{"id":14384,"date":"2017-05-15T17:36:46","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T17:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14384"},"modified":"2017-05-15T17:36:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T17:36:46","slug":"fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system-study-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=14384","title":{"rendered":"FASTING FOR THREE DAYS CAN REGENERATE ENTIRE IMMUNE SYSTEM &#8211; STUDY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"byline__author-name\">By Sarah Knapton: <\/span>Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as &#8220;remarkable&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.<\/p>\n<p data-mediaconductor-processed=\"true\">Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<div id=\"outbrain_widget_1\" class=\"OUTBRAIN\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/science\/2016\/03\/12\/fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system-study\/\" data-widget-id=\"AR_39\" data-ob-=\"\" data-ob-mark=\"true\" data-browser=\"chrome\" data-os=\"win32\" data-dynload=\"\" data-idx=\"1\">\n<div class=\"ob-widget ob-one-column-layout CR_39\" data-dynamic-truncate=\"true\">It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even common diseases.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The researchers say fasting &#8220;flips a regenerative switch&#8221; which prompts stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially regenerating the entire immune system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It gives the &#8216;OK&#8217; for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system,&#8221; said Prof Valter Longo, Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the University of California.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or ageing, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=13168&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose and fat but also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells.<\/p>\n<p>During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune system cells.<\/p>\n<p>In trials humans were asked to regularly fast for between two and four days over a six-month period.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is linked to ageing and a hormone which increases cancer risk and tumour growth.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic system,&#8221; added Prof Longo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged,&#8221; Dr Longo said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well, where does it come from?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Fasting for 72 hours also protected cancer patients against the toxic impact of chemotherapy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,&#8221; said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system,&#8221; added Prof Longo.<\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p>However, some British experts were sceptical of the research.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Graham Rook, emeritus professor of immunology at University College London, said the study sounded &#8220;improbable&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Mason, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at UCL, said: \u201cThere is some interesting data here. It sees that fasting reduces the number and size of cells and then re-feeding at 72 hours saw a rebound.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat could be potentially useful because that is not such a long time that it would be terribly harmful to someone with cancer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I think the most sensible way forward would be to synthesize this effect with drugs. I am not sure fasting is the best idea. People are better eating on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-14385\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING-300x200.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING-300x200.png 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING-768x512.png 768w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING-272x182.png 272w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING.png 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dr Longo added: \u201cThere is no evidence at all that fasting would be dangerous while there is strong evidence that it is beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have received emails from hundreds of cancer patients who have combined chemo with fasting, many with the assistance of the oncologists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus far the great majority have reported doing very well and only a few have reported some side effects including fainting and a temporary increase in liver markers. Clearly we need to finish the clinical trials, but it looks very promising.\u201d(http:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sarah Knapton: Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as &#8220;remarkable&#8221;. Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing new white blood cells, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[3793,2235,2234],"class_list":["post-14384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-dr-graham-rook","tag-prof-valter-longo","tag-university-of-southern-california"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/FASTING.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-3K0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14384"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14384\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14386,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14384\/revisions\/14386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}