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By Anil Minocha MD, author of Wall Street Journal Best Seller Dr. M's Seven-X Plan for Digestive Health
"Humans live on one-quarter of what they eat; on the other three-quarters lives their doctor." - Egyptian pyramid inscription
Is It Leaky Gut or Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Fasting involves a voluntary partial or total abstention of all foods, or a select abstention of specific foods.
- Absolute fasts are usually undertaken for one or a few days at a time, although fasts lasting several weeks may be undertaken for religious reasons or as part of civil disobedience.
- Intermittent fasts may also be undertaken. Water is usually allowed ad libitum during all times in alternate and intermittent diet.
- Partial fasts restrict only specific foods.
Motivation for fasting
- Fasts have traditionally been motivated by religious beliefs.
- As prerequisite to diagnostic tests or procedures
Effect on health
Fasting has been promoted as a medical remedy against disease across cultures since ancient times including the forefathers of medicine including Hippocrates, Galen and Paracelsus. Modern proponents of fasting include the famous Dr. Andrew Weil of University of Arizona. Practioners of integrative medicine prescribe fasts for "detoxification/cleansing" the body for health maintenance as well as a treatment for disease.
Wall Street Journal Best Seller Dr. M's Seven-X Plan for Digestive Health
Data on effect of fasting has largely been derived from animals. Human data is largely derived from supervised and recorded fasts. In addition to observation of religious diets (Trepanowski 2010), human data about health effects has been derived from three types of diets:
- Caloric restriction: Involves reduction of calories by 20-40 percent
- Alternate-day fasting with consumption ad lib on eating days
- Dietary restriction: Reduction of a dietary component, usually a macronutrient
Animal studies reveal that feeding regimens, caloric restriction as well as intermittent fasting every other day result in increased longevity and improved health. The mechanism may include resetting of the circadian clock leading to synchronized metabolism.
Is It Leaky Gut or Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Benefits of calorie restriction
In addition to positive scientific literature on enhanced longevity (Froy 2010), health benefits of calorie restriction include improved markers of cardiovascular and metabolic function (Fontana 2008) along with delayed onset of numerous chronic disorders (Omodei 2011):
- Autoimmune disorders
- Coronary artery disease
- Cardiomyopathies
- Cancer
- Diabetes and metabolic syndrome (O'Keefe 2010)
- Chronic kidney disease
- Obesity
Calorie restricted diet diet results in improved markers of health especially cardiovascular and metabolic function (Fontana 2008).
Does intermittent fasting provide health benefits?
Fasting on alternate days while consuming twice the amount of food on non-fasting days improves longevity as well as glycemic control among other markers of improved health (Varady 2007). The effects are similar to similar to calorie restriction every day. In fact, even fasting for a day once a month may improve the markers for risk of cardiovascular disease.
Is It Leaky Gut or Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Health implications of dietary restriction
Dietary Restriction involves consuming a reduced amount of one or more components of food without significantly reducing total caloric intake. Protein restriction in animals results in 20% increase in life span in contrast to fat or carbohydrate restriction that has no such effect. The beneficial effect of proteins is related primarily to reduced intake of methionine.
Fasting to lose weight
Fasting on alternate days allows subject to lose over short to medium term although it is not sustained over long term. On the other hand, alternate day diet is superior to daily restriction for retaining lean mass (Varady 2009).
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Punctuated fasting is superior to continued calorie restriction and increases life span. |
Safety of fasting
Healthy persons can fast for a few days without any adverse long term adverse health effects as long as adequate hydration is maintained. However, long term absolute fasting is harmful and can lead to severe organ dysfunction and death. Diabetics and women who are pregnant or breast-feeding should not practice fasts. The drawbacks of fasting include:
- Increased potential for drug toxicity e.g. acetaminophen
- Excessive fasting like anorexia nervosa may cause severe systemic disturbances
Is It Leaky Gut or Leaky Gut Syndrome?
Wall Street Journal Best Seller Dr. M's Seven-X Plan for Digestive Health
