Eat clean for five days and eat whatever you want on the weekend. Some fit active people adhere to this approach. After all, what could possibly happen over the course of just a couple days? More than you might imagine according to a study recently published in the journal Obesity.

Researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences found that in just 5 days, a high-fat diet can change the way your muscles process glucose after a meal. Muscles make up about 30% of the average person’s body weight and play an important part in glucose metabolism. Levels of glucose in your bloodstream rise after a meal, and muscles help determine whether this carbohydrate energy is used or stored.

True Strength Moment: For some perspective, in a normal diet about 30% of the calories come from fat. In the diet researchers used for this study, subjects consumed about 55% of their calories from fat. Their overall caloric intake didn’t change from normal to high-fat eating, so be careful about how you distribute macronutrients at mealtime.

via @optimumnutrition #ON #optimumnutrition @team_on