Fasting Can Delay the Aging of Arteries

There is new research to show that fasting triggers a molecule that can help delay the aging of arteries. This discovery could help to prevent age- related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Fasting is the willing reduction or abstinence from some or all drink, food, or both, for a period of time. The molecule found is produced during fasting, and has the potential to keep the vascular system supple and young.

By combining a healthy and proper diet with fasting, it is possible to help slow the body’s blood vessels from aging.

How Does it Work?

A new study led by Dr. Ming-Hui Zou, the director of the Center for Molecular and Translational Medicine at Georgia State University in Atlanta, showed that fasting, or restricting caloric intake, can produce a molecule that delays vascular aging.

Dr. Zou explains that as we age, the vessels that supply different organs are the most sensitive to aging damage. Therefore, she focused their study on vascular aging and fasting. They found that the fasting mice produced the molecule beta-hydroxybutyrate. This molecule is a ketone that is produced by the liver and is used as an energy source when glucose is not available in the body. The body produces these ketones during fasting or starvation, after prolonged exercise, or on low-carb diets.

The study revealed that beta-hydroxybutyrate also promotes the division and multiplication of cells that line blood vessels, this cellular division is a marker for cellular youth. This proved a chemical link between calorie restriction and fasting to an anti-aging effect.Beta-hydroxybutyrate can help to prevent one type of cell aging known as senescence, or cell aging. The ketone also showed to help boost the activity of a stem cell factor that binds with DNA to have an anti-aging effect.

The Chronodiet

The Chronodiet is designed to utilize the body’s natural rhythms, and works to adjust your meals so that your body will optimally absorb and process the food that you eat. This diet is based off of the time of day that you eat certain food groups and fasting in between meals. You consume carbohydrates in the morning, have a mixture of protein and carbohydrates for lunch, and purely protein for dinner. This diet helps to avoid the overproduction of insulin within the body. The Chronodiet consists of three meals a day and fasting in between each meal. It is important to avoid any snacks and/or sweet drinks between each meal. Between dinner and the next morning’s breakfast you will have 12 hours without any calorie intake.

By avoiding carbohydrates from the late afternoon on, the lack of glucose within the blood forces your body to break up fat cells to convert them into energy. Cell regeneration occurs quickly within this time. During the fasting portion of the night, the body works to shrink millions of fat cells while you are sleeping. Fat then works to become free fatty acids that are converted into energy.

Fasting Combined with the Chronodiet

The foundation of the Chronodiet is based off of fasting at the correct time for the body. The body breaks down the foods that we eat into less complex substances such as amino acids, simple sugars (glucose), and fatty acids. Glucose fuels the body and insulin is the hormone that allows glucose to move within the body’s cells. When you eat more food, especially carbohydrates, than necessary or too often for cellular functions the body moves into storage mode and converts the nutrients to fat storage. This can slow down the body and cause arteries and blood vessels to age quicker.

By fasting, there will be no excess glucose within the bloodstream. Therefore allowing the ketone, beta-hydroxybutyrate, found within Dr. Zou’s study to become active within the body to provide anti-aging factors.

Fasting for the Future

You can work towards a healthier future for your body, by combining the ideas from Dr. Zou’s study and the Chronodiet of fasting to help delay the aging of arteries. By working to keep your arteries and blood vessels healthy and young, you are striving towards a healthy and happy future.