Fasting and longevity

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The concept of fasting and longevity involves abstaining from food or practicing calorie restriction to decrease the incidence of diseases and increase lifespan. However, the relative risks associated with long-term fasting remain undetermined, as of 2021. [1] Dietary modifications, such as calorie restriction, dietary restriction, intermittent fasting, and time-restricted feeding, are under investigation for their potential to influence longevity. [1]

Studies on animals showed that restricting calorie intake resulted in lifespan extension. [1] To establish the precise impact of calorie restriction on human health status and longevity, additional high-quality studies are needed. [1] However, there is no clinical evidence to indicate that fasting enhances longevity. [1] Despite the common public use of intermittent fasting and other forms of calorie restriction, more research is needed to determine whether these practices affect human lifespan. [1] [2]

Background

The use of fasting dates to the 5th century BC, as attributed to Greek physician Hippocrates who suggested that people with certain illnesses should abstain from food or drink as therapy. [3] Although health can be influenced by diet, including the type of foods consumed, the amount of calories ingested, and the duration and frequency of fasting periods, [4] there is no good clinical evidence that fasting promotes longevity in humans, as of 2021. [1] [2]

Calorie restriction is a widely researched intervention to assess effects on aging, defined as a sustained reduction in dietary energy intake compared to the energy required for weight maintenance. [1] [2] To ensure metabolic homeostasis, the diet during calorie restriction must provide sufficient energy, micronutrients, and fiber. [2] According to preliminary research in humans, there is little evidence that calorie restriction affects lifespan. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fat</span> Esters of fatty acid or triglycerides

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human nutrition</span> Provision of essential nutrients necessary to support human life and health

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Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled limit of 125 years.

Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight, or to the metabolic state achieved after complete digestion and absorption of a meal. Metabolic changes in the fasting state begin after absorption of a meal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weight loss</span> Reduction of the total body mass

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat, or lean mass. Weight loss can either occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease, or from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. "Unexplained" weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-carbohydrate diet</span> Diets restricting carbohydrate consumption

Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein, as well as low carbohydrate foods.

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A very-low-calorie diet (VLCD), also known as semistarvation diet and crash diet, is a type of diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. Often described as a fad diet, it is defined as a diet of 800 kilocalories (3,300 kJ) per day or less. Modern medically supervised VLCDs use total meal replacements, with regulated formulations in Europe and Canada which contain the recommended daily requirements for vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids, protein and electrolyte balance. Carbohydrates may be entirely absent, or substituted for a portion of the protein; this choice has important metabolic effects. Medically supervised VLCDs have specific therapeutic applications for rapid weight loss, such as in morbid obesity or before a bariatric surgery, using formulated, nutritionally complete liquid meals containing 800 kilocalories or less per day for a maximum of 12 weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protein (nutrient)</span> Nutrient for the human body

Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body. They are one of the building blocks of body tissue and can also serve as a fuel source. As a fuel, proteins provide as much energy density as carbohydrates: 4 kcal per gram; in contrast, lipids provide 9 kcal per gram. The most important aspect and defining characteristic of protein from a nutritional standpoint is its amino acid composition.

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The Western pattern diet is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of pre-packaged foods, refined grains, red meat, processed meat, high-sugar drinks, candy and sweets, fried foods, conventionally-raised animal products, butter and other high-fat dairy products, eggs, potatoes, corn, and low intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasture-raised animal products, fish, nuts, and seeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermittent fasting</span> Various system to schedule meals

Intermittent fasting is any of various meal timing schedules that cycle between voluntary fasting and non-fasting over a given period. Methods of intermittent fasting include alternate-day fasting, periodic fasting, and daily time-restricted feeding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diet and obesity</span> Effect of diet on obesity

Diet plays an important role in the genesis of obesity. Personal choices, food advertising, social customs and cultural influences, as well as food availability and pricing all play a role in determining what and how much an individual eats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weight management</span> Techniques for maintaining body weight

Weight management refers to behaviors, techniques, and physiological processes that contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain a healthy weight. Most weight management techniques encompass long-term lifestyle strategies that promote healthy eating and daily physical activity. Moreover, weight management involves developing meaningful ways to track weight over time and to identify ideal body weights for different individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Fontana (medical researcher)</span> Italian physician scientist, professor, environmentalist and author

Luigi Fontana, M.D., PhD, FRACP is an internationally recognized physician scientist who studies healthy longevity, with a focus on calorie restriction, endurance exercise and metabolism. He is currently the Leonard P Ullmann Chair in Translational Metabolic Health at the Charles Perkins Centre, where he directs the Healthy Longevity Research and Clinical Program. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Nutrition in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and a Clinical Academic in the Department of Endocrinology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia. Fontana is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lee MB, Hill CM, Bitto A, Kaeberlein M (November 2021). "Antiaging diets: Separating fact from fiction". Science. 374 (6570): eabe7365. doi:10.1126/science.abe7365. PMC   8841109 . PMID   34793210.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Flanagan, Emily W.; Most, Jasper; Mey, Jacob T.; Redman, Leanne M. (2020-09-23). "Calorie restriction and aging in humans". Annual Review of Nutrition. 40 (1): 105–133. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-122319-034601. ISSN   0199-9885. PMC   9042193 . PMID   32559388.
  3. "Fasting". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  4. Longo, Valter D.; Anderson, Rozalyn M. (2022). "Nutrition, longevity and disease: From molecular mechanisms to interventions". Cell. 185 (9): 1455–1470. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.04.002. PMC  9089818. PMID   35487190.