At the time of well-being, of organic and ecological food, fasting is particularly in vogue. And for good reason, it would cleanse the body of toxins accumulated over time, a bit like a detox cure, and more drastic.
Convinced that fasting could have anti-aging properties, researchers from the University of Florida (United States) conducted a study to identify its effects on our cells. Published in the journal Rejuvenation Research, the clinical trial was conducted on 24 participants. For three weeks, they alternated two types of diet: a first day with an intake equivalent to 25% of the average daily calorie intake (about 650 calories), a second day with 175% of the necessary caloric intake (i.e. 4 550 calories). While the first diet consisted of a single meal (with mash, roast beef, cookies and sorbet), the second consisted of several larger meals (cheese sandwiches, oatmeal, applesauce, spaghetti, yogurt, cake and soda among others). These two typical days were thus repeated for three weeks, with food supplements (vitamin C and E) in addition.
Stress the body to make it secrete a protective protein
The researchers then assessed the patient’s health parameters, including weight, blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, cholesterol, and genes involved in cell protection. They found that proteins called sirtuins (activated by the SIRT3 gene) were more numerous than usual in cells. However, these proteins are known to promote longevity and prevent cellular aging. In fact, they only intervene when the organism is subjected to a oxidative stress (like during a fast) and that he no longer has enough antioxidants to cope with it. In this sense, a measured and controlled fast without additions ofantioxidants (vitamins C in particular) allows the production of sirtuin proteins, which promote cell longevity.
While these data need to be confirmed by other larger studies, they point out that intermittent fasting can be a good compromise between drastic fasting and normal diet. Intermittent fasting could present for humans part of the benefits of fasting observed in animals, especially since according to the study participants, the high-calorie day would in fact be more difficult to follow than the low-calorie day.
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