Can Fasting Cause Diabetes?
Healthful Vitality | 11/11/2021 | By NP Contributor | Can Fasting Cause Diabetes?
Fasting is good for health if done correctly. However, specific kinds of fasting may do more harm than good. It means that if fasting is done improperly or too aggressively, it may somewhat increase the risk of various diseases.
Can Fasting Cause Diabetes?
There are some reports that fasting may relatively increase the risk of diabetes. However, such statements should be interpreted cautiously, as they have many limitations. Moreover, such reports were intended for medical specialists only. One such report was presented in 2018 in the proceedings of the European Endocrinology Society (EES). However, the report has numerous limitations.
What we know is that diabetes is a severe and global health problem. It is causing one of the biggest epidemics in human history. Since it is a chronic health issue, it also causes a severe burden on the healthcare system.
Further, studies show that about 90% of those diagnosed with diabetes are living with type 2 diabetes (T2D). T2D is a metabolic disorder often associated with obesity and high-calorie intake. Thus, one of the ways of preventing T2D is reducing total calorie intake and exercising. Therefore, no surprise that many individuals may practice intermittent fasting.
Does Intermittent fasting work?
Intermittent fasting works for many people. Studies also show that even a marginal decline in total body weight of 5-7% may considerably reduce the risk of diabetes. It appears that even a one kg weight loss reduces the risk of T2D by as much as 16%.
However, researchers always recommend using a low-calorie diet instead of fasting, along with regular exercise. Thus, a low-calorie diet should be rich in micronutrients and other beneficial compounds like antioxidants and dietary fiber. Nonetheless, some find fasting as a better way for faster weight loss.
The new finding presented in the proceedings of EES shared the finding of their experiment in laboratory rats. These were rats who were made to switch to intermittent fasting, with no food given every other day. This resulted in increased central obesity in these rats and reduced mass of the pancreas. Additionally, such fasting also caused increased free radicals and organ damage in them.
How to interpret the research findings?
So, how to interpret these findings? These findings have numerous flaws. First, people are less likely to follow such kind of aggressive intermittent fasting. Generally, they may follow intermittent fasting like 5:2. And even on those two days, they may eat some food at the end of the day.
Further, the metabolism of humans and rats differ a lot. Rats may find fasting more stressful than humans. It is because they have entirely different kinds of appetite and dietary requirements. Not allowing rats to eat for even a few hours may cause severe stress, which is unlike humans.
There are no such findings from large-scale clinical studies to show that fasting and associated weight loss increased the risk of diabetes. Nonetheless, these findings do have some implications. First, it shows that one should avoid aggressive fasting, like not eating every other day. Such aggressive fasting leads to nutritional deficiencies and an overload of free radicals causing organ damage and accelerating aging.
(Related Article: What is Diabetes mellitus?)