Fasting Lowers Diabetes Risk

A new study tested whether routine periodic fasting is associated with diabetes and showed more evidence for modest benefits derived from intermittent fasting. “Previously we discovered that routine periodic fasting was associated with a lower prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Other studies have shown that fasting increases longevity in animals. This study prospectively tested whether routine periodic fasting is associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Meta-analyses were performed by evaluation of diabetic patients and 448 patients from a previous study. DM was present in 10.3% of patients who fasted routinely and 22.0% of those who do not fast. CAD was found in 63.2% of fasting and 75.0% of non-fasting patients, and in nondiabetics this CAD association was similar. Meta-analysis showed modest differences for fasters versus non-fasters in glucose concentrations (108 ± 36 vs 115 ± 46 mg/dl) and BMI (27.9 ± 5.3 vs. 29.0 ± 5.8 kg/m). In conclusion, prospective hypothesis testing showed that routine periodic fasting was associated with a lower prevalence of DM in patients undergoing coronary angiography. A reported fasting association with a lower CAD risk was also validated and fasting associations with lower glucose and BMI were found.” Am J Cardiol. 2012 Mar 15. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22425331