Lankhanam Paramoushadham; Fasting is the best medicine
As though to confirm this, now a Professor of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine, Mark Mattson, says that "Intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle".
Hyderabad: “Lankhanam Paramoushadham” (Fasting is the best medicine) is an age old and well known saying in India, and Ayurveda says that fasting will help cure many ailments.
As though to confirm this, now a Professor of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine, Mark Mattson, says that “Intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle”.
He came out with this observation after 25 years of study on the health impact of intermittent fasting. In an article published in the ‘New England Journal of Medicine’, he says that research has shown that in addition to weight loss, people who follow intermittent fasting may also have benefits like slow ageing and be capable of fighting cancer, as well as diabetes.
He says that an array of animal and some human studies have shown that alternating between times of fasting and eating supports cellular health, probably by triggering an age old adaptation to periods of food scarcity called metabolic switching.
The Professor says that studies have shown that this switch improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress, and suppresses inflammation.
He says that four studies in both animals and people found intermittent fasting also decreased blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates.
It may take some time for the body to adjust to intermittent fasting. To manage this hurdle, physicians can advise patients to gradually increase the duration and frequency of the fasting periods over several months, Mattson says.
