A study of prolonged fasting

Benedict, Fräncis G.; Goodall, Harry W.; Ash, J.E.; Langfeld, Herbert Sidney; Kendall, Arthur Isaac; Higgins, Harld Leonard.

doi:10.5962/t.174877

Cited by 233 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…Anticipating findings from WWII (see below), the subject broke the fast by ingesting excessive amounts of fruit juices, which caused gastro-intestinal distress and required hospitalization [23]. The subject lost 21.9% of his bodyweight [24], which is in keeping with what reported by Korbonits et al after the David Blaine stunt (see below) [25,26] and with previous and subsequent reports [24,27].…”

Section: Prolonged Fasting In Humanssupporting

confidence: 84%

Traditional and Medical Applications of Fasting

et al. 2022

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Fasting has been practiced for millennia, for religious, ethical, or health reasons. It is also commonplace among different species, from humans, to animals, to lower eukaryotes. Research on fasting is gaining traction based on recent studies that show its role in many adaptive cellular responses such as the reduction of oxidative damage and inflammation, increase of energy metabolism, and in boosting cellular protection. In this expert review, we recount the historical evolution of fasting and we critically analyze its current medical applications, including benefits and caveats. Based on the available data, we conclude that the manipulation of dietary intake, in the form of calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, dietary restriction with the exclusion of some nutrients, prolonged fasting, and so forth, is anthropologically engraved in human culture possibly because of its positive health effects. Indeed, many studies show that fasting ameliorates many biochemical parameters related to cardiovascular and cancer risk, and neurodegeneration. Mechanistic studies are plentiful, but largely limited to cell cultures or laboratory animals. Understandably, there are no controlled trials of any form of fasting that gauge the effects on [any cause] mortality. Physicians should be aware that misinformation is pervasive and that their patients often adopt dietary regimens that are far from being clinically validated. Moreover, doctors are often unaware of their patients’ religious or traditional fasting and of its potential health effects. Based on current evidence, no long-term fasting should be undertaken without medical supervision until future research will hopefully help shed further light on fasting and its effects on human health.

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Section: Prolonged Fasting In Humanssupporting

confidence: 84%

Traditional and Medical Applications of Fasting

et al. 2022

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“…Fasting periods from 2 to 21 days or more, so called long‐term fasting, have also been used for decades for preventive and therapeutic purposes in specialized centres 1 . At the beginning of the 20th century, Benedict et al 2 observed a normal‐weight subject fasting safely up to 31 days and documented among other a drop in basal metabolic rate (BMR) 3 . Cahill later observed that, after a quick depletion of liver glycogen, free fatty acids are mobilized from adipose tissue and partly transformed into ketone bodies, whereas glucose is produced by the liver using body proteins as substrate 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is muscle and protein loss relevant in long‐term fasting in healthy men? A prospective trial on physiological adaptations

Laurens

Grundler

Damiot

et al. 2021

J cachexia sarcopenia muscle

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Background Fasting is attracting an increasing interest as a potential strategy for managing diseases, including metabolic disorders and complementary cancer therapy. Despite concerns of clinicians regarding protein catabolism and muscle loss, evidence‐based clinical data in response to long‐term fasting in healthy humans are scarce. The objective of this study was to measure clinical constants, metabolic, and muscular response in healthy men during and after a 10 day fast combined with a physical activity programme. Methods Sixteen men (44 ± 14 years; 26.2 ± 0.9 kg/m2) fasted with a supplement of 200–250 kcal/day and up to 3 h daily low‐intensity physical activity according to the peer‐reviewed Buchinger Wilhelmi protocol. Changes in body weight (BW) and composition, basal metabolic rate (BMR), physical activity, muscle strength and function, protein utilization, inflammatory, and metabolic status were assessed during the 10 day fast, the 4 days of food reintroduction, and at 3 month follow‐up. Results The 10 day fast decreased BW by 7% (−5.9 ± 0.2 kg, P < 0.001) and BMR by 12% (P < 0.01). Fat mass and lean soft tissues (LST) accounted for about 40% and 60% of weight loss, respectively, −2.3 ± 0.18 kg and −3.53 ± 0.13 kg, P < 0.001. LST loss was explained by the reduction in extracellular water (44%), muscle and liver glycogen and associated water (14%), and metabolic active lean tissue (42%). Plasma 3‐methyl‐histidine increased until Day 5 of fasting and then decreased, suggesting that protein sparing might follow early proteolysis. Daily steps count increased by 60% (P < 0.001) during the fasting period. Strength was maintained in non‐weight‐bearing muscles and increased in weight‐bearing muscles (+33%, P < 0.001). Glycaemia, insulinemia, blood lipids, and blood pressure dropped during the fast (P < 0.05 for all), while non‐esterified fatty acids and urinary beta‐hydroxybutyrate increased (P < 0.01 for both). After a transient reduction, inflammatory cytokines returned to baseline at Day 10 of fasting, and LST were still lower than baseline values (−2.3% and −3.2%, respectively; P < 0.05 for both). Conclusions A 10 day fast appears safe in healthy humans. Protein loss occurs in early fast but decreases as ketogenesis increases. Fasting combined with physical activity does not negatively impact muscle function. Future studies will need to confirm these first findings.

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“…While an overwhelmingly long list of studies have reported benefits and mechanisms for incomplete fasting that covering calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, fasting-mimicking diets, and periodic short-term water-only fasting with minimal calories or supplements 11 , studies of complete water-only fasting in human are much less numerous [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . In our study, the changes in the lipid profile by beego are largely in concordance with the western styled fasting regimes 11,50,75,76 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Beego in China has traditionally relied on experience being handed down by word of mouth and features a psychological guidance, yet we are unaware of studies examining the practice; in contrast fasting for therapeutic purposes in the West has been intensively studied since the early 1900s, including modalities like prolonged or acute starvation [3][4][5][6] , water-only fasting [7][8][9][10] and various less stringent or incomplete fasting formulas 11 . The incomplete fasting formulas appear to be more favored in Western countries, and include calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, fasting-mimicking diets and periodic short-term water-only fasting with minimal calories or supplements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supervised beego, a traditional Chinese water-only fasting, ends up with reduced thrombosis risk without compromising hemostasis capacity

Fang¹,

Zhao

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Beego is a traditional Chinese complete water-only fasting practice initially developed for spiritual purposes, later extending to physical fitness purposes. Beego notably includes a psychological induction component that includes meditation and abdominal breathing, light body exercise, and ends with a specific gradual refeeding program before returning to a normal diet. Beego has regained its popularity in recent decades in China as a strategy for helping people in subhealthy conditions or with metabolic syndrome, but we are unaware of any studies examining the biological effects of this practice. To address this, we here performed a longitudinal study of beego comprising fasting (7 and 14 day cohorts) and a 7-day programmed refeeding phase. In addition to detecting improvements in cardiovascular physiology and selective reduction of blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, we observed that beego decreased blood triacylglycerol (TG) selectively in TG-high subjects and increased cholesterol in all subjects during fasting; however, the cholesterol levels were normalized after completion of the refeeding program. Strikingly, beego reduced platelet formation, activation, aggregation, and degranulation, resulting in an alleviated thrombosis risk, yet maintained hemostasis by sustaining levels of coagulation factors and other hemostatic proteins. Mechanistically, we speculate that downregulation of G6B and MYL9 may influence the observed beego-mediated reduction in platelets. Fundamentally, our study supports that supervised beego reduces thrombosis risk without compromising hemostasis capacity. Moreover, our results support that beego under medical supervision can be implemented as noninvasive intervention for reducing thrombosis risk, and suggest several lines of intriguing inquiry for future studies about this fasting practice (http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx, number, ChiCTR1900027451).

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A study of prolonged fasting

Cited by 233 publications

References 0 publications

Traditional and Medical Applications of Fasting

Traditional and Medical Applications of Fasting

Is muscle and protein loss relevant in long‐term fasting in healthy men? A prospective trial on physiological adaptations

Supervised beego, a traditional Chinese water-only fasting, ends up with reduced thrombosis risk without compromising hemostasis capacity

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