Skipping meals good for health

Latest findings suggest that skipping occasional meals may be good for health. These findings appear to contradict the belief that humans and other animals should eat regularly throughout the day. Researchers at the National Institute on Ageing in Baltimore, Maryland found that a diet in which mice ate only every other day appeared to protect them more from diabetes and Alzheimer's disease than either a low-calorie diet or eating as much food as they wanted every day. The mice were better off on a diet where they ate fewer meals than when they had continuous access to food, even if that food was part of a reduced-calorie diet. The mice were forced to fast for a day and then given free reign to gorge on food. Those who fasted ate as many calories as did mice given as much food as they wanted every day. A third group of mice ate every day, but consumed 40 percent fewer calories than the other rodents. After the mice followed the diet for five months, the researchers gave them a neurotoxin that selectively damages nerve cells important for learning and memory, a pattern typically seen in Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that the toxin damaged fewer nerve cells in the brains of mice who fasted than in those who either ate freely or followed the low-cal diet. Blood tests revealed that mice who fasted had lower insulin levels than those who followed the other diets, an indication they also had a reduced risk of developing diabetes. By the end of the study, fasting mice weighed more than those given the low-calorie diet, and slightly less than mice allowed to eat freely.

Past studies have suggested that cutting calories substantially increases life span and reduces the risk of age-related diseases. The fact that occasional fasting appeared to protect against Alzheimer's and diabetes slightly better than a low-calorie diet suggests that people can ward off the effects of ageing without starving themselves. Although the research was conducted in another species, the findings appear to suggest that, for healthy adult humans, forgoing a meal now and then may not be such a bad idea, and it may be beneficial.

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