Posted on 02/24/2017 1:34:51 PM PST by nickcarraway
"The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers," BBC News reports.
Research in mice found a low-calorie diet may help in cases of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
The pancreas is an organ that uses specialised cells known as beta cells to produce the hormone insulin, which the body uses to break down sugars in the blood (glucose).
In type 1 diabetes the pancreas stops producing insulin. In type 2 diabetes either not enough insulin is produced or cells in the body fail to respond to insulin (insulin resistance).
Mice were fed for four days on a low-calorie, low-protein and low-carbohydrate but high-fat diet, receiving half their normal daily calorie intake on day one, followed by three days of 10% of their normal calorie intake.
Researchers repeated this fast on three occasions, with 10 days of refeeding in between. They then examined the pancreas.
They found in mice modelled to have both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, insulin production was restored, insulin resistance was reduced, and beta cells could be regenerated. Early lab study involving human cell samples showed similar potential.
These are promising results, but further studies are needed to validate these findings in humans.
If you have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you shouldn't attempt a fasting diet without first seeking medical advice. A sudden change in your calorie intake could have unpredictable effects and lead to complications.
Where did the story come from?
The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Southern California and the Koch Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, and the IFOM FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology in Italy.
It was funded by grants from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US National Institute on Aging (NIA).
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Cell. It's available on an open access basis and is free to read online (PDF, 6.74Mb).
The UK media coverage of the research is generally accurate. BBC News provided useful advice from one of the authors, Dr Longo, who cautioned: "Do not try this [fasting] at home. This is so much more sophisticated than people realise".
What kind of research was this?
This animal study examined whether a diet mimicking fasting cycles is able to promote the generation of new pancreatic beta cells in a mouse model of diabetes.
Beta cells are found in the pancreas. The cells' primary function is to store and release insulin in response to changes in blood glucose concentration.
In people with diabetes, the beta cells are either destroyed by the person's own immune system (type 1) or are unable to produce a sufficient amount of insulin (type 2).
Beta cells are reported to be highly sensitive to the availability of nutrients. The researchers wanted to see whether prolonged fasting and refeeding could regenerate pancreatic cells. Animal studies like this one are useful early-stage research to help better our understanding of cellular mechanisms.
However, the human body has complex biology and we're not identical to mice, so further studies would be needed to see whether the same effects are observed in humans.
What did the research involve?
The first phase of the study involved male mice aged 10-16 weeks, some of whom had injections of a chemical to destroy their beta cells to mimic type 1 diabetes. Others were genetically bred to have type 2 diabetes, and normal mice acted as controls.
The researchers put the mice on a four-day fasting regimen consisting of a low-calorie, low-protein, low-carbohydrate and high-fat (FMD) diet.
They were fed 50% of their standard calorie intake on day one, followed by 10% of their normal calorie intake on days two to four.
At the end of the four days, the mice were fed regularly for up to 10 days to ensure they regained their body weight before the next fasting cycle. They underwent three dietary intervention cycles.
Blood glucose measurements were taken regularly. Pancreatic cell samples were taken to look at gene activity and investigate whether there were any changes.
The second phase of the study involved analysing human pancreatic cell samples collected from people with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers also recruited healthy human adult volunteers without a history of diabetes, who underwent three cycles of a similar five-day fasting regimen. The blood samples from these people were applied to the cultured pancreatic human cells.
What were the basic results?
In the mouse model of type 2 diabetes, after the FMD cycles insulin secretion was restored and insulin resistance was reduced. The FMD cycles seemed to induce beta cell regeneration.
In the mouse model of type 1 diabetes, FMD cycles were able to reduce inflammation and promote changes in the levels of cytokine proteins, which may indicate the restoration of insulin secretion. There was an increase in the proliferation and number of beta cells generating insulin.
The results in the human cell samples suggested similar findings to those seen in mice. FMD cycles – that is, in blood samples from fasted individuals applied to human pancreatic cells in the laboratory – may be able to promote reprogramming of cell lineages and generate insulin in pancreatic islet cells.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that, "These results indicate that an FMD promotes the reprogramming of pancreatic cells to restore insulin generation in islets from T1D [type 1 diabetes] patients and reverse both T1D and T2D [type 2 diabetes] phenotypes in mouse models." Conclusion
This animal study examined whether a diet mimicking fasting cycles would be able to promote the generation of new insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells in a mouse model of diabetes.
Overall, researchers found in mice models of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, insulin secretion was restored and insulin resistance and beta cells could be regenerated or have their function restored. Very early laboratory study on human cell samples suggested similar potential.
These results show promise, but further research is needed to validate these findings in humans.
Professor Anne Cooke, professor of immunology at the University of Cambridge, commented: "This is good science and does give promise for the future treatment of diabetes, but we need further studies to see whether this works in people as well as it has in mice."
Don't suddenly try fasting, or any other radical change to your diet, without first consulting the doctor in charge of your care. Sudden changes to your diet could cause complications.
I was disappointed when I found that the medical professionals were giving, not only erroneous advice, but actual harmful advice to my friends and family, with the predictable results. I thought Doctors were really smart and compassionate. Then I found out about having to write a thesis to make your bones, writing textbooks to fatten your wallet, and keep down others with different ideas to keep you rice bowl full, and because they are merely people and most are too lazy to keep up with advances in understanding the causes of medical problems. Follow the money, to hell with Christian teachings.
Sorry. I ride 20+ miles / day. 5 days / week. Fasting doesn’t work for me.
Your 8 hours of sleep are included into the 24 hours obviously. That’s only 16 hours of not eating. Think of it that way.
Riding what 20 miles a day? Do you mean cycling?
Intermittent fasting works well when exercising. A ketogenic diet replaces carbs with fats and increases stamina and eliminates the crashes due to blood sugar volatility. The incidence of diabetes (and obesity) is directly correlated to the modern high carbohydrate diet promoted by the “experts.”
The other part of our decline is provided by synthetic fats that are touted as “healthy alternatives.” Real fats do not change composition when heated, nor do they contain toxins that destroy internal organs and cause innumerable autoimmune diseases.
Humans were never vegans, nor were they fueled by glucose. All societies knew the energy benefits associated with fats. Nutrient dense real foods are far superior.
People wonder why we have so many obese poor, when it’s easily explained by the empty calories provided by high carbohydrate diets prevalent among them. Real food takes preparation and doesn’t last for months on a shelf. The healthiest diets from around the world are similar—simple foods where fats provide a majority of calories, a good portion of clean proteins and a mix of complex carbohydrates.
With Lent coming up, look up “Orthodox Christian fasting”. Orthodox Christians have been doing this sort of thing for centuries.
Bkmk
Don’t know about diabetes in Muslims (or even other societies where they consume less junk than we do) but some Christians use fasting as an avenue toward compliance with God - seems like it may have some healthy effects.
Completely understand. We hear about these but until you go through one, and get the he(( scared out of you, the required level of respect for this is not reached. I grew up fast on this one. Sorry it happened to you.
red
so if I eat breakfast and lunch within the first 5-6 hours after waking then don’t eat anything else the rest of the day, that’s essentially the structure?
yeah.
some say eat all you want, just dont overstuff yourself. not the same thing.
it just gives your bodys gi tract a rest and the energy can be used elsewhere, and the boy can tap into fat reserves more.
Kind of. Just choose a window of five hours, any time of day or night, eat what you want, how much you want, then nothing but liquids for the other rest of the day. For instance, eat breakfast at seven, lunch at twelve, and you’re done. Or skip breakfast and lunch, have a snack or lunch at three, then a big dinner at eight. You will notice that after doing this a few days, you don’t eat as much but still feel full. I got on this a while ago and fall off the wagon one or two times a week, social occasions and such, and still maintain with no effort. I like that.
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