn 600 calories to lose a pound of muscle, but you would have to burn 3,500 calories to burn off a pound of fat. This makes it a lot easier to lose muscle if you try to lose weight too fast.

HTH : )

Answer 7

yes...

it all has to do with the conversion of one source of energy to another, it's pretty much basic physics. the cellular energy source that is used for all muscular contractions, and anabolic/catabolic processes is ATP. amino acids from proteins, glucose and lipids from fats can all be converted into ATP.

when the body is moving from the fasted state (like after a nights sleep) to the starved state which would be several days of insufficient calories the main source of energy changes.

during "normal" operation in the feed state, which is hours after a meal at rest (sleeping, office work, light house cleaning, tv watching, etc.) the main source of energy is free fatty acids. the body converts lipids from fat cells into ATP. when the body is in the starved state (several days with a very low caloric intake) the body will utilize stored carbohydrates (glycogen) as the main source of energy. the body stores excess blood sugar in the muscle cell and in the liver as glycogen. glycogen is the primary source of energy during high intensity exercise and it's also the body's first line of defense against starvation. in order for glycogen to be efficiently converted into ATP sufficient water must be present in the muscle cell. so when the body stores glycogen it also stores water at about a 1-3:1-4 ratio of glycogen to water. when glycogen stores are depleted water is a byproduct of this and is eliminated from the body. this is why low carb diets, starvation diets, carb cycling, etc. all result in mainly the loss of water weight the first week.

* ok this next part is important as it explains why an excess of protein in the diet is not readily converted to lipids and stored in the fat cell. many people unfortunately spread this misinformation around.

so after glycogen stores have been depleted the body will metabolize a high rate of amino acids from stored protein (muscle proteins) for energy. out of the 3 macronutrient groups proteins (amino acids) provide the least amount of ATP. one gram of amino acids provides one unit of ATP where as one glucose molecule can supply 30+ units of ATP and one fat molecule can supply several times that. now it is easy to see why the body holds onto fat when in starvation mode, it saves the most efficient energy source for last. this is also why an excess of protein will never results in a increase in body fat. the body already expends 25% of the calories from protein during digestion. then in order to turn it into a usable form of energy it has to be converted to glucose then to a lipid and then to ATP. does this happen, yes on a very, very small scale. the only time it would happen on a large scale would be when protein was ingested in the extreme famine state. the human body is a very complex machine, it's primary goal is self preservation and to conserve energy. excess protein will never cause an increase in the body fat and starving the body for an extended period of time will always result in a loss of muscle mass causing an increase in the body fat percentage.

Answer 8

fat is stored in our body in case of famine or lack of food. it is only recently that people have to worry about over eating, throughout the rest of history, humans and other animals had to worry about starvation more.

when you lose weight without exercising/ strength training, your boddy converts fat and muscle into energy to maintain itself when u are undereating.

Answer 9

Remain faithful to a far more low fat protein/green vegetable diet

Answer 10

whenever eating dinner out look at to get a healthier alternative