Intermittent Fasting Appears to Slow Aging

by Monica Joshi

Food, our worst enemy and our best friend for survival. While we are all well aware that eating too much food isn't good for our health, it is also becoming increasingly evident that even eating a normal amount of food could increase your risk of developing various health problems in the course of your life. Recently, restricting calorie intake has been shown to reduce age-associated diseases and boost the lifespan of monkey. Now, scientists finally have evidence that similar effects occur in humans.

During a small trial, researchers discovered that following a diet that was designed to mimic the effects of fasting for just five days a month reduced risk factors for a range of health problems. These problems included cardiovascular disease and cancer. All of these benefits, furthermore, came without any apparent major adverse effects.

Intermittent fasting, has been shown to help mice stave off cancer, heart disease and the progressive degeneration of brain cells. It has also been demonstrated to have some beneficial effects on humans, such as reducing blood pressure. However, as fasting is difficult for humans to follow as well as dangerous, in order to examine its effects further, researchers from theUniversity of Southern California instead came up with a diet that mimics fasting, resulting in the same effects on the body.

It seems an odd concept that slashing calorie intake should exert positive effects on health, but dietary restriction is known to induce changes in the cell and metabolism that affect things like inflammation and cellular damage. Both of these effects are associated with a variety of diseases, such as cancer and dementia.

Their first test involved mice whereby they had bimonthly cycles of just four days and starting during middle age, which was found to induce an impressive list of positive effects. It promoted the regeneration of multiple organs and systems, trimmed them of fat, reduced the incidence of cancer, rejuvenated the immune system and helped them outlive control animals by several months. That is lot for these short-lived animals.

In their second test, when they tried it out on old mice, it promoted the growth of brain cells in the region responsible for learning and memory. This was complemented by an observed improvement in cognitive tests. And these effects weren’t simply due to an overall reduction in calories consumed since the control animals and the fasted animals were provided with the same total number of calories each month.

The researchers enrolled a small group of 19 human participants and trialed their diet on them. Daily calorie intake was then reduced to between 34 and 54% of the normal amount, or roughly 725 to 1090 Calories, which was followed for five consecutive days per month. Following the fasting regime, they ate as they normally would.

The study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, went on to demonstrate that just three cycles of this diet tidied their waistlines, lowered blood glucose and reduced levels of molecules associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. When compared to the control group, these results are encouraging enough for the researchers to start thinking about seeking FDA approval for similar regimens.

There, however, needs to be a highlighted note warning all those wanting to test out this hypothesis that people shouldn’t try fasting on their own as it isn’t suitable for everyone. Furthermore, if not carried out properly, it could be dangerous for health. It is also important that more, mass studies, be conducted in order for there to be some more concrete conclusions about this particular regimen.