Intermittent Fasting Improves Long-Term Memory & Adult Brain Growth
Calorie restriction and intermittent fasting have been shown to significantly increase life and health spans in a variety of animals. Now, researchers demonstrate that intermittent fasting in the form of every-other-day feeding is better than daily calorie restriction in enhancing long-term memory performance in mice when combined with a 10% matched-energy intake.
Pereira Dias and colleagues investigated whether the benefits of intermittent fasting on cognition are related to a reduction in total caloric intake or a long time between meals.
However, human research is required to discover the most viable kinds of intermittent fasting that might benefit cognitive function.
Fasting Causes Age-defying Metabolic Benefits in Mice.
University of Wisconsin published a groundbreaking study in Nature Metabolism demonstrating that the fasting schedule plays a critical role in calorie restriction diets that promote metabolic advantages and lifespan extension in mice. Researchers investigate the effect of calorie restriction on longevity using metabolic and gene activity data, demonstrating that calorie restriction lowers lifespan without fasting. These new findings contradict the widely held belief that just lowering calorie consumption results in these benefits.
In a study, participants in one group were free to eat whenever they wanted, while others were confined to eating three times a day. The researchers studied calorie restriction with and without fasting for 22 hours each day in each group. Calorie restriction, with or without fasting, reduces body weight, but only momentarily. Weight rebound and increased insulin sensitivity appear to be associated with calorie-restricted animals.
A further study found that regardless of calorie consumption, fasting groups showed improved insulin sensitivity and lower blood glucose levels. Fasting alone can produce the physiological advantages of caloric restriction.
After fasting, the study team discovered increased gene activity in key cellular pathways. These networks regulated sleep-wakefulness, metabolism, insulin signaling, and, most critically, lifespan.
