Health Benefits of Fasting: The list has become longer

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Health

Health Benefits of Fasting: The list has become longer

Though not specifically mentioning the Ramadan fast, the study suggested that fasting can lead to improved health

Friday January 18, 2019 7:35 AM, ummid.com News Network

Washington: There has always been a debate over the benefits Muslims gain when they fast for the entire month during Ramadan. Scientists have almost on routine basis come out with a list of health benefits that fasting can result into. A latest study has made this list a bit longer.

Though not specifically mentioning the Ramadan fast, the study suggested that fasting can lead to improved health and provide protection against aging-associated diseases.

"Fasting affects circadian clocks in the liver and skeletal muscle, causing them to rewire their metabolism, which can ultimately lead to improved health and protection against ageing-associated diseases", the research said.

The study was published recently in Cell Reports.

The circadian clock operates within the body and its organs as intrinsic time-keeping machinery to preserve homeostasis in response to the changing environment. And, while food is known to influence clocks in peripheral tissues, it was unclear, until now, how the lack of food influences clock function and ultimately affects the body.

"We discovered fasting influences the circadian clock and fasting-driven cellular responses, which together work to achieve fasting-specific temporal gene regulation," said lead author Paolo Sassone-Corsi.

"Skeletal muscle, for example, appears to be twice as responsive to fasting as the liver," Paolo asserted.

According to the researchers, fasting is able to essentially reprogram a variety of cellular responses. Therefore, optimal fasting in a timed manner would be strategic to positively affect cellular functions and ultimately benefiting health and protecting against ageing-associated diseases.

For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.