Fasting diet could reverse diabetes, latest research
Fasting for a handful of days once a month could have a whole host of health benefits a new study has found.
Published by Science Translational Medicine of 15 February 2017, a study lead by University of Southern California academic, Dr Valter Longo, found that a group of people who were put on a fasting diet managed to reduce their risk of diabetes, heart disease and other age-related diseases.
The diet also showed evidence of reversing Type 1 and 2 diabetes in mice studies.
How the study worked
Over 100 people participated in the study which latest from April 2013 to July 2015 with participants aged 20 to 70 years in age.
One group of the participants ate normally whilst another group were put on a five-day fasting diet, once a month for three months.
During the fasting period participants were given special nutritional foods which only allowed for them to consume between 50 and 1,100 calories per day. These special nutritional foods had precise portions of proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
After three months those eating normally were also put on the fasting diet.
The researchers found the fasting participants lost an average of 6 pounds, their systolic blood pressure dropped and insulin-like-growth factor dropped; reaching a range associated with lower cancer risk.
The scientists said they had similar results with the second group to go through the fasting diet.
“Our mouse studies using a similar fasting-mimicking diet indicate that these beneficial effects are caused by multisystem regeneration and rejuvenation in the body at the cellular and organ level,” said Dr Longo.
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