Eating every other day would protect the liver from certain pathologies according to Australian researchers.
- Intermittent fasting is good for your health
- This practice does not lead to weight loss, protects the liver and would help regulate diabetes
Fasting would be good for health. Researchers at the University of Sydney have observed this in a study conducted on mice. In the specialist journal Cell Reports, they explain how intermittent fasting would protect the liver and prevent certain diseases.
Fasting blocks the action of a liver protein
“We know that fasting is an effective technique for treating certain diseases and improving liver health, explains the study’s lead author, Dr. Larance, but we did not know that fasting could reprogram liver proteins, which perform different essential metabolic functions. With his team, they found that intermittent fasting has an impact on the HNF4-(alpha) protein, which regulates many genes in the liver. When fasting, the action of this protein is blocked: this improves lipid metabolism, improves blood glucose levels and reduces inflammation levels. “This could explain some previously known consequences of intermittent fasting,” says Dr. Larance. According to him, these discoveries could help improve glucose tolerance and help regulate diabetes.
No link to weight loss
The team made this observation by studying mice, fasted every other day. When they weren’t fasting, the researchers gave them double the amount of food, to make sure the beneficial effects weren’t linked to weight loss. “It is the fasting period itself that causes the benefits, underlines the researcher, and the molecular changes.” He now intends to continue his research to understand what is the optimal duration of the fast. “What is really exciting is that all this knowledge about the role of HNF4-(alpha) shows that it is possible to mimic the effects of intermittent fasting by developing specific regulators of this protein”, concludes the researcher.
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