PopSugar.com reports intermittent fasting can help you burn fat, however, it can also cause muscle catabolism (when the body begins to burn muscle).

PopSugar.com spoke to Jason Machowsky, RD, CSSD, RCEP, CSCS, exercise physiologist at HSS, who explained, “From a baseline perspective, the way to maximize muscle protein synthesis (a natural process that allows your body to produce protein to repair skeletal muscle damage from exercise and promote skeletal muscle growth) is to technically have some protein every three to five hours. So, if you're not eating for 12 hours, you know you're entering into some state of muscle catabolism.”

To prevent burning muscle when fasting, it’s important to consume enough calories, eat enough protein, and strength train. Caloric intake varies based on activity level, age, goals, and other factors. Machowsky added, "The primary thing I tell people is if you're intermittent fasting, you're really restricting your ability to eat an adequate amount of calories and protein to a narrow window of the day, so you need to be more mindful and make sure that you are getting those things in during that period.”

Machowsky concluded that intermittent fasting is a good option for the average gymgoer who wants to get lean as long as you're able to consume enough calories and protein during your eating window. Furthermore, if you choose to fast to burn fat and get lean, you should make sure it's something you can and want to sustain for the long-term.

Read the full text article at PopSugar.com.