We are all very much health-oriented these days, and many of us have changed our lifestyles and approaches accordingly. These days it’s important to have a balanced diet and to help look after our bodies as much as possible. There are so many different ways of improving your health and increasing your fitness in this day and age, and fasting is proving to be a popular one.
If you’ve never considered fasting before, you might well find out that it’s a preferable approach to other methods of losing weight that you’ve considered. Of course, fasting constantly is not a good thing, but, you may find that intermittent fasting can actually be really good for you. If you’re constantly looking for new ways of improving your health, this could be just what you need.
Harvard study
Studies carried out by Harvard University showed that intermittent fasting could be the key to prolonged life, as a result of the mitochondrial cells within our bodies. Going deeper, the university carried out a study on nematode worms, which only live for 2 weeks. The study worked on the basis of restricting the diet of the worms. Mitochondria is the name for the structures within cells that produce energy. When they want to protect themselves, they fuse together and remain in a more youthful state. The study found that, when restricting the diet of worms, the mitochondria stayed in a prolonged state for longer.
Progression
From this discovery, it was found that mitochondria were capable of increasing lifespan by communicating with organelles that control fat metabolism. Before the study it was unclear how this worked, by scientists now know that there is a link between the two. Basically, fasting intermittently, or having dietary restrictions can promote healthy aging. This is a discovery that has been hugely influential in understanding and experiencing the benefits of this. This has definitely given us food for thought (sorry), about the positive aspects of potential fasting in the future.
The future
Of course, carrying out these tests on worms is very different to carrying them out in people, so further studies need to happen. In fact, the Harvard team wants to investigate whether the same kind of link can be found in mammals. Fasting has long been practiced among humans, and it does seem to be something that has produced positive outcomes and results. The idea is that these studies will be used to work toward eventually combating age-related diseases. This could prove to be a stunning scientific and biological breakthrough.
This is potentially a pretty amazing breakthrough when it comes to the scientific future of aging, and age-related diseases. If we can find a way of combating these and helping to increase people’s lifespans, this will be a sensational scientific breakthrough. There have been tests done that have shown vitamins that increase lifespan in mammals, and we may even find that we can prolong life this way as well. It’s an exciting moment for science and could be even more exciting in the future as well.
