The trendy intermittent fasting diet – where someone skips food for hours every day – does not prevent aging, a study says.
The diet, which requires people to eat within a certain time frame and go without food for an extended period of time, is a celebrity favorite for its purported weight loss and anti-aging benefits. It has been promoted by the likes of Elon Musk and Chris Pratt.
The German team of scientists said there is no concrete evidence that prolonged abstinence from food is effective in preventing aging.
Although intermittent fasting is all the rage, scientists are still studying its effect on longevity. Last month, University of Tennessee researchers reported that the diet plan could increase the rate of premature death by 30 percent.
Celebrity-endorsed intermittent fasting has been praised for its purported anti-aging and weight-loss benefits, but researchers say the diet plan has no impact on the aging process
For the study, the team from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases conducted a thorough investigation of age-related changes in various body functions in mice that followed the diet.
The health examination measures a range of conditions, including visual acuity, reflexes and cardiovascular function, as well as other characteristics, including the mice’s exploratory activity, immunological parameters, blood cell counts and age-related manifestations of tissue disease.
The check gave the team an “accurate description” of the animal’s condition at the time of the investigation.
The researchers concluded that the results, showing a lack of significant benefit, were “clear” and that even if older mice looked younger, it was for reasons other than diet.
Prof. Martin Hrabĕ de Angelis, head of the Institute for Experimental Genetics and the German Mouse Clinic at Helmholtz Zentrum München, said: “Ultimately, we found that both groups of mice age similarly. Fasting generally had little effect on this.”
Meanwhile, two treatments were used in two different groups – one group with unlimited access to food and water and another with Diet Another Day (EOD).
Mice on the EOD diet, although still prone to tumors, saw slower cancer growth than the control group, which could be explained by the fact that periods of dietary restriction cause metabolic changes.
Jennifer Aniston (left) and Nicole Kidman (right) are two celebrities who have reportedly used intermittent fasting
The EOD group was given unlimited access to water but only fed every other day until natural death.
The design of the study enables the researchers to find out whether the natural aging process and the decline in important body functions can be slowed down.
But the treatments seem to slow the process because they are generally beneficial rather than specifically targeting the aging process.
Previous research has used longevity as an indirect measure of aging, but the German research team said this was a flawed approach.
However, the mice on an EOD lived 102 days longer than the control group.
Intermittent fasting in various forms, primarily for weight loss, has been around for centuries, but has become extremely popular in the past decade, thanks in part to celebrity endorsements.
Many have attributed their health to restricted eating plans, such as, for example, the 16/8 method, which requires people to fast for 16 hours a day and limit their eating window to eight hours a day.
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Friends star Jennifer Aniston previously said she “felt a big difference” by going 16 hours without solid food.
Guardians of the Galaxy actor Chris Pratt has said he won’t eat before lunch to get in shape for superhero roles.
Reality star Kourtney Kardashian said she won’t eat anything after 7pm at night and will wait until around 10:30 or 11am the next day.
But through their research, the team found that this approach does not slow down the aging process.
Dr. Dan Enhinger, an author of the study, said: “There is no biological clock of aging that can be regulated with a simple switch – at least not in the form of the treatments investigated here.
“The fact that treatment is already effective in young mice—before age-related changes in health measures occur—proves that these are compensatory, general health-promoting effects and not targets of aging mechanisms.”
The team now wants to study the effects of other treatments that experts say can slow down aging.
The results were published in the journal Nature Communications.
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
