US researchers have revealed that fasting on and off can boost your brain power, and help to shed some extra pounds. Therefore starving yourself on alternate days can make you live longer. The study was based on the research conducted by a team from the National Institutes for Aging ( NIA).
In one set of trials, a cluster of mice were only fed on alternative days while others were fed on daily basis. Both clusters of mice were provided unrestricted access to foods on the days they were allowed to eat and eventually ate the same amount of calories.
They found that a group of mice fed on alternate days were more sensitive to insulin and needed to produce less of it. High levels of the insulin hormone, which is produced to control sugar levels after a meal or snack are usually associated with lower brain power and are at a higher risk of diabetes.
Lead author Prof Mark Mattson, head of the laboratory of neurosciences at the NIA and professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University in Baltimore sated, dietary energy restriction extends lifespan and protects the brain and cardiovascular system against age-related disease. When the brains from both sets of rodents were examined, they found calorie restricted diets seemed to improve the function of brain synapses.
These brain synapses are the junctions between brain cells that encourage the generation of new cells and make them more resistant to stress. The same diet has since been tested on humans and seems to protect the heart, circulatory system and brain against age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Dietary energy restriction, when administered particularly in alternating spells of major caloric restriction, such as alternative day fasting, activates cellular stress response pathways in neurons, added Prof Mattson. Earlier research has shown that starving yourself for a few days can help in the fight against cancer.