Intermittent fasting has received a lot of traction in the past years, with many labelling the diet as just another fad.
However, research continues to suggest there are some impressive health benefits linked to periods of regular fasting.
The latest study, published in the journal Cell Reports, found that leaving 24 hours between meals could slash your risk of diseases such as diabetes.
Fasting diets have gained popularity, thanks to claims that they are effective for weight loss, but there could be more to taking longer breaks between your meals.
The Cambridge research team has found that leaving a full day between your eating windows can cut levels of harmful inflammation in the body by boosting the production of a key fatty acid.
When your immune system gets triggered, inflammation occurs, with your body preparing to defend itself and repair damage. However, long periods of inflammation can lay the harmful groundwork for health problems, ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer’s disease.
Clare Bryant, from Cambridge University’s Department of Medicine, said: “We’re very interested in trying to understand the causes of chronic inflammation in the context of many human diseases, and in particular the role of the inflammasome [molecules that activate inflammatory responses].”
Looking at 21 volunteers, the researchers instructed the participants to eat a 500-calorie meal, fast for 24 hours, and then eat another 500-calorie meal.
The findings revealed that this 24-hour fast increased the levels of a fatty acid called arachidonic acid.
The researchers then tested the effect of this acid on immune cells and found that it reduced the activity of the NLRP3 inflammasome.
“What’s become apparent is that one inflammasome in particular — the NLRP3 inflammasome — is very important in a number of major diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis, but also Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,” Bryant said.
However, the team also noticed that the levels of arachidonic acid dropped again once the participants ate another meal.
Bryant added: “This provides a potential explanation for how changing our diet — in particular by fasting — protects us from inflammation, especially the damaging form that underpins many diseases related to a Western high-calorie diet.”
This study isn’t the first to highlight the benefits of fasting on diabetes. Research, published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that intermittent fasting could “completely reverse” type 2 diabetes.
Looking at 72 people between the ages of 38 and 72 with type 2 diabetes divided into two groups, the scientists discovered that 17 out of the 36 participants in the fasting group achieved diabetes remission, compared to just one person in the control group.
There are many different approaches to the popular dietary regimen, but it essentially requires you to not eat for a period of time each day or week.
Some popular approaches include the 5:2 fast, where you eat a normal diet five days a week and fast two days a week, or daily time-restricted fasting, where you eat normally but only within an eight-hour window each day.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Dr Mike Hansen explained that intermittent fasting is “highly effective” in restoring the cell’s ability to respond to insulin, making it more sensitive, thereby reducing your risk of diabetes and even reversing type 2 diabetes in some cases.
