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Fasting Triggers Stem Cell Regeneration of Damaged, Old Immune System

Posted by Soulskill on from the fasting-counters-slowing dept.

schwit1 sends word of research showing that cycles of prolonged fasting can both protect the immune system from harm and also induce regeneration by causing stem cells to start renewing themselves. 'In both mice and a Phase 1 human clinical trial (abstract), long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts. In mice, fasting cycles then "flipped a regenerative switch," changing the signaling pathways for hematopoietic stem cells, which are responsible for the generation of blood and immune systems, the research showed. "PKA is the key gene that needs to shut down in order for these stem cells to switch into regenerative mode. It gives the OK for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system," explained [study author Valter Longo], noting the potential of clinical applications that mimic the effects of prolonged fasting to rejuvenate the immune system. "And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system."'

17 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. And Ramadan is coming... by jaeztheangel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've always felt stronger after the Holy Month - that surprised me as a kid. Nice Article.

    1. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by borcharc · · Score: 5, Informative

      This would not be caused by the effect in this study. You wold need to fast continuously for 48-72 hours or more to get the benefit they found. Eating after sundown would replenish the body's supply of glucose and prevent the energy conservation required.

    2. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Funny

      You misspelled the word girlfriend. The word you should have used is spelled this way: girlenemy.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
    3. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Interesting

      An alternative to fasting might be ketosis. During fasting, all available sugar is consumed and the body starts producing fat bodies called ketones that are burned by the mitochondria instead of sugar. It's impossible to continue a fast indefinitely because the body eventually runs out of fuel- in other words, it starves. But if the diet is sufficiently low in carbohydrates (>60 g/day) and high in fat, the body can burn fat-derived ketones indefinitely and remains in a state of ketosis, in effect a long-term fast. Nobody understands quite how it works, but it's been shown to produce dramatic improvements in people with epilepsy (major improvements in most patients, complete remission in a handful), bipolar depression, and perhaps neurodegenerative disorders as well. At any rate, it's clear that how you eat can have profound effects on your health, and that more research needs to be done into dietary therapies.

    4. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by reboot246 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Did you mean <60 g/day?
      < is 'less than'
      > is 'more than'

    5. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by interkin3tic · · Score: 3

      That's not supported by any evidence I can see. The 48-72 hours was more likely chosen because it would allow the postdocs, grad students, and techs to not have to come in at midnight on a weekend to kill a mouse and drain them of their blood (and then quit and join a different lab). Not because that time frame was empirically determined to be the minimum fasting time required for the effect.

      Skimming the article and paper, it's pretty clear that they're establishing that this is a real effect, not determining the most efficient method to get it. I don't have any background knowledge about the molecular mechanism they're proposing, or much about nutrition and fasting (scientifically or personally) but I'd be surprised if fasting for shorter periods of times but for more periods wouldn't have some of the same effect, possibly even moreso.

      Anyway, the article says they tested it in a handful of chemotherapy patients to prove the point, but most of the work was done in mice. Mice, obviously, aren't perfect metaphors for humans. It wouldn't be terribly shocking to me at least that mice fasting for three days would have the same response that humans used to at least three square meals a day would in 12 hours.

      It could go the other way of course, humans with much greater masses and probably a lot more body fat might require longer fasting. I don't know.

    6. Re:And Ramadan is coming... by Dahamma · · Score: 4, Informative

      The 48-72 hours was more likely chosen because it would allow the postdocs, grad students, and techs to not have to come in at midnight on a weekend to kill a mouse and drain them of their blood (and then quit and join a different lab). Not because that time frame was empirically determined to be the minimum fasting time required for the effect.

      I guess you've never been a grad student/tech, then? In the lab I worked in (with rats and mice, actually, though it was sleep & circadian research) they had no problem sending the grad students - or even better, the undergrad interns - in at midnight to do various studies.

      Yes, I have sat after midnight in a lab lit only by dim red light (doesn't interrupt rat rhythms) for several hours basically keeping rats awake when they start to nod off. Which is also why our lab invented a cage that would automatically tip the rats into a pool of water when they fell asleep. Which I guess is a bit ironic that the pursuit of a decent night's sleep led to a device that prevented a decent night's sleep...

  2. Re:lol by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Funny

    All that time and you still couldn't think of anything worthwhile to post?

  3. Re:Keep ignoring the Scriptures..... by Urkki · · Score: 3, Interesting

    .... it's surely just a bunch of superstitious nonsense......

    Which scripture recommends the quite specific kind of fasting this study suggests will trigger the regeneation cycle? Link to relevant verse (or whaever it's called) would be good too.

  4. Re:Human clinical trial in Somalia? by Urkki · · Score: 4, Informative

    Fasting and being starved are quite different things...Fasting is not about getting too little energy and nutrients in the long term, or being malnourished. Even suggesting that starvation is just a form of fasting is naive and ignorant.

  5. Bodybuilding by zakeria · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As a natural body builder I fast for 3 days every two weeks, the results are more muscle mass less body fat stronger faster trigger muscle...

  6. Re:Keep ignoring the Scriptures..... by whistlingtony · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, what are the health benefits from stoning people for doing things I don't like? :D What? It's in the scriptures!

  7. Re:Immortality by sir-gold · · Score: 3, Funny

    Build a man a fire, he's warm for a day.
    Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.

  8. Re:My friends don't fart... by serbanp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Farting is caused by the inability of our intestine to break complex sugars (lack of specialized enzymes), examples of which can be found in legumes. These sugars then reach the gut, where bacteria have no problems breaking them, releasing gasses in the process.

    There are even pills you can take with your food (e.g. when eating beans) that provide the missing enzyme so that you won't fart. In US, Beano is probably the most popular one.

    You won't fart just because you ate a chocolate bar. And b.t.w., these complex sugars are not sweet, therefore there is no connection between eating sweets and farting.

  9. Re: Keep ignoring the Scriptures..... by Adriax · · Score: 4, Funny

    Increased upper body strength.

    --
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  10. Re: Not that surprising. by Adriax · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Dear dog I hope not. If this makes the immune system forget allergies then it also forgets all the thousands of strains of bacteria and virus you have been exposed to. All your immunizations, chicken pox, colds, flu, mono, ect...
    A newborn would have a better immune system than a clean slate.

    Plus you would have a much greater chance of becoming allergic to new stuff.
    Would suck to get rid of a minor hayfever just to become allergic to all nuts.

    --
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  11. Will my new immune system be less allergy prone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If rebooting the immune system like this clears out allergic sensitivities it would be far more important than it's impact on people with more seriously damaged systems as allergies are far more common. Perhaps this explains why in first world nations where food is so abundant there is a coincidental rise in allergies?

    No harm in individuals testing this hypothesis, but a properly designed study would be needed to confirm it in a scientifically valid way.