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Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

eurekalert.org

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Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#11

Post by thethrows »

Osmoticat wrote: post #4

Interesting, but until it's been independently replicated a couple of times, I wouldn't recommend changing your lifestyle.

True, we need to be able to reproduce and confirm technically that fasting correctly is good for people. But you cannot simply ignore millenia of anecdotal evidence that people who fast simply are more healthier. I find it odd that it's now considered normal to stuff yourself all the time, when historically before maybe a century ago it was considered totally normal to not eat all the time(involuntarily or otherwise).

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#13

Post by themodelplumber »

MartinMond wrote: post #10
themodelplumber wrote: post #6

Looks like this is the study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3608686/ (Edit: Nope, see reply below) Interesting conflict of interest (edit: potential conflict) with the researcher being the founder of a food supplement marketing company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valter_Longo Edit: I was wondering what the fasting + supplement connection was. Here we go: "L-Nutra's first line of products stems from 15…

The study you linked is from Feb 8, 2012. I think this is the actual study: http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abstract/S1934-5909(14)00...

Looks like you're right. Thanks!

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#14

Post by solarmist »

thethrows wrote: post #11
Osmoticat wrote: post #4

Interesting, but until it's been independently replicated a couple of times, I wouldn't recommend changing your lifestyle.

True, we need to be able to reproduce and confirm technically that fasting correctly is good for people. But you cannot simply ignore millenia of anecdotal evidence that people who fast simply are more healthier. I find it odd that it's now considered normal to stuff yourself all the time, when historically before maybe a century ago it was considered totally normal to not eat all the time(involuntarily or otherwise)…

What millennia of anecdotal evidence? I've heard claims like that before, but never seen the source of any of these claims. Really? In the past it was common not to eat, voluntarily? That seems hard to believe with how central food is to every culture I've ever been exposed to. In fact you are seen as odd if you choose NOT to partake when others are.

If this is common knowledge to you it is certainly not for me, which is why I do want to see the results of studies like this that have been replicated.

My entire historical perspective on fasting is from religious/spiritual perspective which don't mention anything about health benefits.

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#15

Post by PakG1 »

I fasted once for three days in university. Only water. Bumped into a friend who raved about it and so I tried it out. It was a faith thing.

First day was not bad.

Second day was horrible. That day just happened to be the day when all these university student associations decided to put on a whole bunch of events that had food. The First Nations Student Association served roasted corn, salmon, and bannock. Another club had pizza. An info session for overseas exchange studies had sushi, cookies, veg and dip, and so on. On it went. It sucked. My friend had allowed himself one cup of fruit juice during his three days, so I allowed myself one cup at the exchange info session. Dang, I needed a lot of willpower that day.

Third day was fine, it felt like I was actually starting to adjust to lack of food. But knew eventually I had to eat so fourth day I ate.

I try it every now and then. Honestly, if I can get over the hump of those big hunger pangs, it gets easier. Part of it may be because I eat too much in general though. Hehe.

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#16

Post by hk__2 »

thethrows wrote: post #11
Osmoticat wrote: post #4

Interesting, but until it's been independently replicated a couple of times, I wouldn't recommend changing your lifestyle.

True, we need to be able to reproduce and confirm technically that fasting correctly is good for people. But you cannot simply ignore millenia of anecdotal evidence that people who fast simply are more healthier. I find it odd that it's now considered normal to stuff yourself all the time, when historically before maybe a century ago it was considered totally normal to not eat all the time(involuntarily or otherwise)…

A lot of things were normal a century ago while being completely unhealthy. Bloodletting has been a common practice for millenia until ~150 years ago, even if it was an useless and even dangerous practice.

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#17

Post by loceng »

thatusertwo wrote: post #8

Once I fasted for 3 days, only drinking water. By day two I was pretty weak, afterwards I recovered pretty quickly. The point being, it shouldn't be to difficult to do if you aren't going to need to be too active.

I've fasted for 2-3 day periods where I was generally as active as I'd normally be, including doing a few demanding 60 and 90 minute yoga classes during that time. The only thing I really noticed was that if I exerted myself above a certain level, such as walking at too fast of a pace, then I'd very quickly feel tired - all it took was reducing my walking pace and I felt fine again; I presume this is related to the different rates of energy being made available.

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#18

Post by rgbrenner »

thethrows wrote: post #11
Osmoticat wrote: post #4

Interesting, but until it's been independently replicated a couple of times, I wouldn't recommend changing your lifestyle.

True, we need to be able to reproduce and confirm technically that fasting correctly is good for people. But you cannot simply ignore millenia of anecdotal evidence that people who fast simply are more healthier. I find it odd that it's now considered normal to stuff yourself all the time, when historically before maybe a century ago it was considered totally normal to not eat all the time(involuntarily or otherwise)…

anecdotal evidence that people who fast simply are more healthier.

If they are healthier, are they healthier because of fasting or simply from reduced caloric intake? Would someone who ate less (smaller meals, etc) be healthier than someone who fasts?

Re: Fasting triggers stem cell regeneration of damaged, old immune system (2014)

#20

Post by mmastrac »

If you're interested in this, watch Michael Mosley's BBC program on this from a few years back where he anecdotally had good results trying it himself:

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19112549

"I stuck to this diet for 5 weeks, during which time I lost nearly a stone and my blood markers, like IGF-1, glucose and cholesterol, improved. If I can sustain that, it will greatly reduce my risk of contracting age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes."

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