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note: It’s important to note the “short” here. I believe long term fasting depletes the reserve of jing (vital substance) in the body. That is different than “bigu”, in which a process of increasing the production of jing from the pre-natal state is initiated to feed our post-natal body. -Michael
FASTING FOR THREE DAYS CAN REGENERATE ENTIRE IMMUNE SYSTEM, STUDY FINDS
By Sarah Knapton
The Telegraph
June 5, 2014http://nhne-pulse.org/fasting-for-three-days-can-regenerate-entire-immune-system/
Fasting for as little as three days can regenerate the entire immune
system, even in the elderly, scientists have found in a breakthrough
described as “remarkable”.Although fasting diets have been criticised by nutritionists for being
unhealthy, new research suggests starving the body kick-starts stem
cells into producing new white blood cells, which fight off infection.Scientists at the University of Southern California say the discovery
could be particularly beneficial for people suffering from damaged
immune systems, such as cancer patients on chemotherapy.It could also help the elderly whose immune system becomes less
effective as they age, making it harder for them to fight off even
common diseases.The researchers say fasting “flips a regenerative switch” which prompts
stem cells to create brand new white blood cells, essentially
regenerating the entire immune system.“It gives the ‘OK’ for stem cells to go ahead and begin proliferating
and rebuild the entire system,” said Prof Valter Longo, Professor of
Gerontology and the Biological Sciences at the University of California.“And the good news is that the body got rid of the parts of the system
that might be damaged or old, the inefficient parts, during the fasting.“Now, if you start with a system heavily damaged by chemotherapy or
ageing, fasting cycles can generate, literally, a new immune system.”Prolonged fasting forces the body to use stores of glucose and fat but
also breaks down a significant portion of white blood cells.During each cycle of fasting, this depletion of white blood cells
induces changes that trigger stem cell-based regeneration of new immune
system cells.In trials humans were asked to regularly fast for between two and four
days over a six-month period.Scientists found that prolonged fasting also reduced the enzyme PKA,
which is linked to ageing and a hormone which increases cancer risk and
tumour growth.“We could not predict that prolonged fasting would have such a
remarkable effect in promoting stem cell-based regeneration of the
hematopoietic system,” added Prof Longo.“When you starve, the system tries to save energy, and one of the things
it can do to save energy is to recycle a lot of the immune cells that
are not needed, especially those that may be damaged,” Dr Longo said.“What we started noticing in both our human work and animal work is that
the white blood cell count goes down with prolonged fasting. Then when
you re-feed, the blood cells come back. So we started thinking, well,
where does it come from?”Fasting for 72 hours also protected cancer patients against the toxic
impact of chemotherapy.“While chemotherapy saves lives, it causes significant collateral damage
to the immune system. The results of this study suggest that fasting may
mitigate some of the harmful effects of chemotherapy,” said co-author
Tanya Dorff, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the USC Norris
Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital.“More clinical studies are needed, and any such dietary intervention
should be undertaken only under the guidance of a physician.”“We are investigating the possibility that these effects are applicable
to many different systems and organs, not just the immune system,” added
Prof Longo.However, some British experts were sceptical of the research.
Dr Graham Rook, emeritus professor of immunology at University College
London, said the study sounded “improbable”.Chris Mason, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at UCL, said: “There is
some interesting data here. It sees that fasting reduces the number and
size of cells and then re-feeding at 72 hours saw a rebound.“That could be potentially useful because that is not such a long time
that it would be terribly harmful to someone with cancer.“But I think the most sensible way forward would be to synthesize this
effect with drugs. I am not sure fasting is the best idea. People are
better eating on a regular basis.”Dr Longo added: “There is no evidence at all that fasting would be
dangerous while there is strong evidence that it is beneficial.“I have received emails from hundreds of cancer patients who have
combined chemo with fasting, many with the assistance of the oncologists.“Thus far the great majority have reported doing very well and only a
few have reported some side effects including fainting and a temporary
increase in liver markers. Clearly we need to finish the clinical
trials, but it looks very promising.”>>>note: It’s important to note the “short” here.
>>>I believe long term fasting depletes the
>>>reserve of jing (vital substance) in the body.I think even short-term fasting depletes the kidneys. It’s just that the trade-off you get in return may be beneficial.
In particular, when you fast, your body panics and thinks it is going to die . . . so out of a perceived need to prevent this, it activates its processes that it had allowed to go into senescence. However, it uses energy from the kidney storage to do this. Like if you have a cup of coffee [not that I drink coffee, as an aside], it wakes you up and stimulates you, but it does so by triggering a release of stored kidney energy.
A short-term fast is unlikely to produce too much harm . . . likely not much more than a cup of coffee would . . but it could help jump-start your body out of a stuck mode. A long-term fast would be equivalent to drinking coffee continuously . . . just continuous depletion of kidney energy with little actual benefit.
S
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