Skipping a meal adds healthy years to one's lifespan
Its official! Skipping a meal adds healthy years to one’s lifespan
(First published on Business Day Life/Business Day)
We all dread becoming old and decrepit. But what if someone told you that you could reach a 100 and still be energetic and engaged?
Now there is scientific evidence that fasting (or calorie restriction) prevents much of the deterioration associated with aging.
For centuries scientists have tried to discover why we deteriorate as we age. Although it was known that genes and lifestyle affected one’s lifespan, and how well one aged, the full story was far from understood.
Professor Ben Loos, who heads a neuro research group in the department of Physiological Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch, says that the breakthrough came in the early 2000s, when scientists developed the capability to investigate the detailed molecular biology of how cells age. Their conclusion: the way we age is greatly determined by the way in which cells digest proteins.
He explains that cells use nutrients to provide energy for their functioning, but undigested proteins remain in the cell. The amount of undigested proteins will depend on how healthy the diet is. These undigested proteins need to be eliminated, or over time they cause the cell to deteriorate, and ultimately die.
“All cells need to repair and clean themselves, but the rate at which they do so makes all the difference,” Professor Loos says. “In unhealthy aging, the repair and self-cleaning process is not so strong. It’s just the same as leaving it too long before servicing your car, or not taking the rubbish out regularly.”
Cleaning up the mess
The discovery of how cells digest protein in turn led scientists to conclude that fasting or calorie restriction is a powerful intervention to reverse the damage caused by ageing. That’s because calorie restriction allows a process called autophagy, or self-eating, to take place in cells.
In 2016 a Japanese biologist, Yoshinori Ohsumi, was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine for his groundbreaking research on autophagy. Dr Ohsumi’s work shows how fasting helps to undo cell damage.
When one fasts, cells are forced to digest toxic proteins and damaged organelles to obtain nourishment. In so doing, they cleanse themselves of toxins, and ultimately begin to function better.
Studies show that fasting for at least 12-18 hours combined with a balanced diet high in antioxidants and low in sugar will prompt increased, and thus beneficial, autophagy. Exercise during fasting will further enhance this process by increasing the cells’ demand for energy, and is especially good for the health of brain cells and improving brain function.[1]
Of course, one should not fast too often, but our current life-style hardly allows us to fast at all.
Reducing the risk of degenerative diseases
Dr Gabe Mirkin, a US physician and former assistant professor at the University of Maryland, writes in his monthly newsletter, Mirkin Report, that many degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia appear to be caused by the buildup of debris in cells. Similarly, many cancers are caused when cells do not die as they are programmed to do, and eventually invade the rest of the body. By helping to rid the body of this debris, autophagy helps to prevent the early onset of these diseases.
In essence, autophagy forms part of the immune system by eliminating viruses and bacteria that cause infection—“Feed a cold and starve a fever” might just be half right!
By keeping arterial cells healthy, autophagy could also help reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes caused by the buildup of plaques and blockages.
Professor Loos believes that those who reach old age despite a poor lifestyle are likely to have genes that are able to cope with cell toxicity. For those without this genetic advantage, following a healthy lifestyle can decrease the presence of cellular stress, and even delay the onset of age-related deterioration. This results in what is called ‘successful ageing’, in which cells remain healthier for longer because they can eliminate their waste matter better.
It is also possible to undo years of damage by changing one’s lifestyle. If one has diabetes, however, it is important to get professional advice, since the metabolism is severely changed in diabetes.
In addition to fasting, there are nutrients that seem to assist the cells to keep healthy. One example is Resveratrol, found in red grapes and red wine. It possesses anti-inflammatory properties that prevent or slow down the decline in cardiovascular function associated with aging.
And for coffee lovers there is good news, since coffee boosts autophagy.
In addition, a drug used to regulate insulin levels in diabetes treatment, called Metformin, also upregulates autophagy.
The bottom line, says Loos, is to eat less since obesity is a major health threat, follow a balanced diet to avoid the insulin spikes associated with high consumption of refined sugars and carbohydrates, and fast regularly. This could add many healthy years to one’s old age.
[1] B Loos, DJ Klionsky and E Wong, “Augmenting brain metabolism to increase macro- and chaperone-mediated autophagy for decreasing neuronal proteotoxicity and aging”, Progress in neurobiology 156, pp.90-106, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28502807.
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