Scientific evidence of benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Scientific evidence of the Benefits of Fasting

1. It causes a Reduction in IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor), which helps with losing weight, decreasing chronic illness such as Diabetes, Obesity, and cancer, and also helps with repairing the DNA and damaged cells/tissues.
2. It also helps lower the insulin levels, which improves insulin resistance, burns fat more effectively, and regenerates Pancreatic cells.

Alternate-day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism – PubMed (nih.gov)

3. Fasting also helps elongate and protect the telomeres from fraying and degeneration, thus promoting longevity and slowing down the aging process. It also helps with cellular detoxification and repair, mediated by cellular, even neuronal autophagy.

Short-term fasting induces profound neuronal autophagy (nih.gov)

4. It helps naturally increase the Growth hormone, as much as 5 times, which enables muscle build-up and fat loss, and improves the feeling of true Hunger by correct hormonal modulation.

J Clin Invest. 1988 Apr; 81(4): 968–975. doi: 10.1172/JCI113450 PMCID: PMC329619 PMID: 3127426 Fasting enhances growth hormone secretion and amplifies the complex rhythms of growth hormone secretion in man. K Y Ho, J D Veldhuis, M L Johnson, R Furlanetto, W S Evans, K G Alberti, and M O Thorner

J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1992 Apr;74(4):757-65. doi: 10.1210/jcem.74.4.1548337. Augmented growth hormone (GH) secretory burst frequency and amplitude mediate enhanced GH secretion during a two-day fast in normal men M L Hartman ¹, J D Veldhuis, M L Johnson, M M Lee, K G Alberti, E Samojlik, M O Thorner

Clinical Trial JAMA. 2002 Nov 13;288(18):2282-92.  doi: 10.1001/jama.288.18.2282. Growth hormone and sex steroid administration in healthy aged women and men: a randomized controlled trial Marc R Blackman ¹, John D Sorkin, Thomas Münzer, Michele F Bellantoni, Jan Busby-Whitehead, Thomas E Stevens, Jocelyn Jayme, Kieran G O’Connor, Colleen Christmas, Jordan D Tobin, Kerry J Stewart, Ernest Cottrell, Carol St Clair, Katharine M Pabst, S Mitchell Harman PMID: 12425705 DOI: 10.1001/jama.288.18.2282

N Engl J Med. 1990 Jul 5;323(1):1-6.  doi: 10.1056/NEJM199007053230101. Effects of human growth hormone in men over 60 years old D Rudman ¹, A G Feller, H S Nagraj, G A Gergans, P Y Lalitha, A F Goldberg, R A Schlenker, L Cohn, I W Rudman, D E Mattson PMID: 2355952 DOI: 10.1056/NEJM199007053230101

Ghrelin drives GH secretion during fasting in man

Alex F Muller ¹, Steven W J Lamberts, Joop A M J L Janssen, Leo J Hofland, Peter Van Koetsveld, Martin Bidlingmaier, Christian J Strasburger, Ezio Ghigo, Aart Jan Van der Lely PMID: 11834429 DOI: 10.1530/eje.0.1460203

5. Fasting also helps with beneficial gene expression, which leads to protection against disease and promotes anti-aging.

Curr Opin Oncol. 2013 Nov;25(6):630-6. doi: 10.1097/01.cco.0000432527.49984.a3. Metabolic regulation of Sirtuins upon fasting and the implication for cancer Yueming Zhu ¹, Yufan Yan, David R Gius, Athanassios Vassilopoulos PMID: 24048020 PMCID: PMC5525320 DOI: 10.1097/01.cco.0000432527.49984.a3

Fasting promotes the expression of SIRT1, an NAD+ -dependent protein deacetylase, via activation of PPARalpha in mice – PubMed (nih.gov)

6. Fasting also seems to help control the Pituitary and other hormonal production in different parts of the body.

Fasting Upregulates PPAR Target Genes in Brain and Influences Pituitary Hormone Expression in a PPAR Dependent Manner (hindawi.com)

7. Fasting is shown to be beneficial for healthy brain aging and Improved cognitive function in patients suffering from memory loss.

Ageing Res Rev. 2006 Aug; 5(3): 332–353. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2006.04.002 PMCID: PMC2622429 NIHMSID: NIHMS83496 PMID: 16899414

Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: Two potential diets for successful brain aging. Bronwen Martin,^a,* Mark P. Mattson,^a,b and Stuart Maudsley^a,c

Intermittent Fasting Enhanced the Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment by Inducing Biochemical and Metabolic changes: A 3-Year Progressive Study – PubMed (nih.gov)

The findings of this pilot study suggest that time-restricted feeding is an acceptable and feasible eating pattern for overweight, sedentary older adults to follow.

Adherence levels were high (mean = 84%), and mean weight loss was 2.6 kg (p < 0.01). There were clinically meaningful changes in walking speed and improvements in quality of life, with few reported adverse events.

The Effects of Time Restricted Feeding on Overweight, Older Adults: A Pilot Study – PubMed (nih.gov)

8. Fasting improves mental clarity, alertness, and moods, decreases depression and anxiety, and improves subjective feelings of wellbeing. Fond, G; MacGregor, A; Leboyer, M; Michalsen, A (2013). “Fasting in mood disorders: Neurobiology and effectiveness. A review of the literature”. Psychiatry Research. 209 (3): 253–8. doi:1016/j.psychres.2012.12.018. PMID 23332541. S2CID 39700065. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018.

9. Fasting is affected by circadian rhythm, and the time of your meals in that rhythm

Caloric restriction effects on liver mTOR signaling are time-of-day dependent – PubMed (nih.gov)

The PPAR alpha gene (Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha – Wikipedia) has a circadian rhythm in several organs, including the heart, muscles, liver, and kidney. PPAR alpha is controlled by the circadian CLOCK and BMAL1 genes. PPAR alpha increases BMAL1 and BMAL1 increases PPAR alpha

Circadian rhythms, Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and PPAR alpha/gamma profiles in diseases with primary or secondary cardiac dysfunction (nih.gov)

CRs abnormalities are present in numerous pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases, sympathetic/parasympathetic dysfunction, hypertension, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer which are often closely interrelated.