Intermittent fasting and joint pain

kbrown1527
kbrown1527 Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just started intermittent again about a week ago and I finally found the magic formula for my body to lose weight. I feel fantastic, other than increased joint pain mostly in my knees.

I’m wondering if I’m missing something that’s causing my joint pain or if it is just normal at first when you start fasting. Am I not getting enough of something important?

I went from eating 1400cals(100g protein) to eating 1700cals(130g protein) and IF 16:8. I start my fast mid-afternoon and break it early morning to fuel my first workout, then I go for a slow run or walk at the beginning of my fast later in the day.

Water I drink plenty of.. close to a gallon a day

Vitamins that my dr recommended that I have been taking consistently for about 2 months: magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, d3, and turmeric.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    I have never noticed that intermittent fasting had any effect on my joint pain. I know when I started back at it most recently when I switched to a keto diet my joint pain decreased, but that could simply be the keto diet not the intermittent fasting.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    I don't know why intermittent fasting would cause joint pain. Some people eat like this naturally due to having a late breakfast for example. You don't say whether you have some inflammatory joint problems. The only thing I could think of is that you're eating more of something in a shorter period of time that causes this, like gout, maybe arthritis. Your protein is quite high, mind.
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,755 Member
    edited October 2023
    The reality is, at the end of the day, bodies are just.... weird. Maybe eating distracted you from feeling it as much? Maybe something you're eating? Who knows, really. Oh, or if the walking/running is new, that could definitely add to it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,982 Member
    kbrown1527 wrote: »
    I just started intermittent again about a week ago and I finally found the magic formula for my body to lose weight. I feel fantastic, other than increased joint pain mostly in my knees.

    I’m wondering if I’m missing something that’s causing my joint pain or if it is just normal at first when you start fasting. Am I not getting enough of something important?

    I went from eating 1400cals(100g protein) to eating 1700cals(130g protein) and IF 16:8. I start my fast mid-afternoon and break it early morning to fuel my first workout, then I go for a slow run or walk at the beginning of my fast later in the day.

    Water I drink plenty of.. close to a gallon a day

    Vitamins that my dr recommended that I have been taking consistently for about 2 months: magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, d3, and turmeric.

    Has anyone else experienced this?
    Have you just started exercise? If so that's likely the issue. Also if you're not eating certain minerals and vitamins and oils, the synovial fluid in your joints could be reducing.

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  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,624 Member
    You've upped your protein. Are you a meat eater? Most (many?) Meats are mildly inflammatory. Also, with more calories, you may be eating more starches and sugars. And of course, exercise.
  • kbrown1527
    kbrown1527 Posts: 65 Member
    @ninerbuff I am not new to exercise, I’ve been working out consistently for about 15years, however my weight fluctuates a lot (5 babies.. my youngest is 3). I’ve always eaten very healthy but paying attention to calorie intake again for the past few months. The only really new thing I started was IF.

    The synovial fluid thing you mentioned was interesting and I’ll have to research that possibly.
    Otherwise I think it may just be that I am getting older!
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    How much weight have you lost? It may be that you've become more active, simple as that. Or if you've lost enough weight, your hips may have been in anterior tilt, now less so, and maybe that's contributing to joint issues down the chain.

    I doubt it has anything to do with IF.

    This vid may be timely. I haven't watched it yet, but the last time Kneesovertoesguy was on Will's channel it was really good.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQneOolYFbo

    The previous one I did watch:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miqsg9DGPX0
  • kbrown1527
    kbrown1527 Posts: 65 Member
    @Retroguy2000
    I’ve lost 26lbs since early August— about 25-30 to go

    Those videos have a lot of really interesting information! The route that I run is very hilly so I think I will try to walk backwards up the steepest two like the first video suggests.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,203 Member
    edited October 2023
    Retro's got a good point there about body configuration and weight loss.

    I didn't have knee problems with loss, but did have increased back problems for a while.

    I've seen an osteopath (actual medical doctor) for manipulation for a long time. He told me that some kinds of musculoskeletal problems do occur quite often for people who lose a meaningful amount of weight. His guidance was that it was because the weight distribution around the body changes, so postural and movement habits may no longer be suitable for the changed body configuration.

    For me, the back issues improved with time at the new weight, plus some medical and exercise interventions - nothing really dramatic.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,216 Member
    edited October 2023
    kbrown1527 wrote: »
    I just started intermittent again about a week ago and I finally found the magic formula for my body to lose weight. I feel fantastic, other than increased joint pain mostly in my knees.

    I’m wondering if I’m missing something that’s causing my joint pain or if it is just normal at first when you start fasting. Am I not getting enough of something important?

    I went from eating 1400cals(100g protein) to eating 1700cals(130g protein) and IF 16:8. I start my fast mid-afternoon and break it early morning to fuel my first workout, then I go for a slow run or walk at the beginning of my fast later in the day.

    Water I drink plenty of.. close to a gallon a day

    Vitamins that my dr recommended that I have been taking consistently for about 2 months: magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, d3, and turmeric.

    Has anyone else experienced this?

    No, your just overthinking it, imo. Correlation is not causation. Losing weight by reducing food intake will generally improve joint pain and TRF has pretty much nothing to do with joint pain. IF where people restrict eating for days is a different thing to TRF and there are studies that show IF can improve joint pain, but it gets confounded easily with other factors, like weight loss. Anyway, if the joint pain continues, see your PCP.

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