Fasting may be an alternative treatment method recommended by physicians

Abstract

Objective: Fasting is a practice found in many cultures both ancient and modern. Although, fasting (religious or otherwise) causes many physiological, biochemical, metabolic and spiritual changes in the body, there is no clear scientific consensus on its beneficial effects on health. Also, despite the popularity and potential promise of therapeutic fasting as a preventive measure, little is known about the prevalence of therapeutic fasting use. This study was performed to discuss whether could fasting be part of wellness? Method: It is reviewed lately conducted studies in regarding the impact of fasting or Ramadan fasting on health. It was searched, MEDLINE/PubMed and Google Scholar databases by using 'Fasting', 'Ramadan fasting' and 'Intermittent fasting' as keyword (publications between 2005 and 2018). Discussion and Conclusion: Research-based molecular and clinical studies on Ramadan and other fasting methods agree that fasting has positive effects on human health. Fasting lead to better metabolic health by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. Fasting therapy may contribute to the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders. It can be said fasting would take place in physician recommendations as a complementary treatment method in the near future.

The Effect of Time-Restricted Eating on Insulin Levels and Insulin Sensitivity in Patients with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Systematic Review

“…During refeeding following the daily "fast," glucose levels rise and ketones are cleared with increased protein synthesis allowing growth and repair allowing more efficient cellular performance, leading to cellular resilience and disease resistance as a longterm adaptation [38]. A time-restricted eating regimen where evening food intake is restricted reportedly improves postprandial insulin and glucose handling due to alignment of circadian rhythm with diurnal food intake [41]. Several variations of time-restricted eating and terms are described in Table 1.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on Children and Young Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Review With Emphasis on the Potential of Intermittent Fasting as a Preventive Strategy

“…In addition, IF has been studied for years (98,99). It has been indicated that the implementation of several fasting programmes into practice has the potential to improve the disease prognosis and can reverse the disease condition, particularly in patients with T2D and prediabetes (20,100,101). While this has been reported among adults with T2D (102), this approach has not been investigated widely among children and young adults.…”

“…Alternate day fasting has been identified by fasting every other day and during the fasting day, the followed protocol is either to limit the food intake to only 25% of the daily food intake (500 calories/day) or to consume zero calories, while returning to the normal healthy diet during the eating day (101). On the other hand, TRF is characterised by the limitation of the daily consumed food over a specific period during the day with no calorie restriction and this time limit varies from 4 to 12 h (109).…”

Fasting Ramadan During COVID-19 Pandemic: Immunomodulatory Effect

“…Actually, intermittent fasting exerts well-being effect on different body organs and leads to a better metabolic health status in humans (21). Apart from its well-documented beneficial effects on the brain, heart, liver, intestine, and muscles, recent studies show that it ameliorates the immune system by rejuvenation and regeneration of stem cells, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, reducing autoimmunity, improving cell repair (autophagy), and promoting healthy aging (21). These benefits encourage many physicians to recommend it as an alternative treatment for patients with asthma, hypertension, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and even cancer (21,22).…”