All About Fasting

All About Fasting

You may have heard the new buzz in health - intermittent fasting. This is a new take on the old concept of doing without food. Back several centuries ago people would fast severely for long periods of time. However, this often was not voluntary. It was called crop failure, drought, or starvation. Now-a- days in the developed countries there is more to eat than ever before. Not all of it is good for us, especially if we try to eat it all at once.  Those that focus on both waist sizes and health have done a little bit of studying. They are finding that we don’t have to count calories every day. They are showing that occasional calorie restriction actually works better than constant calorie restriction. It doesn't even have to be a full day, partial days’ work well too.The benefits of intermittent fasting go far beyond losing weight. They include fighting diabetes, improving inflammation, reducing blood pressure, improving your metabolic rate, improving pancreatic function, improving cardiovascular health, reducing LDL and cholesterol levels, reducing hunger, reducing the risk of cancer, and improving memory and learning.

There are multiple ways to do intermittent fasting.

Those used to all day fasting can simply fast one to two days a week. For most of us that is pretty hard. We feel like we need some kind of calories in order to keep up with our busy lifestyles. We are afraid that if we don’t eat something our metabolism will tank and our thinking will get muddy. This is so far from the truth!

There are several different ways to intermittently fast.

One of the simplest is to postpone your first meal until later in the day. Skipping breakfast doesn’t help much if your later meals are full of junk, but if you eat healthy foods the rest of the day skipping breakfast can be a big benefit.

Limiting your eating times to a total of eight hours a day is considered different, but to me it is the same. If your eight hours are between noon and eight pm you have simply eliminated breakfast and cut out the late night snack. 

The same eight hours could start at an earlier time and end before dinner. Then you skip a formal dinner and eliminate snacking in the evening. If your evenings are full and you don’t miss the snacking this can be a very easy form of fasting. You wake up hungry for breakfast the next morning.

A twist on intermittent fasting is to break it into even smaller intervals. Eat a very light breakfast and wait until dinner before you eat again. Sometimes this is enough to get you going and to last you until that evening meal. You end up with two shorter fasts, between breakfast and dinner and between dinner and breakfast. 

Who shouldn't do fasting, or even intermittent fasting? 

Those who are severely hypoglycemic (those with mild forms can slowly stretch the time between meals without truly eliminating them) those that are pregnant or breastfeeding, and those with cortisol dysregulation. 

The key to successful intermittent fasting is finding a method that works for you. Try a method for a few days and listen to your body. If you don’t experience any physical signs of hypoglycemia then take a look at your emotional stability. If it doesn't meet your needs physically, psychologically or with your hectic schedule then try a different form. 

This is not an all or nothing mindset.

It is all about listening to your body and finding out what is working for you and getting you closer to your goals. The biggest key to success is to make sure you are eating healthy food in the meals you do it, and not making up the number of calories that you missed.

Source

http://our-arthritis.com/index.php/arthritis-blog/treatments/diet/157-the-how-and-why-of-intermittent-fasting

Fruit And Vegetable Juicing May Be Key To Helping People With Addictions

Could juicing be instrumental in overcoming addictions ranging from nicotine to misuse of medications? For many people, the answer is a resounding, "yes."

Keri Kenseth, an avid juicer, says that eating fresh fruits and vegetables in this manner is the ideal way for people tomaintain good health, or in the case of people with addictions, to nurture their bodies back to health.

How juicing helps people with addictions restore their health

Bodies that have faced years of addictions are riddled with toxins that wreak havoc on overall functioning. From clarity, mood, circulation, to digestion, virtually every aspect of a properly-running system is jeopardized when addictions enter the picture.

That's where juicing comes in.

Kenseth explains that juicing allows people to consume only the essential nutrients from fruits and vegetables, which work to flush out the toxins that have been accumulated from addictive behaviors. Good thing, because over time, all that tobacco, alcohol or other harmful substances can take a toll on our mental and physical health.

Because the fresh fruits and vegetables used for juicing are void of animal products and refined sugars, the body regains energy and its immune system becomes stronger, helping to give those addictions a proper send-off as they leave our body. In other words, adding known harms like processed foods or ones that are not whole to our diets only add fuel to the fire for a body that's already struggling with toxins.

Personal stories of those who credit juicing for turning their life around

One incredible story comes from Quentin Vennie. He was a heavy smoker, overdosed on Vicodin and struggled with addictions to other medications. Flash forward to a life of juicing and yoga, he's free of his addictions and now a Certified Personal Trainer in New York City. He says he looks to foods, not medications, to heal himself.

There's also Tom Coghill, who admits to facing muscle spasms and short-term memory loss after abusing alcohol, painkillers and tranquilizers. When he decided to make a change in his life, he started juicing foods like carrots, cantaloupe, cucumber and watermelon. He says he experienced increased energy and more importantly, turned his life from one of life-threatening addictions to one of health and new-found spirituality.

While juicing clearly has many benefits, it should be noted that it may not be for everyone. It may sometimes cause diarrhoea, hyperglycaemia symptoms due to consumption of high concentrations of natural sugars, or lead to infections in instances where individuals do not properly clean their juicers.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.juicedietblog.com/

http://www.fasting.ws/fasting/tom-coghill.html

Fasting May Help Children With Epilepsy

 Since ancient times, fasting has consistently been regarded as an important part of treating various diseases, including epilepsy. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have investigated the effects of fasting in conjunction with the ketogenic diet (high fat, low carbohydrate intake), after early evidence showed that water fasting and carbohydrate abstinence reduced the frequency of epileptic seizures for more than half the patients exposed to a fasting-based therapy.

How does the ketogenic diet work?

Through low carbohydrate intake, the ketogenic diet tricks the brain into thinking that it is going to starve so that it begins to burn fats as its primary fuel source. When carbohydrates are not available for conversion into glucose, the liver starts breaking down fats into fatty acids and a group of compounds known as ketone bodies. These ketone bodies are then transported to the heart and brain, to be used as an energy source instead of glucose. It is the elevated blood ketone levels that then trigger slight biochemical changes in the brain. Trials and observations show that the ketogenic diet helps about half of the patients who try it, while around 20 percent of patients experience vast improvements.

Because of its special requirements and unique benefits, the ketogenic diet is not balanced, and includes only a few fruits and vegetables, which are typically fat-rich. However, a ketogenic menu should not be unhealthy. Nut butters, coconut oil, avocados, olives, eggs, olive oil, whole milk, cottage cheese and Omega-3 rich cold water fat fish (like salmon and mackerel) are excellent sources of fat, plenty of which are mono-unsaturated heart and brain protective fats that boost HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) levels.

Fasting confirmed as potential stand-alone therapy

Yet another Johns Hopkins study brings further evidence on the benefits of the ketogenic diet, in tandem with periodic fasting. The study also manages to prove that the two approaches are complementary, and should be used together for best results. Adam Hartman, a paediatric neurologist at Johns Hopkins University, explained that the current body of evidence "suggests that fasting does not merely intensify the therapeutic effects of the ketogenic diet but may actually represent an entirely new way to change the metabolism of children with epilepsy."

In the current study, the scientists tested children for whom the ketogenic diet alone achieved only moderate results. At the end of the trial, four of the six children tested reported significantly fewer seizures, proving that fasting could become a stand-alone treatment for children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. "We suspect that fasting affects nerve cells in a completely different manner from the ketogenic diet," explained Dr. Hartman, after an earlier study showed that the two treatment methods independently protect against two entirely different kinds of seizures. Hartman plans to focus his future studies on determining the reasons for these differences, and possibly develop new diet-based epilepsy treatments.

Sources for this article include:

Raw Michelle
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206203122.htm
http://www.naturaleater.com
http://maks.erbak.com

What You Need To Know About Intermittent Fasting

Our Ancesters And Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is supposed to copy that “diet plan”, if you will. By eating at a set point during the day every other day, the metabolism can be trained to process food at a heightened rate during that period.The metabolism is a wonderful tool: it can be fine-tuned and trained to match a certain lifestyle. Our predecessors didn’t have the luxury of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They had to eat what they had while they had it.

Way back in the past, our forefathers wandered the continents in search of food.

Before they learned how to farm, they would forage for berries, nuts, roots, and just about anything else growing on a vine or branch that they could reach.

While this sounds like a very trying lifestyle, there was at least one benefit. Obesity wasn't a problem.

Maybe one in every few was a little chubby, but the biggest epidemic rocking our world today didn’t exist back then.

With the advent of 24 hour grocery stores, access to food is at an all-time high. You can even order pizza that is delivered to your door. A shift in diet must occur, and for many over the years that shift was made to mimic the past.

Intermittent fasting is based off a loose understanding of how our ancestors used to eat. Meat was rare, and had to be hunted daily to sustain the group. Sometimes, this would lead to periods without meat, or periods of low food intake in general.

By consuming heavy meals on your off day, you can resupply the body with all the essential nutrients it requires.

Then, during your fasting day, by not eating you give your digestive system time to completely finish digesting, rest itself, and then reset.

In this manor, our ancestors rarely had to worry about body image, if they worried at all. As long as you include plenty of cardio, that is to say about 3-4 hours a day spent walking, you should be able to naturally shed weight.

References.

Google Images

http://www.dietinsider.co.uk/

Intermittent Fasting Promotes Brain Health

Intermittent fasting promotes 

brain health.

 According to a new study carried out at the National Institute on Ageing
 in Baltimore, fasting for one or two days each week may help improve
 the condition of individuals suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Researchers have found that stopping nearly all food intake for short
 periods of time triggers a protection mechanism within the brain which
 also works against the effects of neurodegenerative disorders.

Calorie intake impacts the brain

Professor Mark Mattson, lead author of the study and professor of
 neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,
explained at the American Association for the Advancement of Science
 in Vancouver that "reducing your calorie intake could help your brain, but
doing so by cutting your intake of food is not likely to be the best method
of triggering this protection. It is likely to be better to go on intermittent
bouts of fasting, in which you eat hardly anything at all, and then have
periods when you eat as much as you want. In other words, timing
 appears to be a crucial element to this process."

The science team lead by Dr. Mattson discovered that reducing food
intake to approximately 500 calories per fasting day yields optimal
effects and can significantly improve long-term cognitive function.
 Foods that may safely be consumed during fasting days include
an assortment of fiber-rich vegetables, unsweetened tea and water.

That calorie restriction has beneficial effect on human health and
 may even prolong life span is no real news. The first research into
 calorie restrictive diets dates back to 1934, when a Cornell University
 researcher noticed that guinea pigs that were fed a calorie restrictive
 diet maintained higher nutrient levels and lived twice as much when
 compared to regular guinea pigs. Later on, Dr. Roy Walford of UCLA
 investigated calorie restriction in greater detail, revealing that such a
 diet has the potential to improve a range of age-related diseases, as
 well as help the dieter maintain a more youthful appearance.

Fasting is like 'exercising your brain muscles'

The scientific community is now interested in looking at the
 neuro-protective potential of calorie restriction. Researchers
such as Dr. Mattson are convinced that fasting not only extends life-span,
 but also delays the onset of many conditions affecting the brain. Mattson
 explained that according to research, chemicals involved in the growth
 of brain cells are significantly boosted when food intake is dramatically
 reduced.

"The cells of the brain are put under mild stress that is analogous to the
 effects of exercise on muscle cells. The overall effect is beneficial,"
said Dr. Mattson, who believes there's a very sound evolutionary
explanation for why our brains behave like this when deprived of food.
 "When resources became scarce, our ancestors would have had to
scrounge for food. Those whose brains responded best, who remembered
 where promising sources could be found or recalled how to avoid predators
 would have been the ones who got the food. Thus a mechanism linking
periods of starvation to neural growth would have evolved."

Dr. Mattson draws on previous studies which analyzed the impact of fasting
 on general health. The next step for his team is to look at the effects of
fasting on the brain using MRI scans and other computerized investigative
techniques. If a definitive link between fasting and brain health can be
 scientifically established, Mattson believes that most people could
 significantly boost brain function simply going throughtwo days
of "intermittent energy restriction" each week.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035166_intermittent_fasting_brain_health_calories.html

About the author:
Raw Michelle is a natural health blogger and researcher, 

The Healing Power Of Juice Fasting

Juice Fasting - 

 

Our bodies are designed to thrive on raw vegetables. Cooking foods so destroys the nutritional values that we develop many deficiency diseases as a result. Fortunately, our health can be largely restored by taking into our bodies the concentrated nutritional power of fresh vegetable juices. You need not worry about fiber. More than enough fiber is present in vegetable juices than is required to keep our systems operating well.

Juice fasting is currently gaining popularity as a form of detoxification. It is also viewed as an alternative form of treatment for a variety of diseases. Some people also undergo juice fasting for religious purposes.

Commonly used juices in a juice fasting regimen include green vegetables, such as parsley and spinach; cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage and broccoli; roots, such as beets and sweet potatoes; herbs, such as peppermint, basil, ginger and garlic; fruits, such as grapes and citrus fruits; and wheat-grass. These juices should be diluted in water.

Some people undergoing fasting for weight loss complain about the taste of these juices. It is advisable to combine fruits and vegetables in order to create a healthier and more palatable drink.

The amount of juice you can drink is not restricted. However, some practitioners set limits, approximately 32-64 ounces per day. You may also take other fluids, such as water and herbal tea, to promote further detoxification.

Since pure juices contain little fibre, it is usually necessary to take a laxative or an enema to promote expulsion of waste products in your intestines.

A few days before you start juice fasting, various food and drinks are gradually eliminated from the diet, including alcohol, caffeine, sugar, animal meat, fish and eggs. This leaves organic fruits and vegetables in the diet.

The length of a juice fast varies, depending on the faster. Some practitioners opt to fast once a week or 3-5 days per month. Avid practitioners undergo longer fasts, usually lasting about a week to a month once or twice a year. People who undergo fasting for health reasons may opt to fast until the symptoms are relieved or the disease is treated.

We live in a world that often tells us more is better. Fasting for weight loss, fitness and health may be good for the holy - some may say. But the common perception appears to be that hunger must be appeased at all times and without question.

And with the growth of technology, microwave goods and instant everything - taking the road-less-travelled of fasting for weight loss & improved health is not the most popular course of action. Live to eat even if it kills you later. I want it all and I want it now

The relentless and insane compulsion for immediate gratification, as it relates to food and eating, is leading millions to an early grave like blind lambs to an unforgiving (and self-inflicted) slaughterhouse". Fasting for weight loss - or any change requiring sacrifice - is the last thing on their minds. At least until illness strikes. Then, in panic, many run to hospitals and demand a cure. The almighty doctor, some believe, is the solution to the obesity problem.

Whatever the reason, and however you want to do it, a juice fasting can bring you benefits. 

Try it!

references;

http://goarticles.com/article/Juice-Fasting-The-Healing-Power-Of-Juice-Fast/5212653/
image; images.google

Juice Fasting Plan Starts - Day 1

Juice Fasting

Juice Fast - An All Natural Weight Loss Program

Juice fast plan is a all-natural and awesome technique intended for reducing a few pounds extremely fast. Juice recipes are stuffed with minerals, vitamins, and mainly antioxidants which will help reinforce your entire system's defence mechanisms as well as help your overall fitness. It is the more popular technique of doing a detoxing approach for the reason that the antioxidants coming from juices clear the body constantly.

This detox diet happens to work, safe and healthy for most of us who search for methods to become healthy. It is extremely simple and easy, and convenient method of doing. You are able to extract juice in the fruits and employ that removed juice for the detoxifying diet.

It can be carried out before or after a cleansing detox diet. In situations where it happens first, it typically lasts for one-to-two days prior to food being gradually reintegrated -- usually over six to seven days.

It is a great way to detoxify your body. The juice of fruits and vegetables is filled with healing, cleansing properties that allow the body to gently and safely detoxify. It has become an effective steppingstone to water fasting which is more difficult and only for very healthy people. Juice fast has a greater ability to encourage healing compared to fasting on water. It cleanses the body while supplying a dramatic increase in vitamins, minerals and enzymes.

It is simply consuming vegetable and fruit juices and water instead of solid food. Many people include whey protein in their liquid plan as well. This is one of the most popular and effective fasts. Even if you choose not to make your entire fast liquids only, substituting one or two meals for liquids is a great alternative.

It usually lasts for a short-term period like one to three days. Longer juice fast requires a skilled health professional. This is to ensure that nutrients will maintain in the body and to monitor further nutrient deficiencies.

It is usually done for approximately three days. Although many do it for more than that, it is recommended that one consults a doctor, nutritionist or other qualified medical professional if this lasts longer than five days. Although it can be beneficial to the health, some deficiencies can occur.

After this, the patient may spend further three days on fruits and milk, taking three meals a day of juicy fruits such as apple, pineapple, grapes, papaya, with a glass of milk, at five hourly intervals. Thereafter, the patient may adopt a well-balanced diet consisting of seeds, nuts and grains, vegetables and fruits.

But it is a method not advisable to everyone. This includes pregnant women, sick children, and people with chronic conditions. Also, it is not recommended for patients who undergone surgical procedures because it is capable of reducing proteins in the blood and can interfere with the drugs prescribed to the patient.

http://goarticles.com/article/Juice-Fast-An-All-Natural-Weight-Loss-Program/5125085/

Welch Hagerty 

Is a 5 - 2 Diet The New Way To Get Slim And Healthy?

The Intermittent Fasting diet - is a 5 to 2 diet the new way to get slim and healthy?

Intermittent fasting (or the 5 to 2 Intermittent Fasting Diet) whipped up a storm of interest when the BBC’s Horizon programme Eat, Fast and Live Longer highlighting intermittent fasting’s (IF) potential health benefits.

Since then, an entire 5 2 diet weight loss industry has developed.

Claimed to help us to not only stay slim and live longer, but also ward off illnesses from diabetes to dementia, it certainly sounds impressive.  So should we give a fasting diet a go?

What is Intermittent Fasting?

There are different approaches, for example, alternating days of fasting and eating freely, or fasting for a more extended period.

For our purposes, IF refers to eating ‘normally’ for 5 days the week, and on the other 2 'fasting days' eating between 500-1000 calories depending on the plan followed.

Does an Intermittent Fasting Diet Work?

Most of the evidence relating to the claimed health benefits of IF comes from animal studies.

This is a major reason why it’s currently very difficult to make clear statements about IF’s potential health benefits.  There needs to be more studies with humans, of longer duration.

There are some short term studies published regarding the weight loss potential of intermittent fasting. These studies only refer to a specific IF approach, popularised as the 2 day diet book.

A British study on 5:2 Intermittent Fasting

Last year a British study amongst 107 overweight women (aged 30-45) was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The women were randomly assigned to follow one of two balanced weight loss eating plans. Either based on a Mediterranean diet (1500 calories) or a 5 2 Intermittent Fasting diet for 2 consecutive days (650 calories) and the Mediterranean Diet for the other 5 days.

After 6 months researchers found that:

• Weight loss was similar between the 2 diet groups (around 6kg) as was decrease in body fat and waist measurement.
• There were similar reductions/beneficial effects on blood cholesterol, triglycerides, leptin, blood pressure, inflammation markers and indicators of breast cancer risk, and increases in ghrelin.
• Both test diets led to modest improvements in fasting insulin levels and insulin sensitivity, with a greater effect for the 5:2 IF group.
• At the end of the trial only 58% of those following 5:2 IF planned to continue compared to 85% of those following the Med style diet.

A second study used the same criteria but changed the 2 consecutive fasting days from being milk based to a low carb regime.  After 3 months, although the both groups lost a similar amount of weight, the 5:2 group lost a bit more body fat and better improvements in insulin.

Is Intermittent Fasting recommended?

The British study suggests that 5:2 IF can be as effective for weight loss (and for providing health benefits) as a more standard restricted calorie controlled diet, with no concerning side effects, over 6 months.  One point of difference (also found in some other studies) is the potential for additional benefits to insulin and blood sugar levels with intermittent fasting. (IF 5 2)

WLR Says:

If we are overweight, and lose some weight, then our overall body health will benefit – whichever approach we use.  

However, it isn’t healthy to follow unbalanced diets, or to greatly restrict what we eat one day, and then go mad eating whatever on other days of the week.

 Research does suggest that different approaches suit different people and trying out different approaches can initially be motivating. 

Remember however, that any dietary approach is only effective if it is nutritionally sound and can be sustained; studies comparing different popular and conventional dietary methods find that the most helpful ones are those that people can best keep to.

Whichever approach is used, remember these key tips:

• Keep a diary
• Structure and plan times for your meal and activity pattern
• Learn what’s in the food you’re eating
• Get support
• Take responsibility
• Stay on top of unhelpful thoughts or triggers such as ‘all or nothing’ thinking or stress/comfort eating.
• Reference: By WLR Dietitian Lyndel Costain BSc RD

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/options.htm

Fasting For Three Days Can Regenerate Entire Immune System

A person's entire immune system can

be rejuvenated by fasting for as little

as three days as it triggers the body to

start producing new white blood cells,

a study suggests

Researchers say fasting "flips a

regenerativeswitch"which prompts

stem cells to create brand new

white blood cell.Fasting for as

little as three days can regenerate the

entire immune system, even in the elderly,

scientists have found  a breakthrough

described as "remarkable"

Although fasting diets have been criticised by

nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research

suggests starving the body kick-starts stem

cells into producing new white blood cells,

which fight off infection.

Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.

It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.

The researchers say fasting "flips a regenerative switch" which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.

"It gives the 'OK' for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system," said Prof Valter Longo, Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the University of California.

"And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting.

“Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or ageing, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system."

Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose and fat but also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells.

During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells.

In trials humans were asked to regularly fast for between two and four days over a six-month period.

Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is linked to ageing and a hormone which increases cancer risk and tumour growth.

"We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system," added Prof Longo.

"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," Dr Longo said.

"What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?"

Fasting for 72 hours also protected cancer patients against the toxic impact of chemotherapy.

"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," said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital.

"More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”

"We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system," added Prof Longo.

However, some British experts were sceptical of the research.

Dr Graham Rook, emeritus professor of immunology at University College London, said the study sounded "improbable".

Chris Mason, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at UCL, said: “There is some interesting data here. It sees that fasting reduces the number and size of cells and then re-feeding at 72 hours saw a rebound.

“That could be potentially useful because that is not such a long time that it would be terribly harmful to someone with cancer.

“But I think the most sensible way forward would be to synthesize this effect with drugs. I am not sure fasting is the best idea. People are better eating on a regular basis.”

Dr Longo added: “There is no evidence at all that fasting would be dangerous while there is strong evidence that it is beneficial.

“I have received emails from hundreds of cancer patients who have combined chemo with fasting, many with the assistance of the oncologists.

“Thus far the great majority have reported doing very well and only a few have reported some side effects including fainting and a temporary increase in liver markers. Clearly we need to finish the clinical trials, but it looks very promising.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/10878625

Fasting Might Regenerate Immune System

Prolonged fasting might do a body good. University of Southern California researchers found that occasionally skipping food for 2 to 4 days put humans and mice on the path to a healthier immune system.

Valter Longo, one of the team’s researchers, explained to The Daily Beast that a “mimicking” fast diet of 750-1050 calories per day for at least 4 or 5 days is sufficient to kick the body in a regenerative state. “Any fasting is better than nothing,” he said, “ [but] 4 to 5 days of fasting are necessary to maximize it’s effects, but they must be done under medical supervision and preferably in a clinic.”

Longo explains that humans can safely do this diet every 1 to 3 months.

The study found that “during each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells.” In particular, “prolonged fasting reduced the enzyme PKA,” explains the USC announcement.

Longo said that this is especially valuable for those undergoing chemotherapy or aging, to wipe their overtaxed immune systems clean. This jives with his previous research that fasting can weaken cancer in mice.

It’s unclear how this prescription fits into fasting for weight loss. Recently, I tested the “4-Day Diet,” which consisted of walking all day and eating only 220 calories. I rapidly lost fat, but it was difficult. Even though I tried to keep it as healthy as possible, Longo warns about restrictions this severe.

There is some evidence that so-called intermittent fasting (all-day or partial-day fasting) can improve human longevity, and systematic fasting has been around centuries. The practice is quite common among the world’s religions. Muslims observe a month-long day fast for Ramadan and Jews go a full day for the High Holy Day, Yom Kippur.

Perhaps there is some wisdom in the old scrolls

.https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fasting-might-regenerate-immune-system-024015839