If you spend a little bit of time online, you’ve probably heard about the trend of intermittent fasting. Well, this trendy method to improve your health now has a stamp of approval from the scientific community.
A new study, published recently in Nucleic Acids Research scientific journal, discovered that repeated fasting triggers a cellular memory mechanism in the liver, improving its response to future fasting events, offering new insights into metabolic regulation.
The discovery proves the existence of a special link between alternate-day fasting and the liver’s ability to adapt through heightened gene activation.
Alternate-day fasting (ADF) is a form of intermittent fasting where a person fasts every other day but eats without restrictions on the non-fasting days.
The discovery could be beneficial to millions of people worldwide who fast for spiritual purposes or religious practices, such as Ramadan in Islam, Yom Kippur in Judaism, Good Friday in Christianity, and fasting rituals in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Methodology
The study was led by Dr. Ido Goldstein from the Institute of Biochemistry, Food Science, and Nutrition at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI).
Goldstein’s team examined how recurring fasting events, such as ADF, influence transcriptional changes in the liver — changes in the expression of genes normally observed in mammals.
In mammals, periods of food scarcity induce metabolic changes, enabling the production of glucose and ketone bodies for energy. Ketone bodies are produced by the liver and used as an energy source when glucose is not readily available.
The research revealed that mice on the ADF regimen responded differently to subsequent fasting bouts compared to mice fasting for the first time.
The researchers found that the effects of ADF were evident after just one week of repeated fasting, leading to augmented production of ketone bodies during subsequent fasts.
During feeding periods, gene expression and ketone levels returned to baseline, demonstrating that the “sensitization effect” is specific to fasting states. The sensitization effect is characterized by a phenomenon where key genes responsible for producing ketone bodies were more strongly activated following ADF.
The team concluded that health benefits of ADF, including improved lipid metabolism, appear to be linked to this enhanced ketogenic capacity rather than to changes in calorie intake or body mass, which remained largely unchanged.
Goldstein said the study “highlights how the liver adapts to repeated fasting through a memory-like mechanism that prepares it for future fasting bouts. This enhanced sensitization process underscores the liver’s remarkable ability to dynamically respond to recurring nutritional states.”
The researchers hope the findings will open new avenues for exploring how transcriptional regulation mediates responses to other recurring environmental stimuli, with potential applications in dietary science and metabolic health.
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