Do You Fast Often? It May Help to Lower Cancer Risk, New Study Finds- Here is What We Know


According to the findings of a new study, observing a fast twice a week can help boost immunity to fight cancer cells in the body.

Observing a fast has many benefits, reducing the risk of cancer could be one of them (Freepik)

Fasting carries several benefits and that is common knowledge. Weight loss, improved gut health, heart health, etc., maintaining a fast can help improve bodily functions. According to a new study, this practice can help fight more effectively against cancer cells that invade the body. A team of researchers have claimed that it can even reprogram the metabolism of natural killer cells, helping them survive the harsh environment in and around tumors while also improving their ability to fight cancer.

Fasting can kill cancer cells, study finds

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York revealed that fasting can help the body defend itself against cancer by depriving cancer cells of the nutrients they need to grow. The study was carried out in mice.

“Tumors are very hungry. They take up essential nutrients, creating a hostile environment often rich in lipids that are harmful to most immune cells. “What we show here is that fasting reprograms these natural killer cells to better survive in this suppressive environment,” said Joseph Sun, an immunologist and co-corresponding author of the study.

According to a report in Science Daily, fasting and other dietary regimens are increasingly being explored as ways to deprive cancer cells of the nutrients they need to grow and make cancer treatments more effective.

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White blood cells are primarily responsible for fighting pathogens and viruses. These are also called Natural Killers (NK), and rightly so.

5 highlights from the study

  1. For the study, mice with cancer were fasted for 24 hours twice a week. But they were allowed to eat freely between fasts.
  2. According to the authors’ conclusion, fasting reprograms these natural killer cells to survive better.
  3. During the experiment, the mice saw a drop in their glucose levels and an increase in free fatty acids, which are lipids released by fat cells that can serve as an alternative energy source when no other nutrients are present, according to Rebecca Delconte, lead author of the study. study.
  4. During each of these fasting cycles, the natural killer cells learned to use these fatty acids as an alternative fuel source to glucose.
  5. This optimized their anticancer response because the tumor microenvironment contains a high concentration of lipids, and they were now able to enter the tumor and survive better thanks to this metabolic training, the authors noted.

Despite the promising findings, more research is still needed to reach a proper conclusion on how to make fasting a new strategy for killing cancer cells. Cancer is one of the main health problems worldwide. Researchers and scientists around the world are constantly working to find better and more effective ways to fight cancer.



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