Life extension by periodic fasting

Periodic fasting with anti-aging effects

08/10/2014

Most people choose a variety of diets to lose weight or at least maintain their weight. With a certain form of fasting, the so-called „Alternate Day Fasting“ you can possibly even extend your life. The principle behind it: alternately fast one day and eat the next day without restriction.

Cell changes on aging
Apparently, no herb is grown against the aging and the associated cell changes. However, the cells do not give up without a fight and defend themselves against degeneration with a protective process - autophagy. As researchers from Austria now report, this mechanism can also be triggered by fasting. At the University of Graz, scientists examined whether so-called „Alternate Day Fasting“ increase the life expectancy of humans.

Health promoting effect on the organism
Most people fast in terms of their weight loss and slimmer figure. However, according to Frank Madeo from the Institute of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Graz, fasting can also have a health-promoting effect on the organism. „So far, only the so-called caloric restriction, that is, the reduction of nutrient increase, has actually been shown to be effective in prolonging life span or in controlling age-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and cancer“, explained Madeo in conversation with the Austrian news agency APA. For example, experiments have shown that mice given 30 percent less food would live about 30 percent longer.

Self-digestion program ensures recycling
The reason for this recognizes the Graz researchers in a process called autophagy: „This is a kind of self-digestion program that breaks down unused cell components into individual macromolecules and thus reuses them for the synthesis of new cell components“, said the head of the working group „Aging and cell death“ at the University of Graz. This recycling process will always be switched on in the cells accordingly if not enough macromolecules are absorbed through the diet, for example by fasting. Especially at this „self-digestion“ It said that all those harmful cell components that accumulate in old age (for example clumped proteins and damaged mitochondria) and thus impair the functioning of the organism would be disposed of.

Fast one day - eat one full day
Therefore, from the point of view of Madeo, it is clear that breaks between meals are useful. However, it is unclear, „how large“ these breaks should be. „Something between two meals a day or every other day a meal seems to be healthy“, said Madeo. The scientist takes this in his current research project „Alternate Day Fasting“ (Intermittent fasting) especially in the sights. „One day is alternately fasted and one day eaten without restriction, which makes the method easily accessible to the human psyche and therefore easier to carry out than the concept of permanent calorie restriction.“

First results in two years
In Graz one wants to examine several groups with different eating and fasting behavior. Including vegetarians and a group that also takes wheat germ extracts. The researchers want to draw conclusions about the relationship between the different food accesses with the biochemical and molecular biological signs of aging. This will take some time. First results are expected in two years. The three-year project is funded by the University of Graz itself with more than 400,000 euros. It has long been known that good health can be increased through reasonable fasting. Therapeutic fasting, for example, not only cleanses and detoxifies the body, but is also referred to by experts in people with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure or metabolic syndrome as a royal road to health. (Ad)