New Discovery May Safeguard Your Brain from Dementia
By Dr. Mercola
Could fasting for two days a week prevent age-related brain shrinkage, heart disease, diabetes, and possibly even cancer? New research suggests that fasting triggers a variety of health-promoting hormonal and metabolic changes. Fasting - quantified as consuming somewhere between 500 and 800 calories in a day - has been shown to reduce:
Growth factor - a hormone linked with cancer and diabetes
"Bad" LDL cholesterol
Cholesterol
Inflammation levels
Overall, it also helps lessen damage from free radicals (dangerous molecules that cause damage in your body). Furthermore, according to the featured article in the Daily Maili:
"Suddenly dropping your food intake dramatically... triggers protective processes in the brain... similar to the beneficial effect you get from exercise.This could help protect the brain against degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's."
Intermittent Fasting: A Good Alternative to Constant Calorie Restriction
While it's long been known that restricting calories in certain animals can increase their lifespan by as much as 50 percent, more recent research suggests that sudden and intermittent calorie restriction appears to provide the same health benefits as constant calorie restriction.
More here:
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2012/06/08/health-benefits-of-fasting.aspx?e_cid=20120608_FNL_art_1
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