Is the fasting diet good or bad for our body?
The practice of fasting has recently made a comeback.

Whether for the success of Dr. Longo’s fasting-mimicking diet, or because there are so many enthusiasts from the USA about intermittent fasting protocols, today there are many tempted by the idea of ​​fasting to lose weight but not only. Above all, in the interest of strengthening the immune system.

In truth, fasting often seems beneficial for one reason only, and that is that by not introducing food or introducing it within a limited time window, as in the case of intermittent fasting, intestinal problems are reduced.

Intestinal inflammation is often an underestimated problem, but it can be generated by bacteria that are difficult to eliminate, an unbalanced intestinal flora, difficulty in absorption.
In the long run, these phenomena can also lower the immune defenses.

Fasting therefore appears to be a drastic solution that paradoxically brings benefits where there is a compromised intestinal situation. However, this is not so resolved.

So let’s see what the scientific research that has dealt with analyzing the effect of fasting (water fasting) and intermittent fasting (we eat only in some hours and fast in others) on the health of human beings says. We therefore exclude studies carried out on animals, insects and cells.

FASTING DIET: WHAT SCIENCE SAYS

INTERMITTENT FAST

Several studies have investigated the effects of intermittent fasting on weight loss, increased insulin sensitivity, specific body fat loss, and cardiovascular health.

While the results are promising, with overweight people who have lost weight by eating 500 calories three times a week as much as those on a low-calorie diet every day, the thing that stands out most of all these studies is the duration: it typically tops out. six months.

Secondly, the small number of participants: generally less than a hundred.

There are obviously exceptions.
For example, a study conducted by the University of Toronto, with a sample of over 200 people followed for two years and subjected to an intermittent fasting protocol. It was seen that in the people followed there was an improvement in cognitive function.

The studies that reported the greatest benefits lasted about three months.

One parameter that actually changes little is that of blood sugar, although promising studies have been conducted on diabetics. Instead, high blood pressure and bad cholesterol are reduced and more visceral fat is lost.

However, it should be understood whether the benefits gained from these fasting practices last over the long term.

The other striking thing, however, is that it is always two or three names that produce most of the studies. Dr. Mattson (who conducted the aforementioned study among others), Dr. Varady and Dr. Longo are recurring names. Which is not a bad thing, but it is a fact that intrigued me.

The effects on the immune level are perhaps the most controversial. We know that fasting can increase cellular apoptosis, particularly the death of some “defective” cells. However, even here there are no long-term data.

FAST TOTAL

On the other hand, there are few studies on the so-called water fasting, or abstinence from food for three or more days, for example totally fasting for a week. There are about eighty clinical studies, but we are necessarily talking about studies that focus on very short time windows.

A very interesting study analyzed the effects of prolonged fasting for two to three days, arriving at curious conclusions. Most people complained of nausea, headache, arrhythmia, muscle aches and fatigue. But the most surprising finding was the increase in blood pressure.