Whether intermittent fasting people follow the 5:2 diet or the 16/8 method, these eating plans seem to work for weight loss. Now scientists have recently discovered that intermittent fastingPromotes autophagyand could therefore offer even more health benefits. Their studies on mice and other animal species, such as fruit flies, have shown that intermittent fasting could also increase longevity.
Extending life with autophagy and intermittent fasting?
The new research revealed how intermittent fasting works in cells to slow the aging process, at least in fruit flies. According to the study authors, the results point to ways to reap the health benefits of fasting without hunger pangs. Intermittent fasting does not limit total calorie intake to specific times of the day. In contrast, dietary restriction, which has also been shown to increase longevity, reduces calorie intake. Because intermittent fasting limits the timing of eating, it is thought that natural biological clocks play a role. Additionally, researchers turned to fruit flies because they have a similar circadian clock to humans. Additionally, these insects also share about 70% of human disease-related genes. The timing of the 20-hour fast was crucial: lifespan increased only for flies that fasted at night and broke their fast around midday. The lifespan of flies that instead fasted all day and only fed at night did not change.
The research team found that after fasting aCell cleaning process begins, but only at night. This so-called autophagy is known to slow down the aging process by cleaning up and recycling damaged components of the cell during intermittent fasting. However, when this process was disrupted, the diet had no effect on the animals' longevity during the experiment.
Not only did this extend the flies' lifespan, the feeding regimen also improved their healthspan, increased neuronal and muscle function, reduced age-related protein aggregation, and delayed the onset of aging markers in muscle and intestinal tissue. Human cells use the same cell cleaning processes. Hence the resultsthis studythe possibility of using behavior modification or medication for the cleaning process. This could delay age-related diseases and extend lifespan.
