Hi all,

I don't really mean to start an argument over fasting, but my question involves fasting for weight loss.

I'm very much a details person when it comes to training/nutrition and I have been reading a lot recently about the relationship of insulin, growth hormone, leptin and metabolism on weight loss. I've been seeing a lot about how growth hormone, esp in the case of women, is very important in terms of weight loss (yes, I realize there are some side effects that come with too much GH, but I'm talking about naturally enhancing GH through diet and exercise).

With that being said, GH can be increased through short term fasts and insulin spikes are reduced--equaling more fat loss. But then you sacrifice Metabolism priming by fasting and possibly aggressively depleting leptin (more so if low carbing long term or doing continuous short term fasts--from what I understand).

And then, I've read that Leptin is not as involved in weight loss as once believed.

So, now I am unsure of what one should concentrate on controlling in terms of a short term cutting phase. Should one prime the metabolism throughout the day with frequent eating and then take what GH can be gotten from nightly sleep. Or would short term fasting, 2 or 3 times a week (not consecutive days) with a single meal eaten at the end of the day be more effective. Or even, is it more important to just make sure that calorie levels are appropriate (not too low or too high) regardless of how it is achieved.

This is all assuming a proper exercise regiment. I'm most curious about the nutritional aspect.

Thanks all!! Any opinions/facts offered are appreciated--sorry, I know it's pretty technical.