PSMF Episode 8: Intermittent Fasting versus a Protein Sparing Modified Fast
It’s important to know how both dietary recommendations differ. This is not a competition between the two but an explanation of …
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March 4, 2026
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Excellent. I have done omad. I'm switching over to psmf. Your videos make sense in an area of conflicting thoughts. I love Judy's videos.
Great information thanks!
Pancreas makes insulin liver converts fat to fuel via ketosis and muscle exercises drain glucose. Am i on the right track?
I do 16 to 18 hour intermittent fasting. I'm not overweight. I do need to regain lots of lost muscle due to illness. How do I get all of my protein/meals in such a small eating window of 6-8 hours?
Love and light
Thank you so much! PSMF days (I do Mon, Tue, Wed) helped to reset my insatiable hunger. After eating 140g of protein per day, I feel so full that the thought of “treating myself” with something sweet or carbyy is the last thing on my mind. Can’t even finish the last bit of cod, shrimp, slow cooked tri-tip, or grilled chicken on my plate! It also helps me to enjoy foods I considered basic and not fun anymore. I see Sour Cream, Feta, Avocado and Pickled Red Onion in my protein bowls as a yummy treat. Whole eggs for breakfast is so dang flavorful, and fatty brisket is better than any treat over the weekend! It has reset my hunger cues and keeps me off the up and down rollercoaster of treating myself on Keto. I realize now that my protein was low (90g day) and I didn’t eat enough of it in each meal to hit that 40g per meal because I was making room for all the fat! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! –
– An active young mom of littles.
As a type 1 diabetic, I feel horrible listening about the vascular issues, the grim reaper graphic etc😞. Doing everything I know to do. Low carb, iF, exercise/weightlifting…but my A1c is 6.5.Also fat and protein 100% DO raise my bs—-just a slower rise but more resistant to insulin in my case. To eat all this protein absolutely affects the amount of insulin bolus (corrections if necessary) I have to give. I had an infection that went to my pancreas in my early 40s….BS was 980. Put in ICU. A few months prior my fasting BS was 76. I really don’t know what else to do. I also gained a lot of weight during menopause that I’m working at losing. Really tough.
thnx for all you content. it is so helpful
You guys understand what this all means right? Noticed he didn't mention anything about calories. Having that little bit of carb in your life can really stall your progress. Here's an eye-opening experiment:
I'm 49yo guy. I went on a PSMF (I'm back on it now) and I ate AS MUCH protein as I wanted (no limit whatsoever) almost to the point of being completely STUFFED. And included some light weights and uphill walking. I lost 7 lbs in 12 Days! The weight literally FLEW off without any effort. Now… my body did go through a withdrawal, this depends on how bad your previous diet was. Here's what I tried next…
Then I started adding 2 servings of corn chips to my meat once a day and guess what? The scale started to slowly creep up and my pants got tighter. So I did intermittent fasting with a 6-hour eating window eating some popcorn and corn chips and the scale started to increase slowly. This time I did not stuff myself with protein, only moderate. Complete stall!
In the past, I have tried 500-650 calorie diets with only muscle loss and no fat loss. If you have an endomorphic style body where you generally have all your weight at the lower part of your body, there's a high chance you are very sensitive to carbs (if you have huge calves it's a dead give away).
So at the end of the day try this! Try eating as much protein as you want (LEAN meats, eggs whites and fish etc) and watch the scale drop like mad while you can maintain your muscle mass and look better in the mirror. It's not the easiest transition if you have been on a carb run your whole life, but old habits die hard. My technique is to reduce the carbs slowly, just like if you were to get off a drug of some sort. Otherwise, the headaches and dizziness can be overwhelming. Also as an extra bonus watch your digestion also improve on PSMF! Thanks and peace.
Another amazing video !
I have some questions;
So
Which one is better for agressive fat loss
Psmf Vs intermittent fasting? Or maybe do one first then the other ? What would be the best way if I'm still training 3-4 times per week? Or maybe a combination of both ?
Apreciate your opinion regards
Mariusz
some gripes i have with conventional lyle mcdonald style psmf (eating frequently throughout the day, everyday) is that you don't get the benefits of decreasing insulin resistance, which is supposedly important for lowering your setpoint, to ensure bmr goes back up when the cut is concluded. also, you won't get the benefits of autophagy (which will help reduce loose/excess skin). fat-loss and muscle retention are important, but they're not the only things that are important.
Excellent information. At 71 years young, I'm going to stave off the muscle loss that's associated with aging.
Thank you.
Do you still have a practice? I am in N.H. and would like to see if my friend would go to you
How can you be having a fast and still eating 4 time a day?
My doctor has suggested alternating 3 or 4 contiguous days of my usual low-carb OMAD with 3 or 4 of PSMF. So far I hate the PSMF days.
I have been a type 1 diabetic since 1970 and a single meal a day has worked well for me. But almost everyone I tell about my low-carb OMAD eating has told me that I MUST EAT SIX SMALL MEALS A DAY because I am diabetic. Very annoying: I usually don’t tell people about it now.
A couple of days ago I complete my first 72 hour fast without need of supplements except pink salt in water.
Felt awesome all the way through.
My daily IF is 22:2 but will often push to 40-48 hours
Just eating when hungry and not having carbs.
Excellent video which needs much wider circulation and public awareness. Thank you. I have done the Kraft Diabetes Profile test from Meridian Valley Lab and would like to dig deeper into the reference ranges (both insulin and glucose) the test uses. My physician thinks the glucose cutoff is too high. I tried contacting Meridian (phone and email) but no response. Do you know where I can find a discussion of their reference ranges? Thank you again.
What helps tighten loose skin as you loose weight?
Would you consider doing a video on helping macular degeneration please?
PSMF I would imagine isn’t great if you need to gain muscle mass ?? Protein increases metabolism and therefore could be the reason possibly that my husband losing muscle mass 🤷♀️he eats very little if any carb most days. Perhaps he needs to increase his carb load
Wow I’ve been keto/Carnivore and this is so enlightening! I’m loving the graphs and the explanations! I’m curious about some extending fasting though. I’ll see if you have a video on that!
Great content. Wish I had found you earlier.
Two thoughts.
1. I'm 6'2" and weight about 190, about 18% body fat, muscular, and lift weights about 4-5x week.
I have a very hard time eating 180g of protein a day you suggest. I'm just not hungry enough. I'm always stuffed and I can't seem to really get into a caloric deficit trying to force so much food down my throat. Any tips, or should I just resort to a protein powder??
2. Vegetable oils can cause Type 2 diabetes in a zero carb environment. It's more important to avoid seed oils all costs than carbs. The thinking that carbs alone cause diabetes is missing the forest for the trees. This is some relatively new info I've learned and talk about cognitive dissonance hoo boy!
I'm going to assume this may not be good to do with OMAD=one meal a day? Because I hear you saying 5 meals cut up in snacks of protein. Just want to make sure if I'm going to implant this into my Keto/LC diet – I'm not messing it up.
Great information! Thank you. Ivor Cummins interviewed Dr Kraft before he died. He truly was a great doctor and not enough of today’s MD know/learn from his experiments. Love your content.
If you eat protein four times a day won't you get four spikes in your glucose/insulin reaction? I mean isn't that why people like Dr. Fung promote fasting to reduce the damage that those spikes cause (even milder spikes)? I do know that when I fast I don't have the energy to work out like I really want to and that really messes up my ability to deal with stress, but usually what I like to do is have the majority of my carbs and protein in one meal after a heavy workout (along with the vast major of calories) and keep it super low carb, moderate keto on the other meal (I like to do OMAD or 2MAD) so I only have one real spike and that is a good spike to help repair muscle tissue. I get the idea about muscles working out the glucose but wouldn't that only apply to people who are very active all day? Many people have desk jobs. I will say my body likes protein more than high-fat keto (I have no gallbladder), but I am just not certain of all those spikes all day, even if I am on my feet all day at work.
this video helped,,, and, or but, is the fourth protein meal preferable over just eating three per day because, as shown by your graph, the amount of muscle breakdown between meals is greater on the three per day Plan? Why then is there muscle breakdown inbetween meals? thanks
your video is a eye opener. I am almost 50 male, 145 pounds and about 15% BF. I am trying to lean out and trying to build muscle. I do heavy lifting weights at least 3 times a week and play racquetball 2 times a week. I have been doing mainly one large lunch and try not to eat anything. Well I workout in the evening when I get home usually after 8pm. I try to eat a small chicken breast. I am going to try from tomorrow to eat early and at least eat twice before I go workout in the evening. THANK YOU. You're awesome !!
Wow! Thank you for your great explanation!! In addition to eating properly, I will exercise!!! I really never understood the necessity of having more muscle mass. I get it.
This was an excellent video: simple and uncomplicated. Makes total sense. Thank you.
I did that glucose test once as a teenager. They wanted me to do it again when I got pregnant mid 20s. I refused. I’ll never take that test again it’s horrible to give.
Thank you for the excellent information about muscle mass and for explaining Dr. Kraft’s insulin tests so well.
I'm a diabetic and have done omad and 2mad for over 2 years and my diabetes has gotten worse over time. I couldn't lose weight. High basel insulin. I started psmf 2 mad about 4 weeks ago and I've lost 14 lbs and I've dropped blood sugars. I'm going to deffiinitly try to split it up to 4 meals a day. What you have advised before has worked like magic. I've tried for over a year to lose weight and get my blood sugars down. High fat carnivore didn't work for me and I struggled as I was gaining alot of weight. Also all the fat used to raise my blood sugars the next day.
Great content without the glitz and drama. Really enjoy your “style” of educating!
Excellent video! I’m starting this today
I’m so confused, I’m a 67 year old T2 obese female. My goal is to eat carnivore and I also have a 20:4 intermittent fasting schedule. Eating meat and drinking water and 1 cup of coffee with 2 Tblsp of grass fed heavy cream
I'm high protein with 20:4 fasting and I love it!!!
I feel like I've heard this before, but this is the first time I've actually really got it.👍🏻
I have never heard this before! I have heard about insulin/fat and exercising to increase muscle mass. I am not a fan of meat and have eaten very little of it. NOW it makes sense that even though I am top of the overweight (not obese) category according to my BMI, I have 41% body fat per DEXA scan. I believe you may have actually convinced me to eat more animal protein every day! I can develop a taste for it. 😊Thank you!
I am really enjoying learning about the PSF. I have been Keto, off and. on for the past 3 yrs, lost 60lbs and gained around 35lbs during shutdown. Now I'm practicing carnivore, for a jumpstart, but I like the idea of keto along with PSF. Very interesting Dr. Goldkamp, thank you so much for this information. p.s., I am a 72yr old Female.