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Fasting for 18 hrs a day could help slow down ageing and fight cancer, diabetes: New study
Intermittent fasting triggers metabolic switch where a body's source of energy changes from glucose-based to fat-based, which could improve health, say researchers.
HIMANI CHANDNA 1 January, 2020 12:17 pm IST
Representational image | Pixabay
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New Delhi: Fasting for 16 to 18 hours a day can help reduce stress, slow down aging and decrease incidences of cancer and obesity, a new study has found.
Titled ‘Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease’, the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) claims to have found that intermittent fasting improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress, suppresses inflammation, controls blood pressure and aids in having a healthier heart.
“Despite the evidence for the health benefits of intermittent fasting and its applicability to many diseases…a diet of three meals with snacks every day is so ingrained in our culture that a change in this eating pattern will rarely be contemplated by patients or doctors,” writes researchers Mark Mattson and Rafael de Cabo, who conducted the study.
While Mattson is a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins Medicine in the US, Cabo is chief of the translational gerontology (study of old age) at the National Institute on Aging in America.
The new research, which is a review of various other studies, has found that intermittent fasting triggers a metabolic switch where a body’s source of energy changes from glucose-based to fat-based that could improve health.
Glucose, a type of simple sugar, is the main source of energy for human beings. But during periods of fasting, the liver breaks down fatty acids into ketones for fuel. Ketones are chemical substances that the body makes when it does not have enough insulin in blood.
“Preclinical studies consistently show the robust disease-modifying efficacy of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurological brain diseases,” the study notes.
It adds: “Although the magnitude of the effect of intermittent fasting on life-span extension is variable and influenced by sex, diet, and genetic factors, (other) studies in mice and nonhuman primates show consistent effects of caloric restriction on the health span.”
The three most-widely studied intermittent fasting regimens are alternate-day fasting, 5:2 intermittent fasting (fasting two days each week), and daily time-restricted feeding (eat during specific hours of the day).
When food is restricted to 500 to 700 calories one or more days every week, the level of ketones in the body rises.
“Periodic flipping of the metabolic switch not only provides ketones that are necessary to fuel cells during the fasting period but also elicits highly orchestrated systemic and cellular responses…to bolster mental and physical performance, as well as disease resistance,” the study says.
Earlier studies have also demonstrated similar findings. For instance, a study by Weindruch and Sohal, published in the NEJM in 1997, found that reducing food availability over a lifetime (caloric restriction) slows aging in animals.
The new study, however, also cautions that switching to an intermittent fasting regimen may make people irritable and they may experience a reduced ability to concentrate during periods of food restriction. “These initial side effects usually disappear within one month…,” it notes.
The review also says it remains to be determined whether people can go on intermittent fasting for years to “potentially accrue the benefits seen in animal models”.
Also, clinical studies conducted till now have focused mainly on overweight young and middle-aged adults. “We cannot generalise to other age groups the benefits and safety of intermittent fasting that have been observed in these studies,” the research notes.
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Intermittent fasting triggers metabolic switch where a body's source of energy changes from glucose-based to fat-based, which could improve health, say researchers.
HIMANI CHANDNA 1 January, 2020 12:17 pm IST
Representational image | Pixabay
Text Size:
New Delhi: Fasting for 16 to 18 hours a day can help reduce stress, slow down aging and decrease incidences of cancer and obesity, a new study has found.
Titled ‘Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease’, the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) claims to have found that intermittent fasting improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress, suppresses inflammation, controls blood pressure and aids in having a healthier heart.
“Despite the evidence for the health benefits of intermittent fasting and its applicability to many diseases…a diet of three meals with snacks every day is so ingrained in our culture that a change in this eating pattern will rarely be contemplated by patients or doctors,” writes researchers Mark Mattson and Rafael de Cabo, who conducted the study.
While Mattson is a neuroscientist at the Johns Hopkins Medicine in the US, Cabo is chief of the translational gerontology (study of old age) at the National Institute on Aging in America.
The new research, which is a review of various other studies, has found that intermittent fasting triggers a metabolic switch where a body’s source of energy changes from glucose-based to fat-based that could improve health.
Glucose, a type of simple sugar, is the main source of energy for human beings. But during periods of fasting, the liver breaks down fatty acids into ketones for fuel. Ketones are chemical substances that the body makes when it does not have enough insulin in blood.
“Preclinical studies consistently show the robust disease-modifying efficacy of intermittent fasting in animal models on a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurological brain diseases,” the study notes.
It adds: “Although the magnitude of the effect of intermittent fasting on life-span extension is variable and influenced by sex, diet, and genetic factors, (other) studies in mice and nonhuman primates show consistent effects of caloric restriction on the health span.”
The three most-widely studied intermittent fasting regimens are alternate-day fasting, 5:2 intermittent fasting (fasting two days each week), and daily time-restricted feeding (eat during specific hours of the day).
When food is restricted to 500 to 700 calories one or more days every week, the level of ketones in the body rises.
“Periodic flipping of the metabolic switch not only provides ketones that are necessary to fuel cells during the fasting period but also elicits highly orchestrated systemic and cellular responses…to bolster mental and physical performance, as well as disease resistance,” the study says.
Earlier studies have also demonstrated similar findings. For instance, a study by Weindruch and Sohal, published in the NEJM in 1997, found that reducing food availability over a lifetime (caloric restriction) slows aging in animals.
The new study, however, also cautions that switching to an intermittent fasting regimen may make people irritable and they may experience a reduced ability to concentrate during periods of food restriction. “These initial side effects usually disappear within one month…,” it notes.
The review also says it remains to be determined whether people can go on intermittent fasting for years to “potentially accrue the benefits seen in animal models”.
Also, clinical studies conducted till now have focused mainly on overweight young and middle-aged adults. “We cannot generalise to other age groups the benefits and safety of intermittent fasting that have been observed in these studies,” the research notes.
ThePrint is now on Telegram. For the best reports & opinion on politics, governance and more, subscribe to ThePrint on Telegram.
