The Research on Fasting
What the research says
Studies are emerging - the practice of fasting can, in some cases, become therapeutic!
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the practice of fasting and this is evidenced by an increasing number of new Fasting and Detox Retreat Centres throughout Europe, particularly in Germany, but also in France (where Corinne is from) and other European countries.
You should know that fasting has been used for thousands of years to put the body to rest and cleanse it. We mistakenly think that it is a tragedy not to eat. However, in a very natural way, the body pushes us to fast when it needs it. Have you ever been sick to the point of losing your appetite? I’m sure you have because fasting is the body's natural reflex to "reset" and cleanse itself. In naturopathy, it is a very popular technique to reset the clocks. During a fast, all the energy usually spent by the body to digest, is spent to boost the immune system and support the emunctory organs, which are the liver, intestines, kidney, skin, and lungs (think of them as your waste treatment facilities).
The recent science and research ‘discoveries’ show all kinds of health benefits brought on by FASTING, and this should not come as a surprise.
Two break-through documentaries were instrumental in raising public awareness of fasting:
‘Fasting, a new therapy?’ directed by Sylvie Gilman and Thierry de Lestrade (2013), explores Fasting and its amazing health benefits, through half a century of research from Russia, Germany and the U.S.
‘Fasting’ directed by Doug Orchard (2017) explores 7 different methods of fasting and discusses how therapeutic fasting is more powerful than any drug on earth.
Diabetes (1)
Research has shown that fasting improves high blood sugar levels (prediabetic state or type 2 diabetes (T2D) and that therapeutic fasting may reduce insulin requirements in T2D. Indeed, by forcing the pancreas to rest, the number of insulin receptors and their sensitivity is increased. Fasting produces an effect analogous to that of drug molecules, but without the side effects.
Alongside Cancer Treatment (2)
A recent clinical trial at Charité Hospital in Berlin, the largest public hospital in Europe, reported that 34 women undergoing chemotherapy for gynaecological cancers agreed to do three sessions of fasting for 3 days (two days of fasting before chemotherapy sessions and one day after), and three more sessions without fasting. The result was unequivocal: the quality of life of patients was greatly improved by fasting.
Hypertension (3)
The “Fasting and Hypertension” study, conducted in 2001 by Dr. Alan Goldhamer should have been a landmark. In fact, his study of 174 average or severe hypertensive patients showed that, after a 10-day fast followed by a week of vegetarian diet, 154 patients reversed they condition. For the other 20, there was considerable improvement without any medication.
Inflammatory and Rheumatic diseases (4)
According to the works of Professor Lothar Wendt, a German cardiologist, rheumatic diseases, and in particular osteoarthritis, are protein residuum diseases. Thus, in the case of repeated fasting once or twice a year or diet excluding any form of protein, including plant base vegetables such as legumes for a few months, the tissues are cleaned and this allows the joints to repair more easily. Resting the digestive system, especially the intestinal barrier and flora, allows our body to no longer receive antigens. The immune system rebalances and stops activity of inflammatory proteins. After a period of one to two weeks of fasting, there is a noticeable improvement in inflammatory markers.
The Immune System (5)
It has been shown by a team of researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) that, from the third day of fasting, there was a rebuilding of the entire immune system, even in the elderly or severely ill. According to them, fasting initiates a process of regeneration that gives the green light to the bone marrow to rebuild the entire immune system. The gerontologist and professor of cellular biology and genetics who directs this research in Los Angeles, Valter Longo, says: “And the good news is that the body gets rid of the damaged or old and ineffective parts of the immune system during fasting. And if you start from a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or ageing, fasting cycles can create, literally, a new immune system. From the second or third day of fasting, our cells stop multiplying and activate their repair programme. Then, through cell repair, all our tissues are rejuvenating and regaining strength and vitality.”
The Nervous System (6)
In the 1990s, it was thought that our maximum stock of neurons was decreasing throughout our lives and that adults could not generate new ones. In fact, scientist believed that brain cells typically lasted an entire lifetime and were not replaced when they died.
Today, researchers specialised in neuroscience have discovered that new neuronal cells are created in the adult nervous system during autophagy, the cellular self-cleansing process that breaks down and recycles damaged molecules and cellular organelles.
In her laboratory at King’s College in London, Dr. Sandrine Thuret (a French researcher), who specialises in neuroscience, explains how the hippocampus area at the centre of the brain which is very important for learning, memory, mood, emotions, and spatial recognition, can generate new neurons. It’s called neurogenesis.
“Because of my experience in food science, one of the approaches I have in my lab is to look at the impact of diet on neurogenesis and how that will affect memory. One type of diet for which we have done a great study is intermittent fasting.”
Sandrine Thuret explains that calorie restriction of 20 to 30% as well as intermittent fasting and physical exercise increase neurogenesis and prevent cognitive decline during ageing. “There has already been research showing that in people over 70, intermittent fasting has led to a 30% improvement in verbal memory after three months, which is quite dramatic. We want to know now if this is due to neurogenesis.”
It is thought that the positive effects of fasting on the brain may be caused by three things happening at the same time:
Fewer toxins in the cerebrospinal fluid of the brain therefore a better flow of information between neurons;
An increase in the production of neurons through neurogenesis; and
The production of ketone bodies - the fuel derived from the fasting-induced processing of fat reserves that nourishes the organs during food abstinence - which has a “doping effect” on all the cells and especially those of the brain.
In the case of neurodegenerative diseases, ketone bodies would protect against neuronal degradation and possibly prevent the appearance of amyloid plaques (so-called senile plaques) that are at the origin of Alzheimer’s disease. More scientific study results are awaited.
Russian psychiatrists, including Valery Gurvitch, a specialist in this field, have shown that the first week of fasting has a ‘psychotropic’ effect on the brain’s neurotransmitters inducing effects similar to antidepressant. Fasting has also been shown to permanently increases the concentration of serotonin in the whole body; Serotonin, is mainly found in the brain, bowels, and blood platelets. It has a wide variety of functions, but is sometimes called the happy chemical, because it contributes to well-being and happiness.
What is Autophagy? (7)
Autophagy ‘to eat thyself’ as it literally translates, is a normal physiological process in the body that deals with destruction of old, weak and damaged cells. It maintains homeostasis or normal functioning by protein degradation and turnover of the destroyed cell organelles (or parts) for new cell formation. During cellular stress such as during a Fast, the process of Autophagy is upscaled and increased.
Sources
2. Bauersfeld SP, Kessler CS, Wischnewsky M, et al. The effects of short-term fasting on quality of life and tolerance to chemotherapy in patients with breast and ovarian cancer: a randomized cross-over pilot study. BMC Cancer. 2018;18(1):476. Published 2018 Apr 27. doi:10.1186/s12885-018-4353-2 Read More
3. Goldhamer A., Lisle D., Parpia B., Anderson S.V., Campbell T.C. Medically supervised water-only fasting in the treatment of hypertension. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2001; 24 (5) , pp. 335-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1067/mmt.2001.115263 Read More
4. Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration
5. Dr Sandrine Thuret on Dr Chatterjee.com
6. What is Autophagy?
