Intermittent fasting (IF) and its variants such as fasting-mimicking diets offer safe strategies to extend lifespan and healthspan by decreasing age- and disease-risk factors without severe caloric restriction. They stimulate regeneration through stem cell-sensing pathways while supporting stem cell regeneration through regeneration processes.
Time-restricted eating forces the body to focus on repair, energy use and system balance. Studies show that intermittent fasting (IF) and fasted metabolic diet (FMD) reduce biomarkers of insulin resistance, inflammation and oxidative stress.
1. Improves Blood Circulation
Fasting can help improve circulation and lower oxidative stress levels – an often-linked contributor to premature aging and chronic diseases.
Studies suggest that prolonged treatment with IF, PF or FMD may increase neural stem cells and reduce neurodegeneration in normal mice19; the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown.
But, like with many diet and fitness trends that gain prominence, intermittent fasting comes with its share of misinformation. It is crucial that you learn about it from reliable sources to ensure you’re following an appropriate program tailored specifically to you and your specific needs. Atrius Health providers can work with you to determine whether intermittent fasting suits your lifestyle before providing safe and effective protocols such as the ProLon Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD). For more details on different fasting patterns click here.
2. Reduces Inflammation
Diet and exercise trends often originate in legitimate science; however, when they reach mainstream media coverage they often exaggerate benefits while downplaying risks – the current fad for intermittent fasting being no exception.
IF, PF and FMD all show positive effects on longevity, markers of health, stress responses, inflammation levels, genomic instability and regeneration processes in simple organisms, laboratory rodents and humans1.2.1
Intermittent fasting not only promotes anti-aging benefits, but it can also reduce levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides and C-reactive protein after eating in people who already had elevated baseline levels due to intermittent fasting triggering various changes that promote healthy cells and DNA in animal studies; animal tests have even indicated it helps protect against neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s.
3. Decreases Blood Pressure
Even though calorie restriction offers anti-aging benefits, keeping up with its restrictive dietary demands may not be feasible for most. Intermittent fasting (IF) and periodic fasting-mimicking diets have emerged as effective longevity-promoting solutions without these difficult requirements1.
Studies of intermittent fasting (IF) and periodic fasting (PF) among both laboratory rodents and humans demonstrate that cycling between water-only or severely restricted caloric intake periods with periods of free eating results in positive changes to disease risk factors such as insulin resistance, oxidative stress, inflammation, and genomic instability.
At BioAge Health in Eagan, Minnesota, we offer physician-supervised intermittent fasting using ProLon FMD. Prior to beginning, we will assess your health and perform an exam to make sure fasting won’t pose a danger. Get in touch with us now in Eagan, MN to set up an appointment – we look forward to helping slow down aging!
4. Decreases Risk of Cancer
Research suggests intermittent fasting may reduce your risk for cancer by improving cellular repair processes and altering which genes are expressed.
Scientists believe intermittent fasting can help protect against oxidative stress, which has been linked to various diseases including heart disease and cancer. Furthermore, fasting appears to increase production of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor which promotes healthy brain functioning.
Additionally, intermittent fasting helps your body enter alternative metabolic modes that conserve energy and protect the body from disease. Animal studies have demonstrated this practice can delay and even reverse aging processes, reduce oxidative stress levels, enhance biomarkers of disease detection and extend lifespan.
5. Decreases Risk of Heart Disease
Research has demonstrated that intermittent fasting can reduce heart disease risk in rodents by improving metabolic health, increasing insulin sensitivity and decreasing inflammation. Furthermore, this practice prevents conditions like fatty liver and hepatocellular carcinoma from appearing.
However, results of human studies vary widely: some trials indicate no effect, while others show beneficial results for cardiovascular systems.
Recent research employed network meta-analysis as an effective and rigorous means of analysis. This method allows researchers to directly compare interventions that were not directly tested via randomised controlled trials (RCTs).
Analysis revealed that intermittent fasting techniques were effective at lowering cardiovascular disease risk factors, including body weight, fat-free mass, waist circumference and blood pressure. Time-restricted eating proved particularly effective; though this option could benefit everyone’s cardiovascular health.
6. Decreases Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is an accelerating neurodegenerative condition affecting over 6 million Americans. It’s associated with disruptions to circadian rhythms, poor sleep quality and cognitive decline due to beta amyloid plaque accumulation in the brain. Studies indicate fasting may help mitigate its development by modulating biomarkers such as glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, autophagy, gut microbiome composition and neuroinflammation – potentially decreasing symptoms like disruptions to circadian rhythms, poor sleep quality and declining cognitive function.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern in which eating occurs for only short windows of hours or days per week, typically two. 5:2 fasting can help limit calories consumed on two of those days; you consume regular amounts on all other five. Studies on animals have demonstrated its positive benefits by improving biomarkers of aging and decreasing oxidative stress levels during IF cycles.
7. Decreases Risk of Diabetes
Studies indicate intermittent fasting can reverse aging by helping prevent chronic diseases that could shorten life span. Furthermore, intermittent fasting helps people lose weight and improves overall health – something both your heart and brain will thank you for.
Intermittent fasting plans typically utilize periods of eating and fasting in alternation; such as 5:2 dieting, 16:8 dieting, or other time-restricted eating plans.
Studies conducted on lab animals and humans have demonstrated the benefits of intermittent fasting (IF), periodic fasting (PF), and plant-based fasting diets such as intermittent fasting diets (IFD) on risk factors for diabetes and heart disease, such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides levels, and inflammatory markers – even after three monthly cycles of either intermittent fasting (IF), periodic fasting (PF), or fasting diet diet (FMD).
8. Decreases Risk of Stroke
Over time, humans experience immunosenescence – the gradual loss of immune function associated with age – and inflammaging (chronic low-grade inflammation). According to emerging research, intermittent fasting (IF) may help counter these trends, particularly among middle-aged and older adults.
Intermittent fasting (IF) has been shown to decrease pro-inflammatory cytokines levels and enhance autophagy in mice, rats and humans. One study conducted with overweight and obese people associated dawn-to-dusk IF with upregulation of autophagy genes as well as improved inflammation profiles.
Preconditioning with IF may be due to its ability to decrease oxidative stress and inflammation levels in the body, thus decreasing susceptibility to stroke. Future research should explore IF’s effect on high-risk subjects as well as its combination with other health and wellness practices to increase ischemic tolerance. Its flexible lifestyle approach makes IF an easily adoptable way of both decreasing stroke risk and speeding recovery from one.
9. Decreases Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
Intermittent fasting leads to several metabolic changes, which increase insulin sensitivity and promote use of ketones as energy sources, leading to reduced oxidative stress damage and inflammation responses that pose risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
Studies on mice have demonstrated that time-restricted feeding (TRF), an intermittent form of fasting which restricts eating windows without restricting how much is eaten daily, can reset circadian rhythms to help improve memory retention while decreasing beta-amyloid plaque build-up in the brain and protecting against vascular dysfunction – two potential risk factors associated with Alzheimer’s.
Preclinical and clinical studies demonstrate that periodic fasting (PF and FMD cycles alternating with normal refeeding) delays immunosenescence and inflammaging, and promotes skeletal muscle protein synthesis and immune function; however, such interventions may accelerate sarcopenia among older adults.
10. Decreases Risk of Cancer
Animal studies show that FMD cycles increase quiescent satellite cells that promote muscle growth and regeneration. These cells coexpress Pax-7 transcription factor as well as MyoD protein that promotes differentiation of muscles; additionally they show signs of improved autophagy processes.
These benefits of fasting may help increase healthspan and delay or reverse aging; however, more research in humans is still needed. At BioAge Health in Eagan and Twin Cities metro area we offer physician-supervised intermittent fasting using ProLon FMD or similar types of fasting that would make ProLon FMD unsafe for you – contact us now to book an appointment!