Fasting is defined as the ability to meet the body’s requirements for macro- and micronutrients during a limited period of either shortage or absence of food, by using almost exclusively the body’s energy reserves without endangering health.
Fasting is not solely related to caloric restriction but is rather a multimodal treatment program including also mind-body medicine techniques and spiritual components as well as physical activity. (Boschmann M.a · Michalsen A.b, c)
In both animals and humans, fasting prevents and treats the metabolic syndrome, a major risk factor for many neurological diseases. In animals, fasting probably prevents the formation of tumors, possibly treats established tumors, and improves tumor responses to chemotherapy. In human cancers, including cancers that involve the brain, fasting ameliorates chemotherapy-related adverse effects and may protect normal cells from chemotherapy. Fasting improves cognition, stalls age-related cognitive decline, usually slows neurodegeneration, reduces brain damage and enhances functional recovery after stroke, and mitigates the pathological and clinical features of epilepsy and multiple sclerosis in animal models. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6836141/)
Several research studies have proven that fasting improves metabolic functions, gives better glycemic control, reduces insulin resistance, reduces accumulation of visceral fat etc., also beneficially affects taste and nutritional behavior, thus enabling patients to better comply with a healthy and low-salt diet.
