Is there a Peaty explanation for why I can't gain muscle and strength?

[LLight]

Do you tend to have "sugar cravings" or be more solitary/"asocial" than average?

Oxytocin is an age-specific circulating hormone that is necessary for muscle maintenance and regeneration - Nature Communications

The age-related decline in the regenerative capacity of muscle can be reversed in mice by exposure to young circulation. Elabd et al.identify the hormone, oxytocin, as a potential mediator of this effect, showing that its plasma levels decline with age and that administration of oxytocin to aged...

www.nature.com

 

[Tom K]

WOW. THE BRO SCIENCE IS COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK. Many of these comments are akin to when physicians blame the patient because the attending cannot figure out the problem. In medicine, the most common remedy for issues that were not yet recognized (lyme, mold sensitivity, MS, etc.) the patient was prescribed antidepressants. That mentality is being expressed by ma ny of the persons responding here.

Having worked with trainees at many levels for maximum performance, aside from the thousands of patients treated, your history is uncommon but not unheard of. I have had patients that used anabolics that responded poorly, and naturals that grew like weeds. The easy gainers grew no matter what program they adhered to, while those with poor genetic potential performed poorly. Same routines, same diet, same drugs, different results. There are multiple reasons, for the individual responses to exercise, including elevated myostatin, physiological cross section, and muscle belly length. The response from exercise of these variables responds are largely beyond beyond our control. For example, myostatin (which is inversely related to hypertrophy) improves milfly with exercise. But those persons with naturally lower levels of this myokine will respond more favorable to the stimulus provided by exercise. Anabolic steroids have a minor effect on myostatin, but those with the genetic propensity have lowe myostatin will respond more favorably. We can all improve, but the best will always be the best.

 

[OccamzRazer]

Have you tried 'greasing the groove' per Pavel Tsatsouline's approach?

I'm naturally a weak person, but doing several heavy, submaximal microworkouts per day has helped me get pretty strong at some lifts.

 

[syncronicity]

Couple observations and thoughts. Your reported body temperature (97.5) and PR (62) are low. You indicated your sleep "kind of sucks". You mentioned "bodyweight gain goes to my love handles" and "I also tested very high for cortisol at one point years ago". Your level of mental effort, to me, sounds like it's excessive, kind of like you obsess over it and this makes me think you have high stress hormones (adrenaline, serotonin, etc.). Focusing on your health is not the problem, it's the level of effort to results (spinning your wheels), you can't solve a problem with the methods that may have gotten you into this situation. High serotonin and adrenaline can make people hyper vigilant, it can becomes learned helplessness or inescapable stress. You mentioned experimenting with lots of various types of diets. Your carbohydrate to protein ratio is low. Peat has said he needs 10oz of ripe Oj with an egg (IIRC). I did the math before and it's ~6:1 (IIRC). For example, you eat six eggs with two small potatoes and a considerable amount of fat (ghee and 2% milk); and similar low ratio of carbs to protein at dinner, this will impact your sleep quality. Do you have delayed sleep onset (insomnia) and/or awakens prematurely in the early morning to urinate? You're also eating a lot of protein and not a lot of calcium rich foods, i.e., you're not achieving a higher ratio of calcium to phosphate. It takes nutrition assessment and food/nutrition planning to make sure you're getting more calcium to phosphate at each meal, especially if you're in a stressed state. A cup of milk will not balance a heavy meal of protein, because milk has a good ratio of C:P, but not a surplus of C to balance the P in beef or chicken. You have to add leafy greens or eggs shell calcium, and in your state, egg shell calcium could be irritating to your GI and cause more problems than benefit. High P:C will activate parathyroid to pull calcium out of your bones to shore-up your C deficit and parathyroid in and of itself will perpetuate a stress cascade that can be difficult to solve without getting C:P ratio dialed in. You mentioned a fair amount of dairy intake, but it may be inefficient with the higher protein and the high dairy is higher fat, further dropping your C:F:P ratios. How's your breathing? Do you mouth breath? Do you carry fat on your neck? Do you wake with dry mouth? Can you sleep on your back or do you sleep on side and/or stomach? Have you had braces or teeth extracted as an adolescent? All questions have to do with sleep apnea. You mentioned sleeping soundly in college - your stress could have been much lower. Lastly, relying on a standard doctor is like relying on the standard American diet. They're not going to get into nutrition or lifestyle and from all that you have indicated, there are some adjustments you could make that do not require a physician. You've indicated that regular lab check-ins have been within range and has not provided any insight. Increasing carbs to protein, getting more calcium to phosphate, backing off your exercise to make sure it's not causing stress, and it sounds like it likely is given the routine and frequency combined with the macro ratios. Your buds who squash Mac-Ds and put on mass are likely very warm, regular PR and have minimal to no stress, or they have large upper airways and a roaring furnace of a metabolism. You may be taking too much Vitamin D. Folks like Morely Robins recommend a number of things to improve D like not taking it and getting more magnesium, food high in Vitamin C, copper and retinol, which is not in contradiction of Peat's thought - aside from not taking D. I think Ray's underlying point is elevated D is good and taking it can be more beneficial than good, but with everything there are caveats and have been giving Morely recommendations more weight.

 

[Karlx]

Install an interval timer on your phone. Do several sets with short rests. Increase load first by increasing the interval time, second by increasing the weight used. You're not pushing yourself. Almost nobody is pushing himself in the gym. If you look around hardly anyone ever changes in appearance. The drive to homeostasis is subtle but all-powerful without intervention. If you don't have muscular dystrophy, you will get bigger if you push yourself. And if you don't use time, you won't push yourself (as you've already demonstrated).

Hypertrophy is optimized at around 30-45 seconds. But do 8 reps (the so called hypertrophy range) and see how it's only taking 19 seconds or so. That's not enough time. Set the interval for 5 sets of 30 seconds with 1:30 rest, and use appropriate weight to come close to completing the sets. Graduate from there by grabbing the next set of dumbells, or if it's something like curls, increase the time of the sets.

 

[looking2grow96]

WOW. THE BRO SCIENCE IS COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK. Many of these comments are akin to when physicians blame the patient because the attending cannot figure out the problem. In medicine, the most common remedy for issues that were not yet recognized (lyme, mold sensitivity, MS, etc.) the patient was prescribed antidepressants. That mentality is being expressed by ma ny of the persons responding here.

Having worked with trainees at many levels for maximum performance, aside from the thousands of patients treated, your history is uncommon but not unheard of. I have had patients that used anabolics that responded poorly, and naturals that grew like weeds. The easy gainers grew no matter what program they adhered to, while those with poor genetic potential performed poorly. Same routines, same diet, same drugs, different results. There are multiple reasons, for the individual responses to exercise, including elevated myostatin, physiological cross section, and muscle belly length. The response from exercise of these variables responds are largely beyond beyond our control. For example, myostatin (which is inversely related to hypertrophy) improves milfly with exercise. But those persons with naturally lower levels of this myokine will respond more favorable to the stimulus provided by exercise. Anabolic steroids have a minor effect on myostatin, but those with the genetic propensity have lowe myostatin will respond more favorably. We can all improve, but the best will always be the best.

...did you read his OP? there is no genetic propensity that would make someone max out at 105 lbs on OHP after close to a decade of training. This goes way beyond some sort of myostatin/myokine deficiency

 

[DrivesOldTruck]

@syncronicity this is exactly the type of response I was looking for here, thank you.

"I also tested very high for cortisol at one point years ago".

You got everything else right, but this isn't my quote. I think another user posted this in the thread. I've never had my cortisol tested.

Do you have delayed sleep onset (insomnia) and/or awakens prematurely in the early morning to urinate?

Yes, both, nearly every night. But as you note later, I never had these issues when I was in college. My stress levels in college were considerably higher than they've been since graduating.

Your carbohydrate to protein ratio is low. Peat has said he needs 10oz of ripe Oj with an egg (IIRC). I did the math before and it's ~6:1 (IIRC).

Does this imply that the protein requirements for building muscle are far lower than everyone in the mainstream fitness community claims? The headline number everyone calls out is 0.8-1.0g/lb of bodyweight. Everyone I've known who has gotten jacked has followed this protocol. If I weigh 185lbs, that's almost 150g of protein at the low end. That would imply needing 900g of carbs at a 6:1 ratio, which is 3,600 calories. Once you add in the protein, you're at 4,200 calories before factoring in any fat in the diet. I ran a 2 month bulk in late 2017 at ~3,650 calories/day and gained 20lbs (170 - 190lbs) in those 2 months. I am dieting down at the moment (after a failed bulk over the winter) and would need to eat something like 60g or 70g of protein daily to be eating a quantity of food that would allow me to lose weight under the 6:1 model. Seems like a low amount of protein for someone exercising regularly, but for all I know it's fine.

I just have difficulty reconciling Peat's advice here with how to formulate a diet to build muscle.

How's your breathing? Do you mouth breath? Do you carry fat on your neck? Do you wake with dry mouth? Can you sleep on your back or do you sleep on side and/or stomach? Have you had braces or teeth extracted as an adolescent? All questions have to do with sleep apnea.

Breathing is great. I've read several books on the dangers of mouth breathing and am conscious of the issues it presents. I practice nose breathing even while exercising with great success. I do not carry any fat on my neck; I only carry body fat on my love handles, no other body part. I sleep on my side. I had braces and wisdom teeth extracted as an adolescent.

Increasing carbs to protein, getting more calcium to phosphate, backing off your exercise to make sure it's not causing stress, and it sounds like it likely is given the routine and frequency combined with the macro ratios.

It seems the conclusion here is that my fat intake needs to come down quite a bit, and more thought needs to go into my C:P ratio, likely by reducing my protein intake from muscle meats. I had always opted for higher fat items just because those are the only ones I can get in stores that are organic and 100% grass fed. If, for example, I go down to 0% milk, the only option on grocery store shelves are the lower quality stuff.

 

[thisoldtown1978]

Do you tend to have "sugar cravings" or be more solitary/"asocial" than average?

Oxytocin is an age-specific circulating hormone that is necessary for muscle maintenance and regeneration - Nature Communications

The age-related decline in the regenerative capacity of muscle can be reversed in mice by exposure to young circulation. Elabd et al.identify the hormone, oxytocin, as a potential mediator of this effect, showing that its plasma levels decline with age and that administration of oxytocin to aged...

www.nature.com

Interesting, sounds like me and I have similar experience as the OP! Hasn't Haidut spoken negatively about Oxytocin?

 

[DrivesOldTruck]

You're not pushing yourself.

Yes, I am. I've trained with some elite people over the years, I know what hard training looks like. I know how it feels to nearly pass out after completing the 20th squat rep during a Super Squats session.

Even if I wasn't pushing myself, there are plenty of guys that are half-assing it in the gym that still get far better results than me.

If you look around hardly anyone ever changes in appearance.

This has not been my experience. I've worked out in several gyms for a long enough period of time where I've been able to see lots of guys grow and make great progress.

 

[jacob]

Post a photo of your body composition (no homo)

 

[Tomaz26]

That's bull. I did pretty standard strength training and some high volume, intelligent accessories and had a very musclular physique and I'm not delusional because I got plenty of comments on my physique. It really isn't that hard, people just don't want to admit they didn't know what they were doing and didn't get results

Which part exactly is bull? Looks like you have no idea what you are talking about... There are guys that look more muscular than me who never set foot in a gym and I work out about 25 years. So what is your point? Ever heard of genotypes? Ecto, endo, mezo? Also depends on what you want to achieve. Classical BB still use cycles like I described. Bulking, cutting. Rest depends on your hormones (testo) genotype, caloric surplus, protein, steroids, recovery rate, good split etc etc.

 

[Tomaz26]

This has not been my experience. I've worked out in several gyms for a long enough period of time where I've been able to see lots of guys grow and make great progress.

Anabolics, prohormones, sarms..
I hardly know a guy that goes to gym and does not use at least one of those. Most people think 10% of guys use in gym and the rest are natty. Its the other way arround. If you see a big muscular guy its about 95% chance he uses steroids.. At least oral. Or SARMS which are dirt cheap and very accesible. But if you ask of course all are naturals..

 

[Jing]

I'm at: DL - 250lbs, S - 195lbs, BP - 135lbs, OHP - 95lbs. All for 3x5.

3x5 probably isn't enough volume for muscle growth, start doing 4x12-15 and add accessory exercises focus on time under tension hit each muscle group 3 times a week.

 

[Jing]

It seems the conclusion here is that my fat intake needs to come down quite a bit, and more thought needs to go into my C:P ratio, likely by reducing my protein intake from muscle meats. I had always opted for higher fat items just because those are the only ones I can get in stores that are organic and 100% grass fed. If, for example, I go down to 0% milk, the only option on grocery store shelves are the lower quality stuff.

You should aim for high carbs moderate protein lowish fat this would be best for muscle growth strength and performance.

 

[Lokzo]

High T
High DHT
Moderate estrogen
Low Prolactin
High T3
Low Insulin

= Good Physique

 

[syncronicity]

@syncronicity this is exactly the type of response I was looking for here, thank you.

You got everything else right, but this isn't my quote. I think another user posted this in the thread. I've never had my cortisol tested.

Yes, both, nearly every night. But as you note later, I never had these issues when I was in college. My stress levels in college were considerably higher than they've been since graduating.

Does this imply that the protein requirements for building muscle are far lower than everyone in the mainstream fitness community claims? The headline number everyone calls out is 0.8-1.0g/lb of bodyweight. Everyone I've known who has gotten jacked has followed this protocol. If I weigh 185lbs, that's almost 150g of protein at the low end. That would imply needing 900g of carbs at a 6:1 ratio, which is 3,600 calories. Once you add in the protein, you're at 4,200 calories before factoring in any fat in the diet. I ran a 2 month bulk in late 2017 at ~3,650 calories/day and gained 20lbs (170 - 190lbs) in those 2 months. I am dieting down at the moment (after a failed bulk over the winter) and would need to eat something like 60g or 70g of protein daily to be eating a quantity of food that would allow me to lose weight under the 6:1 model. Seems like a low amount of protein for someone exercising regularly, but for all I know it's fine.

I just have difficulty reconciling Peat's advice here with how to formulate a diet to build muscle.

Breathing is great. I've read several books on the dangers of mouth breathing and am conscious of the issues it presents. I practice nose breathing even while exercising with great success. I do not carry any fat on my neck; I only carry body fat on my love handles, no other body part. I sleep on my side. I had braces and wisdom teeth extracted as an adolescent.

It seems the conclusion here is that my fat intake needs to come down quite a bit, and more thought needs to go into my C:P ratio, likely by reducing my protein intake from muscle meats. I had always opted for higher fat items just because those are the only ones I can get in stores that are organic and 100% grass fed. If, for example, I go down to 0% milk, the only option on grocery store shelves are the lower quality stuff.

Generally, we're more resilient to stress when we're younger and also much more ignorant or naive of the level of stress we're actually under, mostly because we have so little history to judge our experience. As we get older, even in late 20s, especially if someone's had a history of chronic stress, adaptation wanes and stress becomes increasingly noticeable and intolerable. Many people end-up associating their health state with a particular milestone event that was stressful, and then try to fix their health relative to that specific health event, when it's likely that the case that there's been a long history of stress and the milestone represents a tipping point where the stress went next level. Not saying this applies to you, but what may be applicable is your increasing efforts to body build in conjunction with diet modification that hasn't supported you in the ways you need; and perhaps this in the context of pre-existing chronic stress.

What's your caffeine intake?
When did you have braces?
When did you have your wisdom teeth taken out?

Re: protein, the organism's energetic status has more to do with muscle development (i.e., not being under chronic stress), but there's likely a minimum intake and a point where it's excessive. I think you probably have protein dialed-in well enough or possibly a bit too much for the other macros you're intaking. You likely need to refine the other macros and specific nutrients. It's not all about large quants of protein either, high carb in-take and moderate protein can have impressive results. Google Seattle Seahawk's WR DK Metcalf's diet and you'll see what's possible. He eats gummy bears all day and a big meal at night. Maybe he did bulk and cut phases when he was younger, but I'd imagine he's been doing what works for him all along and he's been doing what he does now for a long time. While you're at it, check out DK Metcalf's mandible, jaw size. He has a large, well developed mandible and likely a large upper airway behind his large, well developed jaws. Having large well developed jaws and associated upper airway keeps a steady flow of oxygen to the cells w/o hypoxic states during extreme exertion. I'll come back to this.

Re: reconciling Peat's advice to build muscle, he says it shouldn't take much ... I don't think this is an area he speaks-to much, one time he said it shouldn't take more than doing some lunges and exercises to strengthen and build muscle and that muscles produce testosterone of their own when they're exerted. Peat focuses on oxidative metabolism, strong thyroid function. Haidut put together some good posts about anabolism and catabolism; I'm paraphrasing, it's been a while since I read the posts, but the jest I believe is that anabolic hormones produced by the body are anabolic in that they protect against catabolism even in the presence of catabolic hormones, while the stress hormones are strictly catabolic, particularly cortisol. So if someone's under stress and their body temp and PR is low, they're not producing adequate youth associated anabolic hormones to counteract the catabolic hormones. I'm not suggesting a deep dive into anabolic hormones, what I'm getting at is that stress is destructive and that eating to to get out of stress is going to be more productive than eating for muscle building.

Your sleeping position is a red-flag. Many people identify or associate their sleeping position with their "preferred" position due to comfort, but it's more likely the position that allows them to breath best while sleeping. During sleep, the tongue is the primary upper airway dilator. In a person with well developed jaws, the tongue postures against the palate and dilates the airway during the sleep stages when we're not conscious. Many people have under developed jaws; it's due to a developmental pattern that didn't enable proper tongue function during jaw development. The tongue is the primary agent for developing the jaw bones - gently pushing on the maxilla and subsequently growing the dental arch and mandible when the jaws are kept closed (teeth in occlusion) all night long. When a person is not able to properly posture the tongue during development, because they can't breath through their nose, they drop their tongue and breath through their mouth. This results in a lack of jaw development and a lack of space for the tongue. This is endemic to industrialized diets. Most people's jaws' don't have the space for wisdom teeth and many need braces to straighten their teeth because there's insufficient jaw space to accommodate straight teeth. In extreme cases, premolars are extracted to make more space to straighten teeth. In moderate cases, they'll perform inter-proximal reduction (shave teeth down so they're smaller) so they can be straightened, and some people only need some minor adjustments to straighten teeth. What orthodontics and teeth removal indicate is the jaws didn't develop adequately to support all 32 teeth or them emerging straight. If the jaws don't develop adequately, the upper airway may not develop adequately. In these cases, people compensate with mouth breathing and forward head posture to open up the airway. They may also sleep on their sides and/or stomach to keep their tongue from collapsing and further compromising their airway during sleep. If the jaws are underdeveloped and the tongue is not able to posture against palate during sleep the tongue collapses and the person mouth breaths to compensate during the sleep stages. If someone mouths breathes they exhaust CO2 too quickly, whereas nose breathing CO2 retention is greater. CO2 levels need to be maintained to liberate oxygen from hemoglobin. If CO2 levels drop because of mouth breathing and oxygen levels drop as a consequence, hypoxic states drive stress reactions and release stress hormones like adrenaline, cortisol and estrogen. These hormones interfere with sleep progression and can wake you. Lots to take in. Not sure this applies to you, but some of your comments would suggest taking a closer look at your sleep as a possible source of chronic stress. Poor or unrestful sleep impacts the whole organism and it'll down regulate the system to compensate - things like lower body temperature, lower pulse rate, poor glycogen reserves, dissregulated cortisol levels etc. Look to see if you can sleep on your back. Most people, even if they're side sleepers may start on their back and then auto-rotate onto their side once they start to drift off to sleep. If they try to sleep on their back, they'll start to snore and likely not be able to breath well and then shift to their side or stomach. This pattern can be in existence since a child, and the person, the organism compensates unknowingly, they are unconscious of the anatomical adjustments they make during the day and night to compensate for a smaller airway. It's something they've always accommodated, so it's not something that stands out as out of the ordinary. Having high cortisol can result in fat accumulation in undesirable locations and low muscle tone. In this circumstance, developing a workout regimen to build muscle would further exacerbate and underlying catabolic condition and it would becomes virtually impossible to compensate for the increased energy expenditure of muscle building. For some people, the down regulated metabolism can lead to weight gain in the absence of increased physical activity. For some people, they combat the weight gain that may come from a down regulated metabolism with reduce calorie intake or increased physical activity. The increased physical activity keeps most of the fat off because the physical activity is driving a lot of fat metabolism so they burn fat regularly. It's a lot to unpack if this applies.

It's good to be aware of the dangers of mouth breathing. It can be a difficult pattern to break, especially during sleep when there's an anatomical nexus which there typically is. It's possible to maintain nose breathing when conscious of it, but relapse to mouth breathing when not being mindful.

Caffeine will compensate short term for groggy mornings that results from unrestful sleep, but it severely impacts the metabolism throughout the day and the next night's sleep, and it has the potential to be exponentially catabolic especially in the context of a diet higher in protein, fat and lower carbs.

Your delayed sleep onset and disrupted sleep are definitely indicators you have chronic background stress and its influencing your body building efforts. Your efforts will continue to be thwarted without addressing the sleep. Hopefully your situation is all lifestyle and not anatomical. In the event its unclear if its lifestyle or anatomical, a sleep study would be warranted. Getting a referral from your GP to a sleep medicine provider would be a good step to consult for a home sleep study (e.g., Snap Diagnostics), which is a typical fist step if you have qualifying symptoms. A sleep medicine provider will ask you about delayed sleep onset, disrupted sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, naps, falling asleep while driving or dozing off while at a red-light, etc. You might be surprised.

Back to DK Metcalf, he can eat mostly carbs because his metabolism is functioning at such a high level, his need for protein is reduced due to high carb intake, his anatomy is allowing him to hold-on to a lot of CO2 and using oxygen efficiently and avoid hypoxia during extreme exertion. It'd be interesting to monitor his breathing during a 90 yard sprint; I bet he could use nose breathing for most of a sprint it if not all of it. He's a beast on the field. I would think that his large jaws and large upper airway are contributing factors to his strength and development and his seemingly odd diet, especially compared to the likes of someone like TB12 or Lebron (extreme examples).

 

[Demyze]

Which part exactly is bull? Looks like you have no idea what you are talking about... There are guys that look more muscular than me who never set foot in a gym and I work out about 25 years. So what is your point? Ever heard of genotypes? Ecto, endo, mezo? Also depends on what you want to achieve. Classical BB still use cycles like I described. Bulking, cutting. Rest depends on your hormones (testo) genotype, caloric surplus, protein, steroids, recovery rate, good split etc etc.

Lmao he said he wants to look like he lifts and make some gains, not be an IFBB pro. This is easily achievable by any human without exogenous steroids. If you seriously think he shouldn't have gotten better results after 9 years of lifting you obviously are totally clueless about training

 

[Lonewolfx]

I finally gained size when I ate a LOT more calories, while minimizing fat gains by eating very clean, low fat, moderate protein and high carbohydrate diet.

Would you be able to outline a typical day of eating back then?

 

[DonLore]

My doctor won't test my Testosterone levels because I have regular morning/waking erections which indicates healthy T levels to him. Maybe I need to go find some company that does blood tests and get it tested myself.

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy: 60 ng/mL (tested last September). I take 5000iu of Vit D every morning, and get regular sun exposure every day.

When I was lifting in college, my sleep was incredible. Very deep, always felt rested upon waking. Strength gains were abysmal, my best squat while in college was 190lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps. So I can't say sleep is the issue, though my sleep these days kind of sucks.

Dont take vitD if you get sun exposure. Sun exposure is loads better and safer. Get your T, DHT, thyroid etc tested.
Do simple, not overly long workouts like 2 sets of deadlift, 2 sets of bench press and increase the load/sets when you can. Cortisol is the biggest enemy, and too long/intense workout with too little protein and carbs can increase cortisol. Just focus on optimizing thyroid and androgens, and dont fap too much. Eggs, collagen, meat, liver

 

[LLight]

Interesting, sounds like me and I have similar experience as the OP! Hasn't Haidut spoken negatively about Oxytocin?

Indeed, Haidut and Peat speak negatively about it from what I know. I'm personnaly not convinced it's always bad. I think it's possible some diseases are due to (if it's the real cause) too low levels of oxytocin and/or vasopressin.

Some CFS patients cohort had halved levels of vasopressin with respect to controls. Fibromyalgia patients might have low oxytocin levels (it's seem consistent with their symptoms, or at least it helps them to take oxytocin, according to Dr Flechas).

Vasopressin injections are able to wake some hibernating small mamals and some other have very low oxytocin levels during hibernation (source). Hibernation looks like metabolic syndrome in some way. Of course PUFA are also involved in the hibernation mechanisms.

"Sugar cravings" (forbidden words sorry ) might also be connected to oxytocin.

Final hypothesis: I think dry fasting might be able to help resetting such vasopressin/oxytocin levels issues. What is interesting is I've read testimonies of people doing prolonged dry fast who, after having recovered, had
better athletic performance (which is not necessarily what is the goal of OP).

Some examples:

I feel stronger and am sure I have gained muscle just from doing the 7 days dry. It is months later and I still feel a bit better every day...[...]
That was 5 months ago. I am experiencing greater strength (without exercising), more energy, more vitality, better memory and cognition, improved moods, better digestion, disappearance of plantar fasciitis, less back pain, and my skin looks years younger, is firmer, and has a glow to it that others have commented on.

Second one was a 7 day dry fast too:

The gains from the fast have been substantial. I have a deeper appreciation now for water and it's life-giving properties. I have released a number of addictions (junk food, caffeine, social media). I've empowered myself with greater discipline. I have negativity about my body and now see it as magical and have far more respect, gratitude and appreciation for it than I ever have in my life. It took me about 2 weeks to recover from the fast and since then my strength, endurance and athletic performance have soared. I am working out 2 hours a day now with my heart rate at 80-90% over 80% of the time. I've never done that before and especially without caffeine.

This guy had dry fasted ... a lot.

My breathing issues dissappeared, my injured muscles seem to be growing back, my sweettooth is complegely gone, my sense of smell is back and strong, acne gone, scars smoothen out, its easier to think, its easier to speak, its easier to move, its easier to see, eye floaters went away, I dont get hangovers, I dont get whiskey ****, Im not anxious at all, and its easy to pack on muscle from training, everything bad got better;everything else got easier But Ive done a lot of 3+ days of dryfasting. Thousands of hours deep in total. Im in better health in my twenties than I was as a teenager