Fasting challenges today's diseases

Many recent Western researches and studies have shown the importance of intermittent fasting —which is similar to the principle of fasting of Muslims— for health in general and its role in fighting chronic diseases and cancer tumors.

In spite of the limited number of studies and researches dealt with the effects of the Ramadan fast, especially on the health of individuals from the perspective of specialists, many Western studies praised the system of intermittent fasting during which a person refrains from food and drink for several hours, then followed by a period where eating freely is permitted.

In this context, "The American Journal of clinical nutrition" issued by the American Society for Nutrition published a scientific article in which it reviewed the results of experiments conducted on mammals and humans. It revealed the role of intermittent fasting in reducing the risk of certain chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

It was found that intermittent fasting helped in increasing the cells’ response to insulin, as it worked to stimulate the capture of cells to the particles of insulin, which supports the results of previous studies confirmed that this type of fasting increases the body's sensitivity to insulin, which may contribute to reducing the risk of diabetes .

A study was published by the American Society of Animal Science indicated that intermittent fasting increased the effectiveness of two "Alodebonesiin" recipients which contributes to regulating the body consumption to glucose and the metabolism of fatty acids in mammals, moreover it plays a role in increasing tissue response to insulin, which regulates the construction and demolition of glucose in the body.

In the same context, a study prepared by specialists in the field of nutrition that was published by the British Journal of Nutrition, which targeted a group of fasting people in Ramadan, revealed that changing the timing of meals and reducing their number to two in Ramadan helped in increasing the body's response to insulin at people who have risk factors of diabetes.

As for the heart, medical researches highlighted the link between intermittent fasting and the prevention factors against cardiovascular diseases, where studies revealed the role of intermittent fasting in increasing concentration of HDL cholesterol at healthy people and reducing the level of triglycerides that are associated with the increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, which was ascribed to the decrease of body mass and the retraction of fat amounts as a result of the fast.

Cancerous Tumors
Researches confirmed the role of intermittent fasting in increasing the body's resistance to cancerous cells, highlighting the link between the system of fasting and the reduction of some tumors, including tumors of the immune system known as lymphoma.

A study done by some researchers at the French University of Grenoble has shown the role of intermittent fasting in the reduction of some lymph tumors to zero, according to experiments conducted on mammals.

Other studies have shown that intermittent fasting increases the survival rate among individuals who suffer from injuries in liver tissue, which has the ability to turn into tumors in the future.

Fears of dementia
Benefits of fasting are not limited to combat chronic diseases, but goes beyond that to slowing down the advance of aging on brain cells, where scientific studies have shown the role of intermittent fasting in delaying the aging of brain cells, and its contribution to delay the emergence of Alzheimer's disease.

In this context, a study conducted by the National Center for Research on Ageing in the United States of America revealed the potential impact of intermittent fasting and some diets with low calorie on delaying aging of brain tissue.