Intermittent Fasting and Metabolic Switching: A Brief Overview

Abstract

Periods of voluntary abstinence from food and drink is called fasting. It has been practised across the globe since ancient times and has long been integral to many religious and ethnic cultures. Out of the three widely studied strategies of fasting like caloric restriction (CR), dietary restriction (DR), and intermittent fasting (IF), IF continues to gain attention with new evidences from research works and clinical trials. Several preclinical and clinical studies consistently show disease modifying efficacy of IF, along with increased longevity. Furthermore,many recent reviews provide an integrated perspectives on potential benefits of IF as a promising weight loss method. Several animal model studies have suggested beneficial effect of IF on health span and consistently show disease modifying efficacy on wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenerative brain diseases, although magnitude of the effect varies. Health consequences in human studies include minimal changes in weight and marginal improvement in metabolic markers. Periodic flipping of metabolic switching not only provides ketone bodies as a fuel source during fasting period, but also regulates expression of many proteins and molecules that can influence health and aging. Overall objective of this review article is to provide an overview of the health benefits of IF from animal models and recent clinical trials,with a focus on the underlying major metabolic changes associated with it. This may impart evidences for evaluating the influences of IF as an intervention for improving human health. Moreover IF may come up with a promising non-pharmacological approach to improve health with multiple public health benefits.