Intermittent fasting: a promising approach to reset glucose metabolism?

In a recent study, Professor Chen and colleagues found that type 1 diabetic mice secreted insulin following intermittent fasting. This suggests that fasting can influence metabolism, and is not just a means of reducing caloric intake.

Bex Chang 4 Apr 2019

A calorie-restricted diet has long been recognized and proven as a positive contributor to longevity and better metabolic health. For more than 50 years, experiments on rodents showed caloric reduction in diet could increase their longevity. Following studies on primates also had similar findings – monkeys given a calorie-restricted diet were healthier than their standard-calorie diet counterparts. Half a century has passed by, and here we are today, facing an epidemic of non-communicable diseases including diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and others. We know what would do us good – inputting fewer calories – which could easily be achieved by eating less food. The tricky question is how.