INTERMITTENT fasting extends lifespan and reduces inflammation in rodents, but whether it is equally beneficial in humans is unclear.
A new study in Aging Biology by Luigi Fontana, who is currently the Scientific Director of the Charles Perkins Centre Royal Prince Alfred Clinic at the University of Sydney, shows that intermittent fasting is not as effective in humans.
In this randomised clinical trial that was conducted at Washington University in St Louis where Fontana was a Professor of Medicine, overweight men and women were assigned to either intermittent fasting or a Western-like diet for six months.
In the second six months of the study, all participants underwent intermittent fasting.
The findings were unexpected; while the intermittent fasting regiment induced an 8% weight loss and 16% reduction in total body fat, it did not alleviate inflammation, and modestly improved insulin sensitivity.
This underscores that results from animal models cannot be easily extrapolated to humans.
More studies are needed to explore the impact of such diets.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 09 Jan 23
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 09 Jan 23
