Permanent fasting is harmful to the body, but when it comes to short-term fasting, not only various kinds of practices aimed at spiritual development, but modern science confirms its benefits. At the same time, short-term fasting not only contributes to the cleansing of the body and rapid weight loss, but also the natural renewal of cells and the strengthening of the immune system.
Estet-portal.com will explain how short-term fasting is useful for immunity, how not to overdo it with a hunger strike and get the maximum health benefits from it.
Intermittent fasting for immunity – backed by science
Researchers from the University of the South California published their findings on the "healthy" aging in the journal "Cell Stem Cell".
The fact is that when you starve, the body tries to save energy, and one way to do this is to "recycle"; many immune cells that he does not currently need. In particular, "for distribution" damaged cells of the immune system. So says study co-author Valter Longo, professor at the Davis School of Gerontology (University of Southern California) and director of the Longevity Institute (University of Southern California).
The above process, which explains the immune benefits of fasting, is common to both humans and animals.
In studies conducted on both mice and humans, experts deprived the subjects of food, which led to a decrease in the number of leukocytes in the body. They are responsible for the fight against diseases and fill the blood in case of penetration of disease-causing agents into the blood. However, the matter did not end with a drop in the level of leukocytes: the fasting cycle led to a natural "restart" of the body. white blood cell production.
After 2-4 days of fasting, the hematopoietic system destroyed the older and damaged immune cells and formed new ones. Scientists believe that short-term fasting is useful not only for the immune system, but also for other systems and organs of the body.
Effects of intermittent fasting on other body systems
Intermittent fasting causes the body to store sugars, fats and ketones and break down a significant amount of white blood cells. Ketones are produced when the body converts fat into energy and are major players in the weight loss field.
Intermittent fasting allows the body to use fat as its main source of energy. It helps speed up the metabolism and improve intestinal peristalsis, giving the digestive system a break. Such a break in food intake contributes to more efficient burning of calories, as if reminding the body of the correct digestive process.
Intermittent fasting is like a reset button for the whole body. It creates a healthy environment in which the body releases regulated hormones to learn to recognize real hunger. If a person eats every 3-4 hours, his body does not know what real hunger is. By freeing the body from the process of digestion for 12-24 hours, you give it the opportunity to focus on the regeneration of other systems.
Also, short-term fasting helps to eliminate toxins from the body and regulate the work of the "filtering" cells. organs – liver and kidneys.
Important! The period of fasting should not exceed four days, and throughout the period of fasting, it is necessary to increase the amount of water consumed.
With every "session" short-term fasting depletion of the population of white blood cells leads to the formation of new cells of the immune system. When the protein kinase A (PKA) enzyme decreased along with the white blood cell count, the researchers realized that a “switch” was taking place. an organism that allows new cell formation and leads to a decrease in IGF-1 levels, which is associated with aging, tumor growth and cancer risk.
To switch stem cells to regeneration mode, it is necessary to disable the action of PKA, as a result of which stem cells begin to proliferate and, accordingly, lead to system renewal.
Also, the healing effect of intermittent fasting is to get rid of damaged or old elements that are no longer able to work effectively. This explains the beneficial effect of short-term fasting on the immune system after undergoing chemotherapy – it (the immune system) is simply renewing itself.
Read also: 24-hour Bragg fasting for body renewal
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