Fasting and the Regeneration of the Immune System

Fasting is not only popular for weight loss, but it also has a significant impact on the regeneration of the immune system. Discover how fasting can improve your health naturally.

Every day we see how science advances in uncovering the wonderful functioning of the human body and the resources it has to self-manage in a natural way without external interventions of chemical substances. These studies are a demonstration of how controlled fasting promotes the self-management of the body in the creation of stem cells.

Short-term fasting seems to have made a resurgence in popularity in recent years, intermittent fasting is gaining fame for more than just weight loss benefits. So, what happens when we get used to going beyond intermittent fasting to prolonged fasting a couple of times a week?

(1) There is research that reveals that fasting twice a week could significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. But new research has revealed another benefit of fasting or diets that mimic it. It seems that it can trigger the regeneration of stem cells helping to initiate a repair of the damaged immune system.

(2) The research revealed that “fasting for three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in elderly people.” It can be applied to people whose immune systems have been ravaged by chemotherapy, depleted by diseases like multiple sclerosis, or simply diminished with age.

The research provides results from two studies led by Professor Valter Longo, from the USC Longevity Institute at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. How does the fasting-immune connection system work?

It gives the ‘OK’ to stem cells to move forward and start proliferating and rebuilding the entire system,” said Professor Longo. “And the good news is that during fasting the body gets rid of parts of the system that could be damaged or old, the inefficient parts. Now, if you start with a system very damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can literally generate a new immune system.”

(3) The body is forced to use glucose and fat reserves during prolonged fasting, but a significant portion of white blood cells is also broken down. This depletion “triggers a regeneration of base stem cells that will create new immune system cells [2]. Essentially shifting stem cells “from an inactive state to a self-renewal state”

Previous research had shown that short-term fasting causes cancer cells to starve quickly and facilitates chemotherapy drugs to better target cancer.

(4) Another recent study showed that a low-calorie fasting diet can delay multiple sclerosis by killing bad cells and producing the generation of new healthy ones.

So this could potentially be great news for chemotherapy patients, those suffering from multiple sclerosis, and the elderly. However, fasting for long periods of time, or following a diet that includes fasting is always something that should be approached with caution, and with the guidance of a qualified health professional. Longo’s studies et al used specific fasting diet protocols to achieve their results.

Still, some very interesting results have emerged in their quest to understand how the body reacts to fasting or rapid fasting diet protocols.

• (5) One study examined mice with autoimmune diseases subjected to a three-day fast every seven days. Increased levels of corticosterone (a steroid hormone), a reduction in cytokines that cause inflammation, and improvements in white blood cells responsible for immunity were observed.
• (5) They also found that the fasting diet protocol promoted the regeneration of myelin that had been damaged by autoimmunity.
• (6) The fasting mimicking diet also resulted in improved metabolism and cognitive function, decreased bone loss and cancer incidence, and prolonged longevity.
• (6) They found that, in humans who used the fasting mimicking diet with the prescribed regularity over time, multiple aging risk factors were reduced.
• (7) Prolonged fasting cycles reduce damage to bone marrow stem cells and progenitor cells, and protect against chemotoxicity.
• (7) Prolonged fasting cycles regulate stem cell populations, regardless of chemotherapy, and help reverse immunosenescence, and also have a significant impact on hematopoietic regeneration.

So there you have it! There are undoubtedly more reasons for fasting than it seems at first glance. The complete studies can be found using the following references:

Study References Fasting Initiates Regeneration

(1) Walia, A (2015), “The neuroscientist shows what fasting does to your brain,” Collective Evolution, http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/12/11/neuroscientist-shows-what-fasting-does-to-your-brain-why-big-pharma-wont-study-it/ retrieved March 21, 2016

(2) Knapton, S (2014) “Fasting for three days can regenerate the entire immune system, study finds,” The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/12/fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system-study/ retrieved April 4, 2017

(3) Wu, S (2014), “Fasting triggers regeneration of damaged old immune system stem cells” from the University of Southern California News, https://news.usc.edu/63669/fasting-triggers-stem-cell-regeneration-of-damaged-old-immune-system/ retrieved April 4, 2017

(4) Gersema E (2016), “Fasting diet results in the immune system against cancer,” University of Southern California News, https://news.usc.edu/103972/fasting-like-diet-turns-the-immune-system-against-cancer/ retrieved April 4, 2017

[5] Gersema E (2016), “The diet that mimics fasting may also reduce multiple sclerosis symptoms,” University of Southern California News, https://news.usc.edu/101187/diet-that-mimics-fasting-may-also-reduce-multiple-sclerosis-symptoms/ retrieved April 4, 2017

(6) Cheng, C.-W., Adams, GB, Perin, L., Wei, M., Zhou, X., Lam, BS, … Longo, VD (2014). Prolonged fasting reduces IGF-1/PKA to promote hematopoietic stem cell-based regeneration and reverse immunosuppression. Cell Stem Cell, 14 (6), 810-823. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2014.04.014

(7) Brandhorst S, Choi I, Wei M, Cheng C, Sedrakyan S, Navarrete G, Dubeau L, Yap L, Parque R, Vinciguerra M, Di Biase S, Mirzaei H, Mirisola M, Childress P, Ji L, Groshen S, Penna F, Odetti P, Perin L, Conti P, Ikeno y, Kennedy B, Cohen P, Morgan T, Dorff T, and Longo V (2015), “A periodic diet that mimics fasting promotes regeneration of multiple systems, improves cognitive performance and healthspan,” Cell Metabolism,http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131(15)00224-7 retrieved April 4, 2017

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