Submitted by GAtherton on 26 April 2015
Intermittent fasting has gained some popularity in the UK recently as a means to control our weight after a documentary was screened on TV in 2012 demonstrating its effectiveness.
A recent article in the Daily Telegraph tells us that fasting predates the 5:2 diet by decades:
Benefits have also been claimed for diabetes. Parkinsons disease, Alzheimers and multiple sclerosis! Sounds unlikley that something so simple could have so many far reaching effects, but there is much more to come!
Fasting has been likened to a ‘’reset’’ button that returns the human body to its – healthy – factory settings. A study published last year by Prof Longo’s team at USC concluded that , triggering the production of new white blood cells. Other studies show thatfasting enables healthy cells to better endure the toxic impact of chemotherapy while cancer cells die more rapidly. It is a fascinating area of research that draws on the body’s evolutionary adaptation.
’Human beings are not programmed for abundance,’’ Dr Wilhelmi de Toledo says. ‘’Humans are programmed for loss.’’ The ability to fast is a response to periods when our ancestors ate more than they needed and built up fat reserves and surplus nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, in summer and autumn. In winter and spring when access to food was much reduced, they endured a fasting period in which their metabolism switched automatically from ‘’external nutrition to nutrition taken from fat reserves’’.
How does fasting stimulate our immune systems and help cancer patients fight cancer cells? An interview printed in the Daily Mail explains:
A study found that fasting for two days or more can help to kick-start the immune system, especially if it has been damaged by ageing or cancer treatment. It encourages the body to replace old and damaged cells, U.S. researchers said. Valter Longo, longevity expert at the University of Southern California, said: ‘When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged.’
His team found fasting for two to four days every six months forced the body into survival mode, using up stores of fat and sugar and breaking down old cells. ‘The body then sent a signal telling stem cells to regenerate and “rebuild the entire system”. ‘With a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or ageing, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system,’ Professor Longo said. He went on to say: ‘It gives the “okay” for the stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating – and rebuild the entire system.’
In a pilot trial, cancer patients lost fewer white blood cells if they had fasted for 72 hours before chemotherapy.
Fasting also reduced ill effects and death in mice exposed to chemotherapy drugs and boosted immunity in ageing mice. Dr Tanya Dorff, a co-author of the research published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, added: ‘While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. ‘The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy.’
The scientists are now exploring the possibility that the same effects of fasting might apply across many biological systems and organs.
Is fasting a good thing for people with severe lung infections such as those with ABPA & CPA? This is not something we know enough about yet and certainly those who are already struggling to put on weight would be ill advised to try it. Consider also that the amount of fasting tested in these papers is far more than the 24 hour fast popularised by the 5:2 diet as 72 hours fasting was tested and seemed to give the most marked beneficial results.
The effect on our immune system of this prolonged fasting seems to be to force a renewal of some of our immune cells, potentially removing defective cells that are contributing to the illness and replacing them with fully functional cells as the food deprived body goes into a kind of ‘self protective’ mode.
Some of the broader statements made in the interviews given above lead us to believe that fasting is something our bodies are designed to do and it is our modern lives that force excess on us. If we voluntarily reduce that excess by fasting it seems that the impact several illnesses and diseases make on our lives can be reduced. It isn’t difficult to see the potential for popular over-reaction that comes with these claims and we must guard against reading into this research too much at the moment but it is certainly tempting to try this relatively harmless and cost free change in our lifestyles, even if only to stave off obesity for a few more years! Just don’t overdo it! 5:2 fasting (600 calories for 24 hours twice a week) is a world away from 3 days of fasting (72 hours with no food, only water) – medical guidance should be sought before embarking on anything longer than 24 hours.
Original research papers
Saying No to Drugs: Fasting Protects Hematopoietic Stem Cells from Chemotherapy and Aging
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