Calorie-restrictive diets are showing promise to potentially treat an array of medical conditions.
Scientists have investigated the effect of extremely low-calorie diets on a range of illnesses‚ from auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis to asthma.
Other researchers have evidence the diets may help to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease‚ and studies are underway to determine if they can extend survival in cancer patients and reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy.
“Periodic fasting shows the most promise in getting rid of bad cells and making good ones for regeneration and can be applied to all kinds of diseases‚” said University of Southern California Longevity Institute director Valter Longo‚ who has been investigating severe calorie restriction’s effect on multiple sclerosis.
“Autoimmunity is one of the things where we’re going to see the most dramatic effects‚” he says.
Calorie restriction is most often associated with weight loss such as the popular 5:2 diet‚ which calls for eating sparely for two days and normally for five.
Researchers say weight loss may be an added benefit to extremely low-calorie diets‚ which could add potential new treatment options for various conditions. In a new study‚ Longo and colleagues found severe calorie restriction in mice reduced symptoms of multiple sclerosis‚ (MS) a neurological disease‚ and eliminated symptoms altogether in 20% of the animals.
There was also regeneration of myelin‚ a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres in the brain and spine that are damaged in patients with MS. The mice ate a very low-calorie‚ low-protein diet for three days a week for three weeks.
Longo refers to this as a “fasting-mimicking diet” because it induces the same positive changes in the body as prolonged‚ strict calorie restriction. Longo also tested the diet with 48 human patients with MS‚ and found promising results.
The patients were divided into three groups. One group ate 300 to 400 calories a day for one week‚ followed by six months of a Mediterranean diet.
Another group ate six months of a ketogenic diet‚ a high-fat diet often used to help treat difficult epilepsy cases in children. And a third control group ate a normal diet similar to what they had been previously eating.
Patients in the calorie-restrictive/Mediterranean-diet group reported the most improvements in their health and quality of life. An adult woman needs 1600 to 2400 total calories a day‚ depending on physical activity‚ age‚ height and weight‚ according to the US Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines. For men the calorie range is from 2000 to 3000 a day.
Longo’s study was published in June in the journal Cell Reports. His lab is currently setting up clinical trials for other autoimmune diseases‚ including Crohn’s disease and Type 1 diabetes.
Many people would have difficulty consuming as few as 400 calories a day for a week‚ so researchers are testing variations. Longo himself is working on another study with MS patients eating a daily diet of 800 to 1100 calories and with more cycles to the diet.
He has tested the fasting-mimicking diet in previous research that found it extended lifespan and improved metabolism and cognitive function in mice‚ and reduced risk factors for diabetes‚ cardiovascular disease‚ cancer and overall aging in humans.
Experts say calorie-restrictive diets should be avoided in young children‚ pregnant women and the frail elderly.
Typical side effects include a minor headache on day two or three of calorie restriction.
Strenuous exercise should be avoided and calorie-restrictive diets that consist of multiple days should be followed by a day of light feeding before a normal diet is resumed.
Another area of investigation is calorie-restriction’s effect on asthma. Research groups are also exploring interventions that have similar effects but are easier to maintain‚ National Heart‚ Lung and Blood Institute cardiovascular and pulmonary branch chief Michael Sack said.
US National Institute on Ageing neuroscience laborartory chief Mark Mattson is co-creator of the 5:2 diet.
He said he had tested this and similar calorie-restrictive diets on mice and in humans and found it extended longevity in mice and improved a number of health markers in humans.
There is research suggesting that calorie restriction two days a week may lower the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease‚ Mattson says.
Such a diet also lowers blood pressure and reduces resting heart rate. “There are a number of ways in which fasting seems to benefit different organ systems‚” he said.
“The bottom line is‚ intermittent fasting increases the resistance of cells in the brain and body to stress.”
Mattson is currently doing a study looking at the effects of calorie restriction in obese‚ elderly people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease to see if it will improve their cognitive function. — Wall Street Journal
Low-calorie a healthy option
Scientists have investigated the effect of extremely low-calorie diets on a range of illnesses‚ from auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis to asthma.
Other researchers have evidence the diets may help to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease‚ and studies are underway to determine if they can extend survival in cancer patients and reduce the side-effects of chemotherapy.
“Periodic fasting shows the most promise in getting rid of bad cells and making good ones for regeneration and can be applied to all kinds of diseases‚” said University of Southern California Longevity Institute director Valter Longo‚ who has been investigating severe calorie restriction’s effect on multiple sclerosis.
“Autoimmunity is one of the things where we’re going to see the most dramatic effects‚” he says.
Calorie restriction is most often associated with weight loss such as the popular 5:2 diet‚ which calls for eating sparely for two days and normally for five.
Researchers say weight loss may be an added benefit to extremely low-calorie diets‚ which could add potential new treatment options for various conditions. In a new study‚ Longo and colleagues found severe calorie restriction in mice reduced symptoms of multiple sclerosis‚ (MS) a neurological disease‚ and eliminated symptoms altogether in 20% of the animals.
There was also regeneration of myelin‚ a protective sheath surrounding nerve fibres in the brain and spine that are damaged in patients with MS. The mice ate a very low-calorie‚ low-protein diet for three days a week for three weeks.
Longo refers to this as a “fasting-mimicking diet” because it induces the same positive changes in the body as prolonged‚ strict calorie restriction. Longo also tested the diet with 48 human patients with MS‚ and found promising results.
The patients were divided into three groups. One group ate 300 to 400 calories a day for one week‚ followed by six months of a Mediterranean diet.
Another group ate six months of a ketogenic diet‚ a high-fat diet often used to help treat difficult epilepsy cases in children. And a third control group ate a normal diet similar to what they had been previously eating.
Patients in the calorie-restrictive/Mediterranean-diet group reported the most improvements in their health and quality of life. An adult woman needs 1600 to 2400 total calories a day‚ depending on physical activity‚ age‚ height and weight‚ according to the US Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines. For men the calorie range is from 2000 to 3000 a day.
Longo’s study was published in June in the journal Cell Reports. His lab is currently setting up clinical trials for other autoimmune diseases‚ including Crohn’s disease and Type 1 diabetes.
Many people would have difficulty consuming as few as 400 calories a day for a week‚ so researchers are testing variations. Longo himself is working on another study with MS patients eating a daily diet of 800 to 1100 calories and with more cycles to the diet.
He has tested the fasting-mimicking diet in previous research that found it extended lifespan and improved metabolism and cognitive function in mice‚ and reduced risk factors for diabetes‚ cardiovascular disease‚ cancer and overall aging in humans.
Experts say calorie-restrictive diets should be avoided in young children‚ pregnant women and the frail elderly.
Typical side effects include a minor headache on day two or three of calorie restriction.
Strenuous exercise should be avoided and calorie-restrictive diets that consist of multiple days should be followed by a day of light feeding before a normal diet is resumed.
Another area of investigation is calorie-restriction’s effect on asthma. Research groups are also exploring interventions that have similar effects but are easier to maintain‚ National Heart‚ Lung and Blood Institute cardiovascular and pulmonary branch chief Michael Sack said.
US National Institute on Ageing neuroscience laborartory chief Mark Mattson is co-creator of the 5:2 diet.
He said he had tested this and similar calorie-restrictive diets on mice and in humans and found it extended longevity in mice and improved a number of health markers in humans.
There is research suggesting that calorie restriction two days a week may lower the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease‚ Mattson says.
Such a diet also lowers blood pressure and reduces resting heart rate. “There are a number of ways in which fasting seems to benefit different organ systems‚” he said.
“The bottom line is‚ intermittent fasting increases the resistance of cells in the brain and body to stress.”
Mattson is currently doing a study looking at the effects of calorie restriction in obese‚ elderly people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease to see if it will improve their cognitive function. — Wall Street Journal
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