Sunday, December 28, 2008

Intermittent Fasting Research

We haven't had any new IF Research for a while.

Here is a quick podcast for you to listen to:

Fasting May Equal Calorie-Restricted Diets
A study in the journal Nature finds that worms that fasted every third day got the same anti-aging benefits offered by severe calorie-restricted diets.





The report is referring to this study:



Signalling through RHEB-1 mediates intermittent fasting-induced longevity in C. elegans


Dietary restriction is the most effective and reproducible intervention to extend lifespan in divergent species1. In mammals, two regimens of dietary restriction, intermittent fasting (IF) and chronic caloric restriction, have proven to extend lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-related disorders2. An important characteristic of IF is that it can increase lifespan even when there is little or no overall decrease in calorie intake2. The molecular mechanisms underlying IF-induced longevity, however, remain largely unknown. Here we establish an IF regimen that effectively extends the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans, and show that the low molecular weight GTPase RHEB-1 has a dual role in lifespan regulation; RHEB-1 is required for the IF-induced longevity, whereas inhibition of RHEB-1 mimics the caloric-restriction effects. RHEB-1 exerts its effects in part by the insulin/insulin growth factor (IGF)-like signalling effector DAF-16 in IF. Our analyses demonstrate that most fasting-induced upregulated genes require RHEB-1 function for their induction, and that RHEB-1 and TOR signalling are required for the fasting-induced downregulation of an insulin-like peptide, INS-7. These findings identify the essential role of signalling by RHEB-1 in IF-induced longevity and gene expression changes, and suggest a molecular link between the IF-induced longevity and the insulin/IGF-like signalling pathway.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

This is perfect timing. I started to do IF today only in the form of eating one big meal a day. But its nice to see a study that shows it has the same effects of calorie restriction. I found it quite easy to do actually!

Anonymous said...

The discussions at the end of the article are interesting as well :)

Sue said...

I have done IF in the past but I tried out a water fast where I consume only water. Was going to see how long I could take it. I managed almost 3 days before I got a migraine. The migraine was possibly caused by the fast?
Anyway, once you are into the fast you really don't feel hungry. I could have gone longer if it wasn't for the migraine. I'm back to low-carb and will incorporate IF.

Anonymous said...

I have been practicing IF twice a week (18-24hr fasts) and along with losing 23 lbs I have never felt better. It really isn't that hard.

Chris said...

Denise- well done that is some loss.

Anonymous said...

I've been doing 24/24 hour fasting for six months now. Still going strong. Click on my name for more info.