Study in mice might change how we optimise fasting and dieting
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Slightly reducing your calorie intake and eating your allowance of food all at once might just be the optimal way to live longer and stay slim, a study in mice suggests.
Turns out that while eating in a calorie deficit was good for health, fasting as well as dieting was even better. Photo from Rooted Mama Health.
Health reporter Emily Craig wrote an article for MailOnline about this idea that came from researchers from the University of Wisconsin who conducted a study on rodents.
The researchers designed four different diets for male mice to follow. The first group was allowed to eat as much as they wanted whenever they wanted. The second group fasted all day and only ate their entire allowance of food in a short period of time. The other two groups followed the same routine as the first two, but their calories were cut by around 30 per cent.
Among the four groups, the study found that the mice who consumed their daily calories in a short period followed by fasting actually stayed healthier and lived longer than those who ate whenever they wanted.
The group that only fasted without calorie restriction experienced the same benefits as those who had their calories cut. Both groups of mice that fasted also showed signs of healthier metabolism in their livers.
Even though the group that ate whenever they wanted and did not fast showed some improved blood sugar control, they also died younger - eight months difference with the mice who ate less and fasted.
The group that had the worst overall health was the mice who only cut their calories but did not fast.
The study was published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
Results show that the key is to improve insulin sensitivity and to reprogram the metabolism to focus on using body fat as a source of energy. Photo from SMA News Today.
However, Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge, disputed the study’s findings, saying the results may not apply to humans due to the vast biological differences between people and rodents.
He explained that if the same study were to be conducted with humans, they would have to eat all the weekly calories they need in a single day, and then starve for the next six days.
The professor also added that it would take more than fifty years for the study to test whether such a massive change to our eating habits would actually benefit our bodies.
He concluded by saying that even though reducing obesity is beneficial for our health, people should stick to a healthy diet that works for them.
Turns out that while eating in a calorie deficit was good for health, fasting as well as dieting was even better. Photo from Rooted Mama Health.
Health reporter Emily Craig wrote an article for MailOnline about this idea that came from researchers from the University of Wisconsin who conducted a study on rodents.
The researchers designed four different diets for male mice to follow. The first group was allowed to eat as much as they wanted whenever they wanted. The second group fasted all day and only ate their entire allowance of food in a short period of time. The other two groups followed the same routine as the first two, but their calories were cut by around 30 per cent.
Among the four groups, the study found that the mice who consumed their daily calories in a short period followed by fasting actually stayed healthier and lived longer than those who ate whenever they wanted.
The group that only fasted without calorie restriction experienced the same benefits as those who had their calories cut. Both groups of mice that fasted also showed signs of healthier metabolism in their livers.
Even though the group that ate whenever they wanted and did not fast showed some improved blood sugar control, they also died younger - eight months difference with the mice who ate less and fasted.
The group that had the worst overall health was the mice who only cut their calories but did not fast.
The study was published in the journal Nature Metabolism.
Results show that the key is to improve insulin sensitivity and to reprogram the metabolism to focus on using body fat as a source of energy. Photo from SMA News Today.
However, Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly, director of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit at the University of Cambridge, disputed the study’s findings, saying the results may not apply to humans due to the vast biological differences between people and rodents.
He explained that if the same study were to be conducted with humans, they would have to eat all the weekly calories they need in a single day, and then starve for the next six days.
The professor also added that it would take more than fifty years for the study to test whether such a massive change to our eating habits would actually benefit our bodies.
He concluded by saying that even though reducing obesity is beneficial for our health, people should stick to a healthy diet that works for them.
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