Health benefits of blending fasting with body exercise and balanced diet

A group of women during a training exercise in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County on May 13, 2022. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

Fasting is the abstinence from all or some food and drinks for a given period.

But the best medically prescribed mode of fasting is either intermittent or time-restricted eating, especially on foods or drinks that are rich in carbohydrates and fats.

However, this is only subject to the person's body functions and may include one’s routine exercises, occupation and physiological status.

These determine one’s eating window as the body's demand will vary based on the aforementioned factors.

In general, fasting has several medical benefits that include helping with weight management, supporting blood sugar levels, improving one’s gut and heart health, preventing some diseases, assisting in delaying ageing through delayed cell apoptosis, supporting one’s circadian rhythm, aiding in brain health and reducing anxiety.

Taking a deeper dive, Intermittent or time-restricted fasting and watching the type and amount of foods you ingest can have very important health benefits to the body. First, fasting promotes your stem cells to fix damaged, old immune systems, especially those undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

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One of the side effects of chemotherapy is damaging one’s immune system. However, a recent study showed that cycles of prolonged fasting not only protect against chemotherapy immunosuppression but also induce immune system regeneration.

Prolonged fasting can shift stem cells from a dormant state to a state of self-renewal. When you fast for a long period, your body attempts to save energy. One of the ways your body does this is by recycling white blood cells that are not needed, especially those that could be damaged.

As a result, your stem cells are activated to produce new, healthier white blood cells, which replace the old or damaged ones. White blood cells are part of the immune system and play an indispensable role in fighting infections and various illnesses.

Researchers are now exploring the possibility of using fasting to prevent cancer and enhance chemotherapy effectiveness.

Intermittent fasting can also reduce glucose levels in the blood, which starves cancer cells and makes it harder for them to grow. This makes them more vulnerable to chemotherapy. It also reduces the levels of insulin growth factor (IGF-1), which is a biomarker linked to increased cancer risk.

Apart from that, it enhances autophagy, a cellular cleaning process that helps your body get rid of damaged or unnecessary components to maintain cellular health and function.

Time-restricted fasting can also improve blood sugar control and reduce insulin resistance, thus lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome by enhancing insulin sensitivity and stabilising blood sugar levels.

It is also associated with fighting chronic inflammation by decreasing inflammation markers like C-reactive protein, which could contribute to better overall health and reduced heart disease risk.

To crown it all, fasting has been found to increase human growth hormone levels, which are vital for growth, metabolism, weight loss, and muscle strength.

Prof Ben Fadhili Jilo is a Fellow and a Professor of Neural Stem Cell, UK