USC Study: Fasting three days renews entire immune system

[HappyPoet]

A warning for others to consider: Because I'm now having a bad exacerbation with new symptoms, I wish I had known about this study before I had fasted for several three-day periods over the past three weeks which I had done in order to give my digestive system periods of needed rest due to debilitating digestive issues--to me, the coincidence is too strong to dismiss:

Fasting for three days renews entire immune system

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/05 ... udy-finds/

Fasting for three days can regenerate the entire immune system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough described as “remarkable.”

Although fasting diets have been criticized by nutritionists, research suggests that starving the body kick-starts stem cells into producing more white blood cells, which fight off infection.

Scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) say the discovery could be particularly beneficial for those suffering from damaged immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy. It could also help the elderly whose immune systems become less effective.

The researchers say fasting “flips a regenerative switch” that prompts stem cells to create white blood cells, essentially restoring the immune system.

“It gives the OK for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating and rebuild the entire system,” said Valter Longo, professor of gerontology and biological sciences at the university.

“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. Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or aging, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”

‘Fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system’
Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose and fat but also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells. During each cycle of fasting, this depletion induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of immune system cells.

In trials, volunteers were asked to fast regularly for between two and four days over a six-month period. Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA, which is linked to aging and a hormone which increases cancer risk and tumour growth.

“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the hematopoietic [formation of stem cells] system,” added Longo. “When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed, especially those that may be damaged.

“What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when you re-feed, the blood cells come back.”

Fasting for 72 hours also protected cancer patients against the toxic impact of chemotherapy.

“The results of this study suggest that fasting may mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital.

Referring to the 72-hour fasting period, Chris Mason, professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said: “That could be potentially useful because that is not such a long time that it would be terribly harmful to someone with cancer. But I think the most sensible way forward would be to synthesize this effect with drugs. I am not sure fasting is the best idea. People are better eating on a regular basis.”

Longo added: “There is no evidence at all that fasting would be dangerous while there is strong evidence that it is beneficial.”

edit: fixed formatting

[Cece]

ugh yeah I saw that study a few days ago

hope you feel better soon

[want2bike]

Fasting is the way our body heals itself. Loren Lockman claims to have heal people with MS with a water fast.

[DrGeoff]

According to this, Loren Lockwood is under investigation by the FBI after the deatrh of someone who he was "supervising".
http://lorenlockmantanglewood.blogspot.co.uk/
Maryland State does not seem to think much of him either:
http://www.casewatch.org/board/un/lockman.pdf

This could be why he "relocated" to Costa Rica.

[want2bike]

Not sure if I believe anything the government tells me but if Loren Lockwood killed one person with fasting that is not a bad record. Do you know how many people have been kill by using prescribed medications? I can assure you it is more than one. People have been using fasting since ancient times to heal the body. It is nothing new. Dr. Goldhamer explains how fasting is used to heal the gut. You must have a healthy gut if you want good health.



http://www.healingdaily.com/Doctors-Are ... the-US.htm

[HarryZ]

Not sure if I believe anything the government tells me but if Loren Lockwood killed one person with fasting that is not a bad record.

Unless you happen to be the person who was killed!!! Looks like Lockwood lied to this person placing him in the category of doctors who can't be trusted.

[want2bike]

When I read the article it stated the cause of the death was falling and head trauma. That is not a condition unique to fasting. If we hold Loren responsible for this don't you think the doctors who kill people with prescription medication are responsible or do we give them a free pass? For sure care should be taken when doing a long fast and should be done under medical supervision. The longest I have ever fasted is three days and I intermit fasting every day. I eat between the hours of noon and 6 PM and I can assure you it has not harmed me. People have been fasting for thousands of years to heal their bodies. There is nothing new here.

http://www.greekmedicine.net/hygiene/Fa ... ation.html

[HarryZ]

For sure care should be taken when doing a long fast and should be done under medical supervision.

Are you suggesting that a doctor be involved in this medical supervision?

[want2bike]

There are some doctors experienced in this area and can monitor the person undergoing the fast. This procedure is not sanctioned by the FDA or AMA but it is effective. There are doctors who have broken ties with the AMA and FDA and want to heal people practicing natural healing methods. They are not sanction by the FDA and AMA and many times are thrown in jail. Someone under goes a fast and falls down and dies of a head injury and all of the sudden lets thrown them in jail. MD's prescribe medication that kill thousand of people every year and we say nothing. Something wrong with the system. Our system of medicine is the problem. The system does not want change. They are happy with the business model. It is like the three monkeys. See no evil, Speak no evil, and Hear no evil. They want nothing in the system to change. The only new thing they want is new drugs which produce money for the system. The FDA is not there to protect us. If they were they would have banned cigarettes long ago. They know cigarettes are harmful but they like the revenue cigarettes generate. If they wanted to protect us they would force Monsanto to produce some valid studies showing their GMO's do not harm us. They do not even want independent studies showing the harm of GMO's. It is the system which is making everyone sick and the MD is part of the system. When we understand this and do what is right we get our health back.

[HarryZ]

Something wrong with the system. Our system of medicine is the problem.

Of course the system is not perfect. Never has been and never will be. But you seem intent on labeling those who you don't agree with as liars and criminals and those you do agree with as OK.

[DougL]

[Kronk]

A warning for others to consider: Because I'm now having a bad exacerbation with new symptoms, I wish I had known about this study before I had fasted for several three-day periods over the past three weeks which I had done in order to give my digestive system periods of needed rest due to debilitating digestive issues--to me, the coincidence is too strong to dismiss

Hi Happy, Sorry to hear you're in a rough state hope you recover quickly. But not sure if your saying fasting is a good idea, or that your several recent fasting's caused your current predicament?

I have read several studies stating that white blood cells are elevated during fasting. But the study you found seems to say that may be temporary at the start but prolonged fasting brings the levels down overall. There are several studies that investigated autoimmunity and fasting. The first few I read were negative, but recent studies seem to show a benefits such as a reduction in leptin, which inhibits regulatory T cells. Less leptin is a generally a good thing with autoimmune illnesses. I battle with keeping my weight up as it is though. I eat over 3,000calories a day while on Swank diet, so I am not excited about trying fasting. For me there is not enough evidence to justify the discomfort.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15324935
These results do not warrant a beneficial effect of fasting to MS patients.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22952735
Glucose tolerance is not impaired in MS patients.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2377/14/56
Evidence from experimental studies suggests that calorie restriction before disease induction reduces inflammation and subsequent demyelination and attenuates disease severity. HOWEVER long term studies on fasting and non fasting patients showed no difference in MRI, EDSS or other measures.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22291185
These observations help to explain the beneficial effects of fasting in autoimmunity and could be exploited for leptin-based immune intervention in systemic lupus erythematosus.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3749767/
There is an increasing evidence that leptin is involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

[HappyPoet]

Cece, thank you for your thoughts.

Kronk, worded another way, fasting wasn't a good idea for me. Thank you for your thoughts, all the links, and information.

Hopefully, pwMS will become informed and will talk to their doctors before fasting for any reason.

[want2bike]

Dr. Michael Mosley has an excellent video where he explains his journey with fasting. It is important to understand there are different types of fasting which can effect our health. Michael was able to adopt the type which worked best for him. The only problem with this video is they infuse a lot of commercials in it.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/artic ... =554332464

[djurliv]

We have seen some good results from fasting. My wife Linda (age 66, dx 1995, rrms) and I have completed 3 x 48ish hour fasts, and a couple of others of about 24 hours. We generally follow the Wahl's protocol in our diet and have since August 2014. Our fasts are water only, although Linda uses celery or jicama as food to take with the pain medication.

Results of the fasts are generally positive, but not long lasting. Repeated fasts may be additive....not certain about that. In the fast that ended yesterday, Linda reported the following:
1. Less pain (a result of two falls onto her back) leading to the use of only one pain tablet yesterday vs about 2.7 average over many months. Only one today also.
2. Diminished spasticity in her left leg, allowing some lift at the hip that has been absent before.
3. Improved ability to lift her left arm and better dexterity with the fingers on that arm. Both have been compromised for many months.

She reported that improvements diminished somewhat after breaking the fast.

In general, Linda has been gaining strength in the past year. She is able to do more. After several years of a generally spastic leg, she is now able to crawl for some distance on the floor. That's new.

Our take on fasting is that it is positive. My girl is motivated, because she has seen how well it works in her. So....I'm motivated, too.