How does fasting affect inflammation?
We have explained briefly how fasting affects inflammation, but now we will take a more in-depth look at the scientific reasoning behind the process and the effect on the body. A study published in Cell found that fasting reduces inflammation and improves chronic inflammatory diseases without affecting the immune system’s response to acute infections. Acute inflammation is used by the body to fight off infections as one of the normal immune system processes. Bu chronic inflammation can have negative consequences for your health. This can include heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel diseases. Caloric restriction has been shown to improve inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. But until now we have understood very little about the process by which this occurs. At the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a team led by Dr. Miriam Merad looked into human and mouse immune cells, showing that intermittent fasting reduced the release of monocytes or the pro-inflammatory cells that occur in blood circulation. This revealed that during periods of fasting, the cells go into what was known as a ‘sleep mode’, becoming less inflammatory than those found in people who had been fed. Monocytes are immune cells that are highly inflammatory and can in some cases cause severe tissue damage. Due to Westernised diets that involve drastic overeating, the population around the world has seen a huge increase in the occurrence of these cells. This has been slowly increasing of a period of centuries, as human food has become more abundant and readily available. There are many diseases that are caused by chronic inflammation, and it does impact existing issues such as joint pain specifically. The amount of people suffering from these issues is also continuously increasing. This means that there is growing need for intermittent fasting diets, not just as a fad for weight loss but for their underlying health benefits. It may also help for weight loss, but the main draw of this dieting regime is to reduce inflammation for those patients who need it while also minimizing the risk of these chronic illnesses through reducing monocytes which lead to inflammation in the body. Researchers still plan to continue their work in this area to better understand the benefits of intermittent fasting on a molecular level. This may, in turn, lead to preventative strategies for common illnesses that are caused by excessive inflammation.