Fasting regenerates immune system

[tom30]

An interesting article, no mention on MDS or AA.

Fasting regenerates immune system
DDN Correspondent Posted on 08 Jun, 2014 at 04:26:AM IST
A new study has suggested that fasting could help the body to fight off disease by regenerating the immune system. The study added that fasting for two days can regenerate the immune system.

The study is done by scientists from the University of Southern California. They expressed hope that the findings of the study could prove useful for the elderly and people suffering from damaged immune systems.

For the study, the effects of fasting for two to four day periods for six months on both mice and humans were tested by the researchers. In both cases, it was found that long periods of not eating significantly lowered white blood cell counts.

And in mice, each cycle of fasting then 'flipped a regenerative switch' that led to the regeneration of new white blood cells, which in turn renews the defence system of the body.

Valter Longo, Professor of Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California, said: "It gives the OK for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system. And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting."

He added that a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.

The study also revealed that levels of the enzyme PKA, reduces as a result of fasting. This increases longevity in simple organisms, as well as levels of the hormone IGF-1, which has been linked to ageing, tumour progression and cancer risk.

[Cheryl C]

Very Interesting!

Do you know any more about the actual fasting? Was it just fasting from food ? Did the subjects continue to drink (water)? How many fasting periods were there over the six month period?

Thanks!

[Marlene]

John has been wanting to loose about 15 pounds for a while now and I too could stand to drop a about 10. Menopause for me, and post treatment effects for John made it more difficult. I'm sure aging plays a role too. Enter the 5 -2 Fast Diet. In the book they reference the impact of fasting on protective effect of normal cells during chemotherapy base on the work of Dr. Valter Longo at USC.

Here are two links you may find interesting. Sounds like it may be related to what Tom posted. On the video, it's pretty technical but at about 22 minutes in, it got easier to follow.


http://www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/071012/page5
http://fasten.tv/en/vortraege/longo

[Marlene]

Cheryl,

I think this may provide some insight.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ne-system.html


Thanks Tom for bringing this topic forward. Very fascinating.

[Cheryl C]

Tks Marlene - the Daily Beast article is interesting and informative. Haven't had time to look at the other links yet. Thanks!

My concern is that my white cells are my worst problem, averaging 1.28 so far this year. I wonder how low can they go without becoming dangerous?

[Chirley]

I never knew the reason why but my haematologist would fast all day until sunset. He did allow himself to have black coffee. I knew him for years and he just would not eat during daylight hours...he was also a vegan. He had the energy most of us could only dream of. This is very different to everything I've always been told...that's it's best not to eat after sunset.

The current thinking for losing weight is that if you disrupt your metabolism by fasting occasionally, you lose weight easier. It's important not to fast for more than two days at a time otherwise your body goes into starvation mode and metabolism slows down.

Before I had my surgery last year I had to go on a liver cleansing diet. It was totally different to the typical vege juice diet. I ate three meals and two snacks a day. Breakfast was lean bacon and poached egg with black unsweetened coffee. Morning tea was a passionfruit with black unsweetened coffee, lunch was lean cold cuts with boiled egg and the coffee again, afternoon tea was a handful of berries with coffee and dinner was a small lean steak with tomato. I was permitted balsamic vinegar or Worcestershire sauce, salt pepper and spices for taste. I could only drink water after dinner. I lost 17 lb in 8 days and at surgery my liver was found to have no fat. This high protein, very low carbohydrate diet was very effective but also very unhealthy for the long term so it was not recommended to do it for more than two weeks.

[Marlene]

Hi Chirley,

The fasting is two, non-consecutive days. So we typically eat 500/600 calories on Mondays and Thursdays. Lots of water. I was skeptical but it actually works. It's easy because it's not restrictive all the time. Of course, it's not recommend for kids, diabetics, pregnant or breast feeding moms. You still need to be mindful of what you put into your body. Whole, nutrient rich food is important. Especially when it's 500 calories. So it's good protein, lots of vegetable, some fruit and a small about of fat.

Cheryl...Do watch the video. I understand your concern about your low white count. If you venture into some version of this, it would be good to work with your doctor. We found that John's white cells worked very well even when they were low. But everyone is different. You have to look at your ANC. You want that at 500 or above. Once John's ANC got to 300, they pulled all antibiotics and anti-fungals he was on. He was able to fight off infections on his own at that point.

[Cheryl C]

Tks for that info, Marlene.

Staying with family at present and helping at my daughter-in-law's school, so will wait until we move into our home in about 5 weeks. My ANC is mostly above 500 so far this year and even when lower I usually manage to avoid infections.

Last question - I don't need to lose any weight. Does this program result in significant weight loss?

Thanks!

[Marlene]

Cheryl,

Just want to make sure you realize that the 5-2 fasting plan is for weight loss and that's what we are doing. You loose about 1 -2 lbs/week. It also has some medical benefits. At the time we started this, I was not aware of the work they were doing around fasting and cancer, or fasting and immune system regeneration. Which sound like two different studies.

The fasting for regenerating the immune that Tom originally posted is different but based on some of the same research by the same doc.

I think the video and other links may clarify that for you. I would assume, depending on your approach, that there would be some weight loss. I think it's best if you can find a doctor to work with you on this. From what little I've read, I haven't seen any mention of them working with people with blood disorders. You may want to contact Dr. Longo at USC.

[curlygirl]

I think the fasting method may work IF your bone marrow is working properly. If it isn't, I wouldn't try it. The main reason I say this is that last year when my son was so sick, before ATG, he was losing weight, not gaining it. Doctors would rather you gain weight than lose it when you're extremely ill. BUT that's my opinion so please take it with a grain of salt.

[gramous]

hello,
my boyfriend and I have a cure of fasting while 3 weeks done (+- 400 cal a day) onder medecal controle... He was intolerant and no reactive for chemotherapy hydrea (for platelets management dues to RARS T myelodysplastic syndrom) before the cure and after respondant.... His number before the cure are hb : 8,0, white :6000, platelets : 2200000(for most people that number is lethal) and after the cure numbers are slowly improved, today his numbers are hb : 12 , platelets 500000 and white 3600.... He's not ill been since the cure and he manage very well with mds.... so we are also now semi vegetarian ( 100g fish and 100 g meat per week) and we are eating dissociate food (protein+vegetables OF glucide+vegetables). So I think that fastinf also benefic for mds people :-) sorry for my bad english.

[tom30]

Hi gramous, Did the doctors suggest the fasting? can you give more details on the fast? was it 400 cal a day for 3 weeks?

[Marlene]

Hi gramous,

I would be interested to know more about the fast too and how he progresses.

Thank you,
Marlene

[akemwave]

Hello. I got a copy of the paper from Cell. http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/a...909(14)00151-9 Then two others from one of the researchers. I located 4 FDA Clinical Studies, but no useful results have been uploaded.

I want to see what CBC changes happen during a fast and time to recovery post fast, where chemotherapy is not involved so that I can affirm my personal protocol, which I outline below. As fasting should suppress white blood cell production, caution may be required during and maybe after fasting.


Is anyone else interested in trying this? If so we should talk. My individual case proves nothing. Why can't we crowdsource an informal clinical trial? However, it would be good to get more background information than I have. I have tried calling/emailing other researchers, including Dr. Longo, but he has not returned my calls - yet.

I am on cycle 2 of 72 to 96 hours black coffee only every three weeks. I drew blood while not otherwise infected or ill at the start so as to have a baseline. The next CBC willl be post cycle 4, then cycle 8. If the endpoint counts of my suppressed cell type are 8.3X what they were in the base line, I will consider this an effective therapy. My longest thus far is 83 hours. Day 3 is easy, for me. But, not so much for people around me!! Not last time!

I came to this forum looking for more knowledge. Those involved in the current and past clinical studies are unable to release any meaningful data. Poo.

[curlygirl]

Here is a recently published study from Yale University:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0216131146.htm

Anti-inflammatory mechanism of dieting and fasting revealed
Date: February 16, 2015
Source: Yale University
Summary: Researchers have found that a compound produced by the body when dieting or fasting can block a part of the immune system involved in several inflammatory disorders such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease.

It looks like not just fasting works, but also eating a ketogenic diet or high intensity exercise as well (not all together, but each separately).