Research shows fasting prolongs your life

NAIROBI: For many Kenyans, fasting from food and drink for some hours or days is primarily a spiritual or religious exercise that is meant to purify the soul and draw one closer to the divine.

All the major religions of the world have some form of fasting regime in their spiritual journey, including Islam, whose faithful are currently observing the month-long fast of Ramadhan aimed to enhance their righteousness.

But research demonstrates that fasting also has many health benefits, a welcome ‘bonus’ to the spiritual goodies.

Systematic scientific studies on the link between fasting and good health began in the mid-1930s when researcher Clive McCay published a scientific paper in the Journal of Nutrition.

The study suggested that restricting the amount of food given to rats in a laboratory significantly prolonged their lifespan by as much as 20 to 50 per cent! Care was taken not to restrict the food intake of the rats too much to avoid malnutrition.

Since then, many others studies on various animals have suggested a similar conclusion. Others have shown that fasting reduces the risks of getting a number of common diseases including cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure, among others.

Among the recent studies include the one published in the Mechanisms of Ageing and Development Journal in September 2005 showing lifespan elongations on fruit flies that had food restrictions compared to others which fed normally.

Another study published in the Journal of Experimental Gerontology in October 2006 indicated that food restrictions on worms increased their lifespan significantly. The study by researchers Koen Houthoofd and others suggested that the fasting diet increased their resistance against environmental stressors.

Similarly, a study published in June last year in the Stem Cell journal suggested that cycles of fasting every week not only protected humans and rats against immune system damage but also induced the immune system to regenerate and become stronger.

The study involved several hours of no food each day for two to four days at a time over the course of six months.

Another recent study at the University of Illinois showed that persons who went on a calorie-restricted diet that resembles fasting every other day had lower risks of getting heart diseases and diabetes.

In the study by Dr Krista Varady and Bill Gottlieb, participants ‘fasted’ by consuming one low-calorie meal (500 to 600 calories) on alternative days, while eating normally on non-fasting days. This went on for eight to 12 weeks.

This study gave birth to the ‘intermittent fasting diet’ or the ‘Every Other Day Diet’ craze since it showed that the health benefits associated with fasting could still be achieved even by not going on a fasting mode daily.

The most recent study on fasting published last month in the journal Cell Metabolism found that humans on a low-calorie diet that mimics fasting for just five days a month for three months had a significantly lower risk of getting chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and type two diabetes.

The study, in the journal followed 34 people, in which 19 of them were on the fasting-mimicking diet while the rest just ate without restrictions.

The lead researcher Prof Valter Longo of the University of Southern California said that many health benefits were noticed with regard to fasting just a few days of the week.

In the same study, ageing mice that were put on the diet for five days a month for three months had not only reduced belly fat, but also had increased numbers of regenerated cells in several organs including the brain.

“To restrict one’s intake of food for a few days each month in the manner of fasting appears to have as much health benefits as actual fasting on a daily basis,” says Prof Longo.

However, a review of research studies attests to the fact that fasting may not be good for everyone.

A 2014 study in the Netherlands and Germany, which followed 130 women who fasted for 30 days during the first three months of pregnancy, established the birth weight of newborns tended to be lower than that of newborns of non-fasting mothers.

But that negative impact of fasting was not noted when the mothers were in later stages of pregnancy.

The study, published in the November 14th 2014 issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, therefore concluded that fasting during later periods of pregnancy was less harmful to babies.

Nutrition consultant Lina Njoroge supports fasting as a way of boosting one’s general health.

“Once in a while, it would be good to give your body a break from the daily routine of eating especially if one has not been eating right in the past. Studies have shown that such intermittent fasting is beneficial to health,” she advised.

She adds: “Keeping away from food for some hours once or several times every week helps our system to clean itself and repair damages. But we should avoid overdoing it by going without food continuously for several days as that may be harmful to health.”

On his part, Dr Ahmed Kalebi advises Kenyans that any form of fasting should be accompanied by healthy diets for one to reap the most health benefits from it.

“It would not be wise to live on junk and unhealthy food and imagine that fasting will be a solution.”