Intermittent fasting diets can add years to your life: study
A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that diets that involve intermittent fasting can add years to your life. Studies have linked fasting to improved metabolism, decreased blood pressure and better control of blood sugar levels.
Hoping to get rid of unwanted belly fat? If your diet involves intermittent fasting – abstaining from food for several hours straight – it may be hindering your progress in eliminating fat around that area of the body, the findings of a new study suggest.
In a study conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia and published earlier this week in the journal Cell Reports, the researchers found that visceral belly fat – the adipose tissue that surrounds organs, including the stomach – is particularly resistant to the release of energy during intermittent fasting. In other words, this type of fat goes into “preservation mode” to protect your energy in anticipation of the next fasting period, possibly making it more difficult to pop unwanted belly fat.
For the study, conducted with rats, the researchers “examined types of adipose tissue from different locations to understand their role during fasting every other day, where no food was consumed on alternate days,” according to a press release on the discoveries.
They found that two types of fat, visceral, the type mentioned above, as well as subcutaneous fat, which is found just below the skin and is associated with better metabolic health, “undergo dramatic changes during intermittent fasting,” said the Dr. Larance, senior author of the study, in a statement.
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During fasting, adipose tissue acts as an energy source for the body, releasing fatty acid molecules. In the study, however, the researchers found that the visceral system becomes resistant to this release of energy during periods of fasting, suggesting that visceral fat “can adapt to repeated fasts and protect your energy supply,” he said. Larance.
“This type of adaptation may be the reason why visceral fat can be resistant to weight loss after long periods of dieting,” he added.
The mice were used in the study because their physiology is similar to that of humans. However, their metabolism is much faster, which allowed researchers to observe the changes in a faster period of time, compared to if they had conducted a test in humans.
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The researchers used specialized instruments to examine “more than 8,500 proteins located in fat deposits, creating a catalog of changes that occurred during intermittent fasting, using a technique called proteomics”, or the study of all proteins, by release, which adds : “It was through proteomics that the research team was alerted to the main cellular changes caused by intermittent fasting and, after further analysis, highlighted the mechanism of preservation of visceral fat in action.”
It is important to note that the study focused on fasting on alternate days, with Larance warning that the results “may not apply to different diet regimens, such as the 5: 2 diet (fasting 2 days out of 7) or calorie restriction, which is common in people who want to lose weight. “
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That said, “the results lay the foundation for future studies, which will dissect the molecules responsible for why visceral fat is resistant to the release of energy during fasting and will help determine which diet plans would be most beneficial for metabolic health. “
“Now that we have shown that ‘belly fat’ in mice is resistant to this diet, the big question will be to answer why and how can we best tackle it?” asked Larance, stressing that more studies on the subject are needed.