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Cambridge researchers have discovered a new way of using fasting to reduce inflammation, a potentially harmful side effect of the immune system and a cause of many chronic diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Arachidonic acid is a blood molecule that increases during fasting and has anti-inflammatory properties. According to researchers, it may also help explain some of the positive effects of drugs like aspirin. Scientists have long recognized that our diet, particularly the high-calorie Western diet, can increase our risk of developing chronic inflammatory disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
The body’s natural response to injury or infection is inflammation, but there are other systems that can trigger this process, such as the ‘inflammasome’, which acts as an alarm clock in our cells, signaling inflammation. But our body gets help in defense. Loss. However, the inflammasome can inadvertently cause inflammation because one of its functions is to kill unwanted cells, which can cause cell contents to leak into the body and cause inflammation. (Also read: Mental clarity for longevity; 5 benefits of intermittent fasting ,
How can fasting protect against inflammatory diseases?
Professor Claire Bryant, of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, reportedly told inews.co.uk, “We are very interested in trying to understand the causes of chronic inflammation in the context of many human diseases, and inflammation in particular. Role .”
He further revealed, “In recent years, it has become clear that one inflammasome in particular, the NLRP3 inflammasome, is very important in many major diseases, including obesity and atherosclerosis, but also diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as many “It is also important in diseases that affect older people, especially in the Western world.”
It comes after the Prime Minister declared that, as part of a “balanced lifestyle”, fasting once a week was an “important discipline” for him. The Sunday Times revealed at the weekend that Rishi Sunak fasts for thirty-six hours at the beginning of every week.
Although the exact cause is unknown, fasting helps reduce inflammation. Blood samples from a group of 21 volunteers were analyzed by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the National Institutes of Health in the United States. Volunteers ate a 500-calorie meal, fasted for 24 hours, and then ate another 500-calorie meal.
The group found that calorie restriction increased levels of arachidonic acid, a type of lipid. Molecules known as lipids are essential to our bodies because they store energy and facilitate the transfer of information between cells. As soon as people ate again, their arachidonic acid levels dropped.
Researchers have observed that arachidonic acid inhibits the activity of the NLRP3 inflammasome in immune cells cultured in the laboratory. This was unexpected because it was previously thought that arachidonic acid was associated with higher rather than lower levels of inflammation.
Professor Bryant, Fellow of Queens College, said: “This provides a possible explanation for how changing our diet – particularly by fasting – protects us from inflammation, a risk factor for many of the diseases associated with the Western high-calorie diet in particular. Givers harmfully.” , Cambridge to inews.co.uk.
“The effects of arachidonic acid are transient, so it is too early to say whether fasting prevents diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, but our research adds to a growing body of evidence in favor of the health benefits of calorie restriction. It implies that long-term Intermittent fasting may reduce the chronic inflammation associated with these diseases. “This is certainly an attractive concept,” Professor Bryant revealed.
The results also suggest a mechanism by which eating a high-calorie diet may increase the likelihood of developing certain diseases. Research has indicated that elevated levels of inflammatory activity are seen in some patients consuming a high-fat diet. Professor Bryant speculates that there may be a yin and yang dynamic here, with too much of the wrong substance increasing your inflammatory activity and too little reducing it. “Arachidonic acid may be a possible mechanism for this.”
According to the researchers, the discovery may also provide clues about unexpected mechanisms of action for aspirin and other so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Aspirin inhibits the body’s natural ability to quickly break down arachidonic acid, which can increase acid levels and thus reduce inflammation and inflammatory activity.
Research has been published cell report,
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