Intermittent fasting enhances glucose processing and intestinal well being in ageing mice

A examine performed in mice discovered that intermittent fasting introduced advantages past weight reduction, suggesting the follow may assist the physique higher course of glucose and cut back age-related declines in intestinal operate. Researchers will current their work this week on the American Physiology Summit, the flagship annual assembly of the American Physiological Society (APS), in Lengthy Seaside, California. 

Our examine means that intermittent fasting is a useful dietary follow to regulate weight acquire, enhance blood glucose ranges and promote optimistic intestinal results by decreasing irritation and oxidative stress whereas altering intestinal construction.”

Spencer Vroegop, the examine’s first writer and second-year scholar within the Arizona Faculty of Osteopathic Drugs at Midwestern College

Intermittent fasting-;through which an individual eats after which refrains from consuming on a set schedule-;has gained consideration in recent times as a technique for weight administration. The researchers sought to learn how it’d have an effect on well being in older adults. 

To do that, they used mice that had been genetically altered to speed up ageing. Among the mice had meals obtainable on a regular basis whereas others had entry to meals solely throughout alternating 24-hour cycles. After eight months, the mice that had been fed each different day had gained much less weight and likewise had structural adjustments within the small gut related to improved glucose management and lowered irritation. 

“Our knowledge counsel that the load loss induced by intermittent fasting is just not doubtless solely as a result of calorie restriction but in addition a minimum of partially facilitated by a change in glucose metabolism,” Vroegop mentioned. “This might suggest that the load loss induced through intermittent fasting is extra more likely to have longer results than easy calorie restriction.” 

The examine centered particularly on the jejunum, a portion of the small gut the place most nutrient absorption happens. “As mammals age, there are inherent damaging adjustments to the morphology of the small gut that influence the power to soak up vitamins and keep its construction,” Vroegop mentioned. “Our examine means that an intermittent fasting food plan might assist forestall these age-related adjustments by returning the jejunum to a ‘youthful’ model of itself.” 

Whereas the pattern measurement was comparatively small (32 mice in whole), the researchers famous that the results appeared extra pronounced in feminine mice than in males, with females displaying higher variations within the well being and look of the small gut and in the way in which sugars are transported. Nonetheless, the impact on blood sugar ranges was stronger in males than females. The group is engaged on follow-up research to higher perceive the drivers behind these sex-specific variations. 

Vroegop cautioned that it’s troublesome to extrapolate from mice to people and the examine shouldn’t be construed as offering medical recommendation. As a result of intermittent fasting is a comparatively new space of examine and there’s broad variation within the fasting regimens utilized in completely different research, there’s not but a scientific consensus on the dangers and advantages or the optimum fasting technique.